Easter holidays

Prague was absolutely belching with tourists over the Easter holiday when I visited. But it did add to the atmosphere.

Does anyone know if many places, specifically in towns like Salzburg and Hallstat, Austria are closed on Good Friday? I will be visiting a friend in Germany and this Thurs. and Fri. are the only 2 days we have to travel down here, busy or not.

Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday pretty much everything that's not a church or somewhat related to a church will be closed or at least run on very limited opening hours. And I've said this before on here and will repeat it again: For legal restrictions all shops in Germany have to close by 10pm on Thursday before Easter and can't reopen until 8am on Easter Saturday. They have to be closed by 10pm on that day and cannot reopen until 8am on the next Tuesday!! Be prepared as far as your bottled water, canned beer, chips or whatever else you need from the supermarkets! Convenience shops at the gas stations can remain open during that holiday period but you pay at least twice the price of a regular supermarket. Austria is similar. They usually close even earlier.

When I was a student in Salzburg years (and years) ago, Easter was the first holiday I had ever spent away from my family. I was homesick and everything was closed on Good Friday and on Easter Monday (which was a surprise to me at the time). I think it still remains one of the longest weekends of my life. :)

Mary-Anne, sorry to interrupt your thread here...

Andreas, what about restaurants and things? Are most restaurants in Germany and Austria closed for the whole weekend as well?

I will be in Paris over Easter from 3/18-25. Does anyone know the Easter schedule for the major museums and attractions?

Erica, restaurants, although limited, are open. You really need to check with the individual entitiy you're looking for. I know of as many restaurants that are open as that are closed. I'll spend Easter with my family at our favorite location, the Lake of Constance.

You can check the individual websites of the museums in Paris for this information. Just google the Louvre, the Pompidou, etc.

Greetings

My experience in the UK and Belgium (and also from research on Scandinavia) is that museums and tourist sites are generally open throughout Easter weekend. IN fact, some Belgian museums that would normally be shut on Mondays are open on Easter Monday.

It's churches that will often be shut for more hours than normal. Stores often are closed - in the UK, they'll likely be shut on Easter and Easter Monday, thought large department stores and supermarkets are likely to be open.

Kate

On this question about Easter closures, we're going to be in Paris over those holidays as well, so I've been checking around quite a bit. Except for those places normally closed on Mondays, every museum/attraction appears to be open through the holiday weekend.

Forgive my stating the obvious, but Easter falls within a wide range of days each year, and it is especially early this year, so I don't expect a problem. With all due respect, I think the dire warning at the top of this thread is pretty overstated.

Florence is a real treat on Easter Sunday. Following the 10 AM mass there is a fireworks display (from a cart!) in front of the Duomo. It was worth braving the crowds to experience it.