90 Days in Europe

Have you considered the need for a visa?

Apart from that, what is good climate to you and during what time of the year are you planning this?

Good climate? Sunny and warm, what time of year? Flexible … whenever it’s sunny and warm (not blistering hot). Visa? I have not considered the need but will certainly look into that. Thanks!

It’s important to note that 90 days isn’t necessarily automatic on entry to the Schengen Zone as it’s reliant on you explaining the purpose of your visit and that you have funds to support yourself. I don’t know if the fact you may be working remotely will affect this.

I know you were thinking of France, Spain or Italy but my first thought was Portugal - Lisbon is one of my favourite cities and it has everything you ask for (well, the best beaches are a very short train ride away) and Portugal remains somewhat cheaper than, say, the South of France.

I lived overseas for 9 years, with four years in Augsburg, Germany and have traveled to 81 foreign countries. I love to travel and when I first went overseas it was because I had a job with the US Army in Saudi Arabia.

My travel focused on historical places like Italy (Rome, Naples Area, Florence and Venice), Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Egypt, Israel and Greece.
After much travel I found that I wanted to visit scenic places as well as historical places. Switzerland, Norwegian fjords, Around the Horn of South America, Alaska, and the Canadian Rockies fit that description.
Recently, I took a wonderful safari in east Africa for the amazing wildlife as well as the Galapagos Islands.

Not sure what you want to see, but you have many options. Historical, Art, scenic, cultural or whatever.

It is hard to beat Italy for history, art and scenery, although Switzerland and Norway take the cake for scenic places.

Still, you many need to consider cost. You will find that Scandinavia is the most expensive area in Europe, as well as Switzerland. The Mediterranean countries tend to be more affordable. Countries like Germany, France, the low countries and Great Britain fall someway in between.

The South of France is an interesting area, but it is very touristy. Many French and other Europeans go there in the Summer, especially in August. There are historical places to see, but frankly, not, in my opinion the highest rated in Europe.

Also, you may be disappointed in the quality of the beaches in the Nice area and much of Europe. Generally, European beaches don't match those in California, Florida or the Caribbean. There are great beaches in Europe, but not necessarily in great areas for history, art, culture, etc.

You should do lots of research and this forum will provide you with great sources. However, I suggest buying some guidebooks and serious use of the internet.

Another issue is your transportation. You probably can't afford to rent a car for the entire period. Also, parking in many cities is expensive. Rail transport is excellent in Europe. Another issue is buying rail tickets. For example, going into a train station in Spain it may take you an hour just to buy a ticket, while in Germany, probably a small fraction of that time.

Access to funds is important, you will need to pay for your lodging, food, meals, travel and tours. Credit cards work well in Europe. Try to get one that has a four digit pin number. Make sure you have 2-3 credit card and an ATM card for cash if you need it. Be sure to inform you credit card bank that you are going to Europe.

Also, I suggest NOT planning on ONE base for the entire trip. That will limit you to a small area of Europe. I suggest planning no more than 2 weeks at one place. For example, if you go to Rome, you need a week to see it well. Using Rome for a base will allow you to visit a few places on day trips, but for example to visit the Naples area, you will need 3-4 days to see Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Also, Florence deserves 3-4 days, but you could do day trips to Sienna, Assisi, Pisa and more.

Spain is great, but it is a large country, but it has some great high speed rail, as do France, Italy and Germany. From Madrid you can go great day trips to Toledo and Segovia, but for Cordoba, Seville, Granada and Malaga you should stay there.

Paris is wonderful and deserves a week, but you could stay more and do day trips. Munich, Germany is a great place for a base, as is London. Don't forget Great Britain. It is my second favorite country in Europe and the British countryside is amazing.

If you have more questions, I am gland to assist.

Good to know about the Schengen Zone. Something to research further. I am certainly open to a shorter visit as well. I have considered Portugal and it would definitely be on my short list. Its proximity to Spain is appealing as well.

This is the relevant info. I assume you say 90 days because that’s the maximum length of visit within any 180 days. (UK is not in the Schengen Zone). https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/us-citizens/

Thanks geovagriffith … you bring on some very good points. You itinerary might be a bit ambitious for me , not to mention exhausting. I’m 58 years old and will be working for much of the time I have. With the time difference I’ll likely be working in the evening hours. While this will be my first trip outside the US hopefully it won’t be my last. I’m most interested in scenic beauty (ocean views are more important to me than actual beaches) historic sites / architecture and good food. A relaxed pace is also important.

Spain just recently introduced a digital nomad visa, for people like you to work remotely there for up to a year. You can apply for a digital nomad visa directly through a Spanish consulate or embassy in your home country. Alternatively, you can enter Spain on a tourist visa and apply for a digital nomad visa within the first three months. There are plenty of resource online for more info on the new digital nomad visa scheme.

As for places in Spain to work remotely from, there are many places that would fit very nicely to what you are looking. For larger cities consider Valencia or Malaga, or smaller ones I'd look at Cadiz or Alicante.

There has always been some debate if working for your US company while on a tourist visa is considered working in that country, but even if it were, for a one time thing, it would be impossible to enforce; and I doubt they would want to. I do something similar in 30 day stretches every few months. If you are worried about the Schengen issue, here are a few places to escape to an pick up a few days. But as mentioned travel days count towards Schengen, so its only the next day where you stop the clock. So go to Montenegro and lay on some of the most beautiful beaches imaginable: https://www.axa-schengen.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/map-non-schengen-countries-in-europe.jpg

That disclaimer aside, your choices are endless. Find what interests you. If budget is an issue, look towards Spain or Central Europe.

Everyone answering is going to have their preferences and I bet they are all good, so I will throw in my preference and a few "why's":

Budapest, Hungary (bet that never crossed your mind)

1. The cost of living is 30% to 50% less than the US (depends on where you live in the US). That means food, rent, transportation, you name it.
   
2. It is a very pedestrian city with an excellent above ground public transportation system (Trams). Who wants to be underground and miss the sites, but it does have a subway system too for the long haul trips in town.
   
3. Its a large city (I think the 8th largest capital in Europe) so there is a lot to do, but almost every inch of it is covered with amazing architecture. The chef Anthony Bourdain said if there were such a thing as Architectural Pornography, Budapest would be it.
   
4. Its is amazingly well connected by discount airlines; so weekend get aways to the rest of Europe are practical and easy. By discount I mean you can get to Paris in about 2 hours for about $50; or Rome in 90 minutes for about the same cost. So Paris this weekend and laying on the beach of the Adriatic coast next weekend.
   
5. Getting acclimated in a new location is half the challenge, I would be happy to set you up with the basics like healthcare, transportation, what part of town to stay in, where to shop, how to shop, a few good wine bars, etc. I've been doing extended stays for about 15 years so it's sort of like a second home. Feel free to write.
   

I think the big deal, where ever you choose, is to find a place that is economical and well connected so you have the money and ability to get out and travel.

https://youtu.be/K_eNdDhXRBI
https://youtu.be/4C28cebLkAg

Portugal or Spain would be nice, but it would make your weekend excursions to other parts of Europe a little more difficult because of their locations.

I would suggest two bases, Bologna, Italy and Basel, Switzerland. From these two locations you could enjoy a lot of Europe on the weekends. They both have great train transport.

From Bologna you can reach all of Italy easily and from Basel you can explore Germany, France and Switzerland. Both cities on their own have all you could want in a base location.

You must be very careful about the 90-day limit that applies, in aggregate, to most countries in Europe. Both the arrival day and the departure day count, and hopping over to a non-Schengen country like England doesn't re-set the counter; it just pauses it. Don't cut it too close, because things happen. I once became quite ill on about Day 83 and barely recovered in time to cross the border into a non-Schengen country before I overstayed the limit. Overstaying is likely to earn you a substantial fine, and you may be banned from the entire Schengen area for years. They take it extremely seriously.

When you get to the point of looking for your lodgings, read reviews very carefully to be sure there's not a chronic Wi-Fi problem. Sometimes Wi-Fi only works in part of an apartment, or only in public spaces. That would be a significant problem for someone working remotely. It bugs me a lot, and I'm just on vacation.

If I were planning this, I'd probably choose at least three different locations for a month each, but a single location may well be right for you since you'll be working a lot.

I don't actually think Nice is a bad possibility. I spent a bit over 2 weeks there in 2017, taking some language lessons. The rail line along the coast provides easy, inexpensive (though not especially fast) transportation, and there are bus options for some of the cute towns up in the hills. There are many art museums in the area. The lack of really fast rail service to other population centers would be the disadvantage. There is not, for example, the option of hopping on a train and being in Paris 2 or 3 hours later. I have no idea whether there are good budget-airline flights from Nice to places you might like to spend a weekend. How important that is depends on how inclined you will be to leave town for just a couple of days. I am a slow traveler and wouldn't want to fly to Barcelona, Paris, Rome, etc. for just two days; I'd be massively frustrated about the inadequate time.

Weather would be a very key factor for me. I much prefer traveling during a period when the days are long, but being somewhere subject to frequent heat waves (or constant hot weather) wouldn't be my choice, either. Ninety days is a long time, and I would find it difficult to pick just one spot with a very good chance of optimal weather for the entire time. (Maybe northwestern Spain, Brittany or Normandy during the peak summer months would work, but there would be a lot of overcast skies and frequent rain.) Ninety days in Nice during mid-summer would be too much for me, because I like to spend a lot of time outside, wandering through picturesque neighborhoods and towns.

I'm sort of hung up on the cost and proximity.

For the cost you can check out the internet. I did two for you but you can change the locations and look at each suggestion.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Hungary&city1=Kansas+City%2C+MO&city2=Budapest&tracking=getDispatchComparison

And

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Switzerland&city1=Kansas+City%2C+MO&city2=Geneva&tracking=getDispatchComparison

Since its a long stay, you might want to look at crime and safety. But you can mitigate a lot of that by knowing which neighborhoods to stay in and where to stay away from

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Hungary&city1=Kansas+City%2C+MO&city2=Budapest&tracking=getDispatchComparison

and

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=France&city1=Kansas+City%2C+MO&city2=Paris&tracking=getDispatchComparison

On the issue of proximity, try google flights. Put in the city you are thinking of staying in and then Europe as destination (filter for non-stop only) and see what pops up. But Discount airlines dont fly the same route every day so you have to play around with dates. And they can be seasonal. To illustrate, I have a round trip ticket to Malta in June for under $100. Beach time. Zoom in on these for more than what shows immediately.

https://www.google.com/travel/explore?tfs=CBwQAxoqagwIAxIIL20vMDk1d18SCjIwMjMtMDUtMDJyDAgEEggvbS8wMmo5eigAcAGCAQsI____________AUABSAGYAQKyAQQYASAB&tfu=GgA

AND

https://www.google.com/travel/explore?tfs=CBwQAxoqagwIAxIIL20vMDU2X3kSCjIwMjMtMDUtMDJyDAgEEggvbS8wMmo5eigAcAGCAQsI____________AUABSAGYAQKyAQQYASAB&tfu=GgA

And one more tool for your research. Comparative weather. Because what is hot or cold to me, may not be what is hot or cold to you.

https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/84771~9847/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Budapest-and-Kansas-City

Not pushing any city in particular, you have to find what speaks to you. I just happen to have these links on my desktop because I use them a lot because of where I stay.

I would choose April, May, and June. You also need to know that AC is not the norm in some countries. You will also need to see if your health insurance covers you when you're outside the US. The US Postal Service will only hold your mail for 30 days.

You note that your office is on PST time. If you have to work some of the time synchronous with your office, it might likely be rough. My wife is a busy busy worker bee, and on our Europe trips it can be exhausting for her being up when the west coast is at work.

If you go to Europe, don't worry about the 90 day limit other than just stay less than 90 days, with enough of a buffer in case something goes wrong. Book a return 87 days after you arrive for instance.

Europe is generally an easy place to travel. You should be perfectly fine as a first time traveler! Other places like Latin America might fit your work schedule better but can be more challenging. I'd suggest Costa Rica if you want somewhere for first time overseas travel in Latin America. Or Argentina is great if you want a less tropical, more urban and European type of experience. Buenos Aires for a beautiful lively grand capital city, or a smaller city on the sea or near the Andes or south in the Volcano zone.

Given your lilsted desires for Europe, put San Sebastian Spain on your list. Also Lisbon (a current remote working hot spot), Porto and Barcelona.

Also don't be in the least embarrassed that you haven't travelled out the USA! I suspect foreign travel correlates more strongly with privilege than anything else. Of course some people with less juice prioritize travel regardless, but IMO travelling overseas isn't some sort of indicator of a person's broadness or virtue.

After your three months you'll likely be addicted like the rest of us, always fantasizing about that next hit ;)

With an office on the West Coast, working from Europe could be rough: your workday will start at 5 PM in most countries. Or 4 in Portugal and the British Isles, which is marginally better.
If you lean towards "night owl", it is fine, but if not, it might not be as relaxing as you hope.

Latin America would be more convenient in that regard (and even then, Brazil and Argentina have a 5 hours time difference with the West coast in winter).

Make sure you leave Europe before your 90 days are up. If your flight gets cancelled and your stay extends 90 days you could be fined.
Europe daylight savings time begins the last Sun in Mar and ends the last Sun in Oct. The US begins the second Sun in Mar and ends the first Sun in Nov. Keep this in mind when figuring what hours, you’ll work.
Spain (ES) will be the cheapest out of the three places mentioned. Here’s what I suggest:
Spain – rent a place in Sevilla and fly into Madrid or Sevilla. Side trips by direct train (no transfers) from Sevilla’s Santa Justa station: https://www.renfe.com/es/en:
• Cordoba – 45m makes a good day trip.
• Granada – 2h 45m makes a great weekend trip and so does…
• Madrid – 2h 45m
Tavira, PT – by direct bus (2h) https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home or https://rede-expressos.pt/pt.
Arcos de la Frontera – if you’re willing to rent a car for the day you can drive (1h 30m). The same with Jerez de la Frontera (1h 30m).

France (FR) – Nice does make a good base especially since you can fly in and out of there. Good day trips by direct train are: https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/
• Villafranche-sur-Mer (15m)
• Monaco (30m)
• Antibes (30m)
• Cannes (45m)
• Paris – take a direct overnight train and rent a sleeper car.
Eze-le-Village – by direct bus from Nice’s Valbaun station to Eze (45m): https://www.kimkim.com/ab/nice-to-eze and https://www.lignesdazur.com/en.
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat - by direct bus (45m): https://www.lignesdazur.com/.
Vence – 45m then drive to St-Paul-de-Vence (15m) then back to Nice (45m).
Saint-Tropez – makes a good day trip by car (2h).

Italy (IT) – sleep in Florence (Firenze) that allows you to fly into Florence, Rome or Milan. Reserve tickets for the Uffizi Gallery before leaving home to guarantee a reservation. Good day trips by direct train https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html from Florence’s S.M. Novella station are:
• Venice - (Venezia) S. Lucia station (end of line) makes a great weekend trip (2h 15m).
• Rome – (Roma) Termini station makes another good weekend trip (1h 45m).
• Milan – (Milano) central (centrale) station (2h) makes a good day trip. Reserve tickets for Davinci’s Last Supper in advance.
• Orvieto – another good weekend trip (2h 15m). You’ll then need to ride the funicular to get to the top of the town.
• Padua – (Padova) takes 1h 45m and is another good day trip. You’ll need to reserve tickets for the Scrovegni Chapel in advance.
• Verona – getting off at Porta Nuova station (1h 45m).
• Pisa – good day trip (1h).
• Lucca – good day trip (1h 30) but you want to get an early start because there aren’t many direct trains.

If you’re willing to rent a car you have many more options to explore. I suggest taking a direct bus from Florence to Siena (1h 15m) and sleeping there one weekend and renting a car and drive to Pienza’s old town then on to Montepulciano driving along the SR2 highway and turning left on SP146. The views are stunning and is why people love the Tuscan countryside. If you don't rent a car Siena makes a great day trip.
If you decide to rent a car in Florence read up on ZTL zone laws so you don’t break any. If you do break one i.e., drive in a bus lane for a few seconds, expect to receive a hefty fine in the mail about six months later. The cost increases each day and takes about six months to reach you.

You must look into whether or not you need some type of visa to work. Working remotely is considered working in many countries and you would need a visa. If, when entering, you are asked the reason for your visit and how will you support yourself, and you say I'll be working remotely, you could find yourself on the next plane home. Every country is different.

The one thing they don't want is for you to overstay your welcome. If you are working remotely, and say you want to stay around 90 days, this could send up red flags.

Thank you all. You have given me much to think about. The time zone difference concerns me a little but it’s certainly doable temporarily. While my job is in the Pacific time zone I live on the east coast and it’s manageable. I don’t have to work in perfect sync with my office, but I do like to at least be able to answer calls during “business hours.” I think late spring seems like my best bet for Europe. I have also considered somewhere like Santiago, Chile (or somewhere else in South America or the Caribbean) for a January visit. Same time zone at US eastern time (I think). It may make since to split this into more than one trip anyway. I usually make at least one trip to the home office within a 90 day period. Maybe 60 days every six months or 30 days every 3-4 months would be better? Though it seems fewer trips with longer stays would be more economical. Cost is certainly a concern. Still a lot of thought a research ahead . Thanks for helping me think this through.

I would suggest first and foremost to deal with the perfunctory bureaucratic matters, that red tape issues that can become unsettling, taxing as well as just plain tedious as you intend to be in the Schengen zone for 90 days or beyond. Once that is settled, the rest is easy.

In terms of your level of luxury or discomfort tolerance, figure that out, ie, know yourself as to things you don't want to cope with. How much are you willing to do in the area of life style changes if you move to Europe, regardless 3 months, ie with the 90 days imposed by Schengen, or beyond that, say 4 months, etc. I'm used to living in big cities, taking public transport, tracking sites alone, etc, living without AC, figuring out transit systems, My clock is obviously based on West Coast time. I like it best in France in the summer, the time of all my trips there. Take all these matters into consideration if they matter. If, not, even better.

I see you're still brainstorming as I would define your initial planning. My choice of your desired places is Paris or a town nearby easily accessible by the regional train or RER.

The outlying towns, villages are divided by social-economic levels. If you're considering a middle to upper middle class town, St Germain-en-Laye is one such place. (It was also WW2 site.) The town is very nice, easily reachable on the Paris Metro and RER....have been there for a couple of day visits.

Regarding Santiago, Chile, I've been three times. Its fine, but not at all a favorite Latin American city of mine. Has some pollution problems, and a bit work a day and ordinary for the most part.

If I was going to that area of central Chile, I'd stationed myself in Vina Del Mar or Even more likely Valparaiso, both out on the coast, the latter of which is sometimes called the San Francisco of South America.

Chile is an interesting place. It's one of the most ethnically homogeneous places in the new world (the large majority of people have similar mestizos heritage), and Chileans are a bit staid in their character. Sometimes people refer to them as the Swiss of South America. Chile reminds me of Mexico more than most other places in S.A., just with the average economic level bumped up a bit. Chile is a place you smell wood smoke a lot, where there might be a nicely kept new small car parked outside of a modest shack like residence wherein the inhabitants are of the stable middle class but would rather have some savings than a newer house. Mostly the same food everywhere you go eat. Geographically beautiful everywhere, and because the country is so long and skinny you can go from beaches to mountains quickly, and you can pick your climate. You can go to Santa Barbara weather, or San Francisco weather, or Seattle in the summertime weather, or Cabo San Lucas desert like weather depending on where you decide to station yourself. The coast near Valparaiso (aka Valpo) is about like Southern California.

Argentina is a big contrast. Until quite recently the most common ethnic bloodline was among Argentines was Italian, and the people and place are more European. Louder, more outward, and again a reasonably high baseline income on average (for Latin America). Many of the people though live above their means and cherish spending on the immediate good life.
Food is cosmopolitan and far more varied (and fantastic, and a huge part of life), and many places have a charming, crumbling belle epoque charm. 150 years ago Argentina was one of the world's richest countries, above France for instance and close to equaling the United States. 100 years of divisive zero-sum politics and being elbowed out of New World markets by US trade competition has left a sort of void in which Argentina is perpetually rebirthing itself, every 15 or 20 years or so there's cool new rising dominant vibes, and there's always the classic Argentine baseline. It's a fascinating complicated beautiful delightful animated corpse of a place. In my many extended stays in Argentina, I've found that New Yorkers and the French in particular really love Buenos Aires, if that tell you anything about the place.

Chile and Argentina cost about the same (pretty reasonable, certainly cheaper than western Europe), and are similarly pretty darn good as far as health and safety goes if you are smart and just stay out of the sketchy zones. But they're wildly different places as outlined above.

If you want to place in Western Europe that's not too expensive, has good summer weather that usually isn't too hot (but of course nowadays everywhere gets hot in summer!) and has an enormous amount to do both indoors and outdoors, you might want to think about Vienna. It's not on the sea, but the Danube River through the city is wide and flanked by bicycle paths on which you could ride or walk a hundred miles, and there are charming places to go swim. Vienna was the seat of one of the largest, longest, and most culture empires in the history of Europe, so it has all of the big beautiful high cultural stuff in spades. It's also one of the more hip and happening big cities in Europe right now, largely because it's not as expensive as a lot of other big cities. So there's a ton to do, great food, the best public transportation system that I've ever encountered. And from Vienna you can zip to all kinds of interesting places to visit. It's a really accessible place for first time visitors to Europe that I don't think anyone on this forum would call a mistake if that's where you decided to land.

I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never traveled outside the US.

As a European and someone who has dealt with permit issues, I can tell that it is illegal to work in the EU/EEA/CH remote or otherwise without the appropriate permit. There is a low probability of being caught it you travel without and documents, devices etc... that would suggest you intend to work while there, but if you are caught you can expect to be fined, deported at your expense and banned from reentry for a period. Furthermore you'll be recorded on the Schengen system, making it hard to get visa free travel there after. And then the embarrassment will be having to explain why you can't travel.

The choice is up to you.

One more place I might recommend if you are interested in getting out of the heat of the summer would be Innsbruck. As you might imagine the biggest Austrian city that is properly in the Alps has enough elevation that it doesn't get too hot, is a cool old city, and has a lot to do outside right around it. And its a big time high speed train hub. You can blast into Munich in something like 90 minutes, be in Verona Italy in 2.5 hours, be in Venice not long after that. Fly through to Switzerland in a flash, zoom over to Vienna similarly quickly. And then dozens of lovely interesting places between in all directions. It's a great base if you want to be striking out on missions by train to surprisingly nearby areas of Austria Italy Switzerland and Germany. It's also super clean and super safe.

Good climate? Sunny and warm, what time of year? Flexible … whenever
it’s sunny and warm (not blistering hot).

Warm but not blistering hot is very subjective. Does that mean you prefer day time temperatures around 25° or 30°? Also keep in mind that humidity and other factors play a role.

mgar64,

If you are considering South America, there is much to see there.
Argentina, Uruguay and Chile are more like Europe than the other South American countries. The very best city would be Buenos Aires for five days. Also, take a cruise around the Horn of South America, scenic, scenic, scenic. Santiago, Chile is good for 4-5 days, but getting around in Chile would likely require renting a rental car.

Peru is amazing, love the food there. Cusco and Machu Picchu are great. It is best done on a tour. Check out PeruAgency for great tours for affordable prices. Going it alone in Peru is iffy, since some areas are just not safe. Even in Buenos Aires, you have to be careful to avoid some areas of the city.

Budapest is a great place to visit and you could do Vienna that is not far away. Also, Prague, Berlin and Dresden are great.
Another great place to visit is Amsterdam, Netherlands.

If going to South America for an extended stay learn Spanish. Also check travel.state.gov to make sure where you are traveling to is a safe destination. Right now, Peru is not.

I'm still wondering if you would be comfortable working with the time difference. You said that you'd like to be available during normal business hours on Pacific time, which I'm assuming would be 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. So, in Italy, for example, you would need to be available for work between 5:00 pm to 2:00 am (if I did my math right), because Rome is 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That would take a lot of adjusting for me, and would certainly reduce my enjoyment of my exploring new surroundings.

Warm but not blistering hot is very subjective. Does that mean you
prefer day time temperatures around 25° or 30°? Also keep in mind that
humidity and other factors play a role.

25 to 30 with low humidity during the day is pretty perfect, not demanding perfect though.

As a European and someone who has dealt with permit issues, I can tell
that it is illegal to work in the EU/EEA/CH remote or otherwise
without the appropriate permit. There is a low probability of being
caught it you travel without and documents, devices etc... that would
suggest you intend to work while there, but if you are caught you can
expect to be fined, deported at your expense and banned from reentry
for a period. Furthermore you'll be recorded on the Schengen system,
making it hard to get visa free travel there after. And then the
embarrassment will be having to explain why you can't travel. The
choice is up to you.

Certainly not planning to do anything illegal. Part of the reason I posted is make sure I do this correctly I.e. within the bounds of the law and choose the best place and time to have a positive experience.

I'm still wondering if you would be comfortable working with the time
difference. You said that you'd like to be available during normal
business hours on Pacific time, which I'm assuming would be 8:00 am to
5:00 pm. So, in Italy, for example, you would need to be available for
work between 5:00 pm to 2:00 am (if I did my math right), because Rome
is 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That would take a lot of adjusting
for me, and would certainly reduce my enjoyment of my exploring new
surroundings.

This is an excellent point. I certainly would not be planning to work until 2am. I would likely need to treat such a trip as a partial vacation and work only part-time. That would make anything more than 30 days a difficult challenge.

I did some poking around. But let me preface it with two things. First, unless you flaunt it or carry in a bunch of equipment, no one will question it. Ive been doing it for years. Most people in a position of responsibility, except government workers, take a business call while traveling or send an email home with the answers to some crisis that is going on.

I suspect half the tourists these days carry a laptop, so that wont raisde any red flags either.

The best I could find on the subject is a company that sells services to get work visas and nomad visas. Not exactly a government agency, but someone who might want to disuade you from working without their services and their words are:

Can I work as a digital nomad with a tourist visa?: Although you can
work remotely with a tourist visa, you cannot establish residency for
longer than 90 days. By obtaining a Digital Nomad Visa, you will have
extended residency rights in the respective nation.
https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/digital-nomad-visa-europe/

I am a stickler for following the law as a guest in another country, and I would feel safe (and do) working while on holiday.

The other issue that keeps coming up is the 90 Schengen thing. Here is what the EU says and it isnt friendly. https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/consequences-of-overstaying-in-schengen-area/

I can not imagine any prudent individual overstaying on a single entry as described. Too easy to count to 90. Actually I would plan around 80 days either by leaving or getting out for 10 days. Short trips out dont help a lot because exit and entry days do not count towards being out. I was in Romania for 5 days a few weeks back, but I only got 3 days credit for it. In june I will be going to another non-Schengen country for 7 days, but will only get credit for 5. So just use common sense in planning and then forget it.

It is quite a bit different if you are like me and come and go on a regular basis. You literally need a computer program to figure out compliance because of the moving 180 day period. And there are a few on the internet that do that for you. Still, dont trust them 100% so I always enter the day i leave the US vs the day I arrive in the EU, and that gives me a 1 day cushion on each trip, then I pare that down by another week to be on the safe side. https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator/

Bottom line; exercise a tiny, tiny bit of caution and go have fun. Of course if the French police are monitoring your internet connection and kick down your door in the middle of the night, I never said this. (please post photos)