Smoking in Europe.

Smoking has been banned in restaurants and bars in France. The only place you may encounter smoke is if you sit outdoors.

It's also banned in public buildings, on trannsport, shops, etc. (The law is very similar to what you find in most U.S. cities.)

In Switzerland, it's up to each individual canton to make its own rules.

Smoke is not that much of a problem anymore in many areas. I haven't been to Switzerland so I don't know about there, but I don't think they allowed smoking in Paris indoors anywhere we went, including restaurants. You will probably find it similar to the restrictions here in CA. You will likely find smokers outside at the cafes. To avoid smokers just do what you would do at home.

Germany has pretty much outlawed smoking in restaurants and has outlawed it on trains, anywhere. I haven't really notice smokers in years. Now I am frequently finding accommodations that specify no smoking rooms, or just say no smoking.

"smokers look pretty skanky" ??? Really???

Hmmm. "Skanky" is not a word I would have used to describe the likes of John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, President Obama, Walt Disney, or Peter Jennings, but to each their own.

Stay out of the specially designated smoking ares (usually a sealed room with glass walls), eat inside restaurants and cafes instead of outside, and you will likely encounter nary a whisp of tobacco smoke.

You could stay home... I am joking, but "at all costs" seems a bit extreme.

I utterly loathe getting a lungful of some idiot's exhaled smoke and am pretty militant about it - so I can relate to your concerns. The good news is (parts of) Europe have made great strides in this regard. I can't speak to Switzerland, but you shouldn't have much trouble in France.

The only places where you will likely be subjected to smoke is at outdoor cafe seating, and occasionally while walking the streets. Smoking is banned in most indoor public places in France and it's generally respected. You'll occasionally see some ass smoking openly on a train platform where it's banned, but mostly people observe the laws - the jerks flaunting the rules are the exceptions.

As for those outdoor places where smoking is still allowed (outdoor restaurants, on the streets, etc.) you can learn to read the wind, then take a look around and look for the smokers - they usually look pretty skanky and are easy to spot. Just stay upwind of them and you should be fine. I have little experience on real hiking trails in Europe, but would expect there to be few smokers on them.

France has become sooooo much more pleasant in recent years with the smoking ban in restaurants.

I recommend being very specific with your hotel about wanting a non-smoking room. I've recently stay in a couple of French hotels that smelled like an ashtray.

"smokers look pretty skanky" ??? Really???

Generally, yes. It's actually pretty easy to spot them (sorry, smokers, but you guys smell pretty bad, too, and although you don't realize it, we can smell you quite a ways off). Not kidding.

My dear husband will be thrilled when I tell him he "looks pretty skanky".
People smelling like smoke and how they look have nothing to do with each other IMHO.

Long way to go between glamourous and skanky isn't it David? Smokers look no different than anyone else, it isn't like some big red S lights up on their forehead or anything.

Funny how not one person who complained about your "skanky" comment said they were a smoker, in fact they all said they were NOT smokers, yet you chose to make your statement that "all the nicotine addicts are in a huff". Where do you get this from? Who exactly are you speaking to? Which one of us has earned your wrath?

Your comments are very rude and disrespectful to many of us.

David,

Please share with us your other biases. Please. It's been a long time (not long enough) since I had the displeasure of listening to a narrow minded bigot.

It's not the fact you dislike smoking that's disturbing... it's how you generalize millions of individual people that truly bugs me. Again, please share your other generalizations with us. What other groups bother you?

I'd rather sit next to a smoker and inhale second hand smoke than sit by and listen to someone like you talk.

Paul

Austria is still a "smokers paradise". Not uncommon to be seated near smokers in restaurants. Efforts at creating non-smoking areas are often half-hearted, especially in the many little establishments that are essentially one room affairs. Am looking forward to when the improvements made in the rest of Western Europe might finally catch on here; but am told it will likely take some time. On the other hand, as I am a guest in Austria, I try to view it as another cultural idiosyncracy and try not to get too bent out of shape by it. It was much worse 20 years ago when all of Europe was like Austria still is. In that respect, Austria is like a postcard from an earlier age. If it's too smokey, of course, we vote with our feet and find another establishment. Austria is not the place for someone to come if they have severe smoke allergies.

"At all costs" may include staying home. Smoking is more common in Europe (but not nearly as common as in Asia).

I did an exchange with the German Air Force awhile ago. In the officers' club two junior officers asked my permission before they lit up, which I thought was interesting. I said I didn't smoke but wasn't bothered if they chose to.

The lieutenant said, "You're a non-smoker, but not a militant non-smoker." Being militant non-smokers may be another way Europeans spot Americans.

If you've seen the movie In Bruges, being a militant non-smoker will be a tip off that you are a Canadian;)

David,

I utterly loathe getting an "earful" of some idiot's bigotry.

I hope you're not a bigot in other respects. To sum up smokers in general as "looking skanky", I have to wonder, how do you sum up (and what do you call) other groups of people that annoy you? You have no trouble saying that millions of people you don't know, you've never met, "look skanky"? I can't believe I'm reading this on a Travel Helpline (or anywhere for that matter).

Shame on you.

Paul

Well, as a former smoker who in no way looks skanky, then nor now...

It's getting easier for those who don't want to be around smoke. First, France will be a piece of cake for you just as mentioned. Second, Switzerland will be fine when you are on the trails.

Even when I was a 3-pack a day smoker just a few years ago, I was still an avid outdoorsman, but did not smoke while on a hike. Very few hiking smokers that I know do them at the same time. Smoking was, for me, something done over a cup of coffee or a beer -- or after a meal, being social -- so those are the places you will have to be more diligent.

Austria and Belgium are both still a smoker's paradise. Parts of Italy are still very friendly as well. France and (ironically) Holland are very friendly to non smokers.

Choosing to smoke or not is a personal decision. I would hope that each person would make that choice in such a way as to be considerate to others. Likewise, I would hope the choice of wording on this thread will take a more considerate tone. To each his own -- there's enough room for all of us.

David,, where I live,, the word "skanky" describes a person of loose morals,, as well an over all slovenly appearence.
As in the street walker was skanky.

I hardly think anyone would agree that most smokers look "skanky".. but I am sure most people,,, non smokers and smokers,, would agree your observations and comments on smokers are rude at best and bordering on bigoted and narrow minded.

I suggest a person like you stay home,, as you may in fact encounter many different types of people,, and describe them in ways that are not even fit for public discussion.

Smokers are not in fact known to be baby killers or axe murderers,,, at least,, not any more then the general population..

I am a non smoker,,who finds that you in fact let off an awful smell too.

Jeff I figure once you are in the country area and go out on a lot of hikes you should be fine because I have never while on a hike encountered people smoking, kind of defeats the healthy aspect of hiking. I cannot remember the smoking policies of public smoking in california but around both countries you should be fine. Even if you go into a place that has smoking, this isn't like the movies of yester-year and its a dark cafe with smoke everywhere. I also assume no one is going to be as rude and smoke near you in a inpolite manner. Worse comes to worse ask if they have a non smoking section and if they dont, find a new place to eat or just try to manage through it. The 2 hours you spend in that restaurant basically have no affect to your health, though if it is bad enough you may need to shower the smell off.

enjoy and hell its france, smoke em if ya got em

No need for all the nicotine addicts to get all in a huff, this isn't a personal attack. I was merely offering some advice and observations based on plenty of life experience all around the world. Jeffrey (the original poster) did ask the question of how to avoid being exposed to smokers - and some here even interpreted that as a personal attack. A little touchy on the subject, are we?

If smokers want to believe that they appear glamorous and smell like a field of lilacs on a spring morning, go ahead, I wish them well with that.

Those of us with a keen eye and functioning olfactory systems are entitled to our own opinions based on real world experiences and observations. Cheers.

Answering Jeffrey's question did not require personal comments regarding the appearance of smokers. I don't care for smoke, either (have never been a smoker myself), but it's not necessary to spew your venom at those who do smoke. The OP was merely asking how to avoid the problem.

There is a lot less smoking in France than in the past. They are a little behind the US in quarantining smokers to areas away from others. At one hotel last year the desk guy stood in the hotel's outer doorway to smoke. Of course, the smoke came into the building. A few years ago, people were smoking inside most French hotels and train cars. In outdoor cafes I would stay up-wind of the other people to avoid smelling smoke. We former smokers are very sensitive to smoke.

Although I am now an ex-smoker, just wanted to share some of my past real world experiences...it seemed at least once a month I would be standing outside my building, a good 20-25 feet from the entry smoking and looking glamourous as always in my Calvin Klein dress with my Jimmy Choo heels and Gucci shades when one of "those people" would walk towards me...if you have a keen eye you can spot them a mile away...spandex bike shorts, a t-shirt made out of hemp, Crocs, a book touting the benefits of a macrobiotic/raw foods diet tucked inside their fanny pack, the scent of Patchouli wafting off their skin so strongly that even my damaged olfactory system picked up that stank, a cup of Fair Trade organic java clutched in their hand...anyways, "those people" would always wave their hands in front of their wrinkled noses and give me a look like I just ran over their dog and punched their grandmother. Why? I'm outside in 38 degree weather...I'm far from the entryway...I consistently dispose of my cigarette butt in an urn rather than toss it on a sidewalk. As I would see that look of disgust welling up in their eyes I would ultimately take a deep, satisfying drag off my Marlboro Light, hold it in and then exhale fully just as "those people" would pass directly in front of me.

David, if that was you in those ugly Crocs, I'd like to say I apologize for my skanky behaviour, but I won't because it was truly satisfying. Knowing people like you are still out there, it just makes me miss the fun of being skanky.

Ceidleh-Great post. Perhaps the last person that ran over their dog and punched their grandmother looked just like you?

I'm a non-smoker, and I hope I never acted as sanctimonious as "those" people, but you never know. It's a new version of tribalism-we always find something to set ourselves apart and above. I've always been bothered by smoke and I'm glad I experience it so much less now. But we're all grownups and I try not to be superior to those who have different vices than mine.

You can die healthy or die unhealthy, but you still die.

gosh,, I hope I don't die healthy,, that would suck,,LOL

As noted, I am not a smoker, but I do think some non smokers are really quite the whiners and justify being rude and mean people. I have a smoker friend. LOVELY sweet person, but basically housebound due to back injury. . Her house does smell to high heaven of smoke.. she does not however smoke in it when I come for coffee.. I have never told her how stinky her house is,, she would be mortified and hurt.. she does try to air it out before I come,, and as I said, she does not smoke when I am there . I confess to keeping my visits short, and I prefer visiting in summer when we sit outside,, but I would NEVER hurt her feelings.

I'd rather smell her stinky house once a month for an hour then be a b*tch and not visit her at all.

You can live a long life and still be a waste of time on the planet,, its really how you treat others who are vulnerable that count. I am not a softie person, I do NOT suffer fools gladly, but I do not kick people when they are down,, and being addicted to a substance does not mean people are not good in other ways.