Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-05-23
Europe Makes Great Advances
In Normal Travel Conditions

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its theaters, churches, bookstores,
bridges, the Eiffel Tower and the
Invalides, the poisoning parks and
Montmartre, its Sorbonne and the
Lourve-all are there as If war had
never passed by.
OTHER COUNTRIES-Americans
will also want to venture into other
countries of Europe. Switzerland
is always a Joy to visit, because 1t
has long specialized In serving
tourists. Switzerland's favorite re-
sorts with Americans are the towns
that lie at the foot OF majestic
mountains: Interlaken, Lucern. st.
Moritz and Lugano, From all OF
these roads lead into the higher
attitudes, and cable railways climb
up to mountain shelves where hotels
and resorts are tucked away. Also
popular are the steamer cruises on
the bigger lakes, sightseeing In the
historic old cities of Basic and
Berne; shopping busy Zurich and
Geneva, and visiting in little pic
turesque villages where handicrafts,
cheeses, woodwork and watches are
turned out by the industrious and
contented folk. There are no food or
travel problems of importance in
little Switzerland, and Americans
are welcomed as heartily as they
always have been.
To the south lies Italy, ever pop
ular with travellers since Roman
days. Italy has made great progress
in rallying herself from the war
to make a home for American Wis
itors. The famous cities OF Rome,
Venice and Florence, which are
among the worlds finest for sight,
seers, are unchanged and easy to
reach. Their hotels, with skilled
and willing service, good food and
beautiful accommodations, are def
initely back in business.
Belgium and Holland have also
made a remarkable recovery. The
tourist highlights escaped war dam
age and the pleasures of travel are
back to normal. No hardships
await Americans who go there this
year.
Scandinavia Near Normal.
The Scandinavian countries are
again favored by summer visitors
from America, and facilities for
travelling through these magnificent
scenic areas are rapidly approach
ing normal. There are cruises to
the fjords OF Norway and the Land
of the Midnight Sun, tours by rail
or road covering all of the most
picturesque sections of these north
ern wonderlands. Travellers will
again cruise through Sweden's love-
ly Gotta Canal from Gothenburg to
Stockholm. And Denmark's capt.
tai of Copenhagen has regained its
old-time lively air that gave 1t the
name of 1.-The northern Paris"
Though Europe is in the main
we'll prepared for tourists, the de-
mand for travel this summer far
exceeds the supply of accommoda-
tons. This is especially true OF the
big cities. During the period OF the
Olympic games, London will be
taxed to its capacity in order to
provide for thousands OF visitors
from all parts of the world. Paris
hotels will be under heavy pressure
in June, July and August. The
same may be said of Stockholm,
Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Brus-
sells. Thus travel to Europe this
summer requires planning and,
above all. advance reservations.
Higher, but q Good Buy.
The cost of travel to Europe is,
of course, higher than before the
war, but Europe is still good buy
as compared to travel in, our own
country or in other parts Of the
world.
We are often asked: "Is 1t right
for Americans to go to Europe while
shortages of essential supplies still
exist in many countries? Is the
tourist depriving Europeans of food
they need?"
The answer is apparent in the de-
sire of European countries to re-
ceive visitors from overseas. The
dollars spent by Americans go only
in small part for food as compared
to other services essential to travel.
On the other hand these dollars
enable European countries to pur-
chase from America goods and sup
plies of all kinds necessary to post
war reconstruction and the welfare
of Europe's people.