Tourism in Western Europe, continued
France
see text, 185-188
France receives more tourists than any other country-its location, its
centrality, the importance of Paris, o f the Med. region {called the Cote
d'Azure or Riviera) and the Alps all important reasons
They also have a huge and not typical domestic market. Some
characteristics of it ave
1. most French people spend their vacations in France
2.there is a very pronounced peak of summer travel
3. most people travel by their own cars
4. more urban people than rural people take vacations
Let's look at the Med. coast
– protected from strong winter winds by the Alps
-many of the major towns, St. Tropez, Cannes, Antibes, Nice
are built up and accommodations are expensive
– other than the beach, attractions include, film festivals, horse racing,
fashion shows, and music festivals-are also convention centers
the French Alps
-famous for skiing, such as at Chamonix, Courchevel
Paris, the Tourist Magnet o f France
note: Mark Jefferson's idea of a "primate city"
Located in the Paris basin, one hundred miles inland from Le Havre on
the Seine river
originally a Roman city, focusing on the Ile-de la Cite, where the Notre
Dame Cathedral is today
other attractions include:
the Church o f the Socle Couer in the-Montmartre district
the Eiffel Tower, built for? 1,000 feet high
the Arc de Triomphe, erected by Napoleon III on the
Champs d'Elysees, an important shopping/restaurant street
the Louvre, one of the great art museums of the world
outside Paris, but within reach:
Normandy battlefields (Saving Private Ryan)
Euro Disney (opened in 1992, initial problems, now turned around)
the Palace of Versailles, built by Louis XIV
note-an easy train ride through the Channel Tunnel, from the Gare du
Nord station to Waterloo Station in London-note the irony of the
name!!
Very possibly the best food in the world, although not the best beer!
A quick run through the Paris slides-note major tourist attractions!!
Tourism in Germany
Germany has no Riviera, and the winters can be long and cold. However,
it has many popular tourism regions-keep in mind that the Germans are
great travelers and sun-seekers, lots of them in Eastern Europe now,
they are also leaders in the push to change the EU
currency to the Euro and so we are seeing the death of the DM! See
text, pages 193 to 196
Tourism Areas:
1. the Rhine Valley-the Rhine is the most important commercial river in
Europe and one of the most beautiful-it flows along a wide, flat
floored north south trench from Basel to Frankfurt. The Black Forest
rises to the east, while the Vosges Mtns are on the French side of the
river valley.
It is famous for its vineyards, castles, and river cruises are very
popular!!
Cities in the general region include Cologne, on old Roman city with a
beautiful cathedral and Heidelburg, a university town, not bombed in
the war, and home of the famous?
2. Black Forest-again borders this region-Heidelburg is sometimes
considered in this region too!-see text-lots of hiking, etc
Baden Baden, a very famous spa town is here-also casinos
3. Bavaria-this is the most popular region in Germany for tourism
Munich, best known to American students for its?
In the far south are the Alps, the Zugspitz is the highest peak in the
country
Oberammergau-known for its Passion tray
famous castles of King Ludwig II, such os the one at Neuschwanstein
also Regenburg on the Danube and Nuremberg are in this region
Berlin-an emerging tourist center
note-not a primate city because? Emerged as capital of the united
Germany in the 19" century, virtually flattened at the end of WWII,
including the Brandenburg Gate!!!
Now is the official capital again, and the legislature has been moved
back to the Reichstag (sic)
will again be the cultural capital of the country
among the attractions are.
the Schloss Charlotte-"schloss" means??
Marienkirche, Berlin's oldest church, "note kirche“
Kaiser Wilhelm Church. has been left in its bombed out state
as a memorial to the war
Unter den Linden is the traditional central avenue, but
Kurfurstendamn, the main commercial street today
note for travel in Europe, consider Fur ail posses, purchased at home
(you can get the phone number /website from a guidebook)
a quick dip (alas, not any more time!) into Italy
see text, pages 227-228, 23.8-242
Italy has lots of tourist attractions and is always on the "short list" of
leading tourist countries in the world, in terms of money spent by
visitors. 90% of the visitors come from other European countries.
A long history of tourism-like France, was part of the Grand Tour
in the north are the Alps-ski resorts, beautiful glacial lakes and valleys
and famous resort cities, such as Como
to the west, along the Med. is the Italian Riviera with Genoa, restored
during 1992 because of its connections to Columbus, and the "gateway
city" of the Italian Riviera
San Demo is also very well known
Adriatic Coast-beach tourism is growing quickly here, have had
problems with algae plumes
Venice is, of course, the major attraction here and it receives over
20m
visitors a year, is seriously congested
many of the visitors are "day trippers" and spend very little in the
city-in the early and mid 1990s, it was especially attractive to Eastern
Europeans from the old Communist bloc countries who were starved for
travel outside their countries
major attractions of Venice include?
Built on dozens of small islands connected by more than 150 canals
-St. Mark's Square and St. Mark's Cathedral-Greek Orthodox in style
the Rialto Bridge
rides on gondolas along the canals
note-Florence, its old rival, also in northern Italy, the great art city of the
world-is the city of Michelangelo
lots and lots of museums and palaces and piazzas
Rome is the capital-tourism here is centered on several historic periodsfirst, of course on the Roman Empire
here the Roman Forum and the Coliseum are two of the major attractions
also well known for its baroque fountains, of which the Trevi Fountain is the
most famous
the Vatican, the center of the Roman Catholic Church, is especially popular
with visitors-109 acres entirely within the city limits
St. Peter's Basilica is absolutely one of the great sights of the world ditto
the Sistine Chapel, with Michaelangelo's famous ceiling, although here again
there are serious congestion problems!!
Lots of other lovely cities, to the south is Naples (not especially a
tourist city) but is the gateway to Pompeii,