A note from Tom Meyers, Editor of EuroCheapo:

Thanks so much to Alex for the great job he did throughout 2007 on the EuroCheapo blog. From finding cool correspondents Europe-wide to editing over a dozen posts a day (not to mention introducing the office to the peppy melodies of Flemish singing sensation K3), Alex has been splendid.

The EuroCheapo blog will continue, although we will miss a certain tone (and expertise) that is all ART. Happily, we look forward to Cheapo collaborations with Alex in the upcoming months. In the meantime, Alex, best of luck, many thanks, and happy (budget-savvy) travels!

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Forgive the temporary release of the standard editorial “we” in the following post.

My final day as editor of the EuroCheapo Blog is today. I have loved editing (and writing for) this blog, scouring sources obscure and mainstream alike for budget-friendly travel tidbits. For those who have started reading the blog only recently, we have run an in-house endeavor with occasional guest posts since the summer; prior to that, the blog collected the musings and tips of a stable of amazing correspondents across Europe. I can say without a shred of hyperbole that editing their writing was one of the best professional experiences of my life.

I will miss editing the blog, though knowing that it will continue to thrive and excite travel budgeteers of all persuasions makes leavetaking easier. I’ll continue to be a part of the wider EuroCheapo sphere, and hope to be posting occasionally.

Please check out my unaffiliated, newish travel blog, Spendthrift Shoestring.

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Brits are of course now labouring under a diet of cold turkey. Christmas generates its own extraordinary traditions across Europe, which differ greatly from country to country. There is no such thing as a standard-issue European Christmas. The English certainly like their turkey on the Christmas table, but elsewhere across the continent firm Christmas favourites include baked carp, goose, spicy hams, and roast lamb.

Christmas may have come and gone in western Europe, but we shouldn’t forget that as we move east across the continent, things change. The Orthodox Churches still organise their affairs according to the old Julian calendar, and Christmas is not celebrated in most of eastern Europe until early January. By the time Russians sit down to have their Christmas meal (on the evening of 6 January), most western and central European households have already taken down their Christmas decorations.

The festive season brings its own cast of secular characters. So in Russia and other eastern European countries, Ded Moroz, also known as Father Frost, rewards children with gifts. Ded Moroz lives in northern Russia (click here to read more), an unkempt spot on the Sukhona river that is attempting to cash in on Ded Moroz in much the same way that Rovaniemi in northern Finland has proclaimed its credentials as the unbelievably tacky and ultra-commercial hometown of Santa Claus. While Santa relies on a bunch of elves for assistance, Ded Moroz lucks out in having secured the services of the beautiful Snegurochka to help distribute gifts.

Globalisation may have inflected many aspects of our lives, but Christmas still throws up its own culturally-encoded customs and characters.

This is the last in a series of eight postings by Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries, a Berlin-based duo who edit hidden europe magazine. They will return with more contributions to EuroCheapo in Spring 2008.

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One of the great things about visiting Siena, Italy, that quiet, sun-kissed Tuscan town, is that you have to work for it. You may arrive by car or by train, but you’ll still have a walk ahead of you, as the main train station is located outside the walled city, as are the parking spaces for tourists.

By the time you reach the old city, you’re rewarded with the sense that you’ve entered an out-of-the-way locale. It’s narrow medieval streets, churches, and squares await.  

We don’t mean to suggest that Siena is some undiscovered jewel. After all, more than one million tourists visit each year.

But there are plans afoot to expand a nearby airport, once used for military purposes and recently converted for civilian use. We enjoyed yesterday’s piece in the New York Times about the locals who are fighting the proposed expansion of the airport, which could open it (and thus the entire area) to low-cost carriers, as well as major airlines.

Siena’s city planners expect that the change could bring an additional 500,000 tourists a year to the town. With the new tourists, the locals fear the arrival of related services, such as outlet shopping malls, hotel chains, and restaurants. That would be the part of Tuscany you would crop out of the photo.

Alas, we will wait to see how this plays out. We’re cheering on the residents of Siena — even if it means still taking the train from Florence. And then walking…

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Just as we’re putting up this post, a number of barriers are coming down across Europe.

Today, the European Union removed multiple internal borders—like those previously dividing Germany and Poland, and Slovakia from Austria. In an effort to further promote border-free travel, most intra-European borders previously guarded by patrols and border stations have been abolished, effective this morning.

With this new initiative, the free-travel area expands to 24 countries with the addition of Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

400 million Europeans, with or without Smart Cars, can now drive all the way from Portugal in the west to Latvia in the east without showing a passport, visa, or other form of identification.

Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper responded to the amendment by announcing, “The Iron Curtain has finally fallen.”

We think this is all fantastic news—especially during this season of tidings and joy. Which reminds us, happy holidays Cheapos!

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Amsterdam’s notorious Red Light District, that central section of seedy sex shops and cinemas, is set to clean up its act.

Job Cohen, the city’s Mayor, announced on Monday that Amsterdam will soon begin requiring all red-light merchants and services to go “legit.” Since the trade’s legalization in 2000, the area has continued to be plagued with pimps and petty crime, along with unregulated prostitution.

The mayor’s new plan will enforce permits and inspections, and will require businesses to have official business telephone numbers and registered addresses.

The Associated Press reports that the city hopes to lure in luxury hotels, fashionable boutiques, squeaky-clean restaurants and other crowd-pleasers to  the area. And what about the tourists who come to Amsterdam primarily to take in the city’s seedy side?

According to councilman Lodewijk Asscher, “We know that the tourists that come here now, the rowdy Britons, aren’t always the tourists that you’d like to have in the city,” he said. 

No comment.

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Nothing like a midweek digest of recently noteworthy posts and stories. Right?

1. Christopher Elliott’s list of strange travel surcharges is both hilarious and on target. Though it refers more to a business traveler demographic than a Cheapo one, Elliott does touch on the European budget airline habit of imposing extreme and varied surcharges.

2. Trippist spreads the word about extended shopping hours in Amsterdam. Shops in central Amsterdam districts will be open until 10 p.m. on December 20, 21, and 23.

3. Which song will be the UK’s top-selling single the week of Christmas? The Brits take the Xmas Number One v. seriously. Caroline Briggs checks out the top contenders for the BBC.

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Today Ryanair announced 50 new routes around Europe for 2008; among these, there will be three entirely new destinations in the bunch: Angoulême in France and Arad and Constan?a in Romania.

The expansion to Romania is welcome; frankly, we expected it to happen months ago. Arad is currently served by Romanian low-cost airline BlueAir, which flies to Stuttgart, Valencia, and Verona from the far western Romanian city. Constan?a, at the opposite end of Romania, in the country’s southeast on the Black Sea, is a big regional beach resort. Ryanair will be the first budget airline to serve it.

The airline will also be the first budget airline to serve Angoulême, a department capital in southwestern France, thereby increasing Ryanair’s already notable presence in the southwestern quarter of the country.

Ryanair will fly one route apiece to each of these new destinations: Arad-Orio al Serio (Milan), Angoulême-London Stansted, and Constan?a-Pisa.

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On our radar screens today:

1. Yesterday, Ryanair announced four new routes connecting Ireland and France. Connections between Dublin and Brest, Rodez, and Tours will kick off in April, and a seasonal Cork-Carcassonne link will fly from late May through early September.

2. Vardzia, Georgia is Gadling’s “Where on Earth?” spot.

3. Andy Martin blogs entertainingly on very English Bournemouth.

4. Over the last few months, Volareweb has added a bunch of destinations. Volareweb now flies to Helsinki, Lodz, and Rotterdam, among other destinations. We’d be more excited if Volareweb weren’t one of the least reliable low-cost carriers we’ve come across.

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We’re watching snow fall right now. That we’re thinking about winter should come as no surprise.

So where might we escape to for an atmospheric yet affordable snowy getaway? Here are two ideas.

1. Košice, Slovakia. Connected to Dublin, London Luton, Prague, and Vienna by SkyEurope, Slovakia’s second biggest city sits in the east of the country. Like Bratislava, Košice boasts an atmospheric old town that becomes a breathlessly gorgeous winter fantasy under dust of snow. Hotel Recommendation: Hotel K2 at Štúrová 32 (tel. +421 55 625 59 48) is cheap and central.

2. Berlin, Germany. The best value western European capital (sorry, Lisbon) sports oodles of good air and train connections, more sights than you can shake a stick at, and a slate of decent hotels. Check out Die Fabrik, at Schlesische Strasse 18 in Kreuzberg, for a cheap bed in hip surroundings.

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