Which cities shut down (practically)

[simply_angelic]

Hey, as many of u know im planning a trip to europe this summer, and im not sure of the best place to start/end my trip. I know that a lot of europe will essentially shut down for the month of august because that is when ppl will go on vacation......like shops and stuff,. so i was wondering if anyone could possibly highlight for me their experiences with which places tended to be the worst, etc. Like for shopping and stuff. In particular i was wondering about britain because i havent really heard anything at all about their vacation policies. wow i realize how disjointed my writing is here but i could truly care less right now....still very frustrated from comp.......

[omisan]

I wouldn't worry about it... True, many mom n' pop shops and places in smaller towns may be closed, but overall, someone has to stay open for all the people who are vacationing in said places. There are times when an entire city will be dead - Paris on New Year's Day, London on Christmas day, Dublin on St. Stephen's Day, etc - but overall, you shouldn't run into any problems in the summer. Just watch out for places teeming with high school kids and their parents on vacation

Oddly enough, all my counterparts in Paris are on vacation now, through the end of April, instead of the usual July/August thing.

[tumblezweedz]

Yeah, none of the big places will shut down in summer, though you won't meet any locals in their home towns in August. There's a big move on in Europe now to get people to take their vacations at other times than the traditional August holiday, which seems like a big duh-uh to me: oooh, that'll be fun, let's go on vacation to the same place and at the same time as everyone else. We're sure to have a relaxing time... It's like the Thanksgiving weekend in the US, but for a month. Hideous. But because everyone is on holiday everywhere else, all the cities are hosting tourists and stay open. You'll have no problems, except long lines...

Bring a good book!