# Paris garbage strike - other options for visit **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334 "2023-03-18T18:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/1 "2023-03-18T18:05:22Z")
I was planning on traveling to Paris next week with my family for Spring Break. Unfortunately the prolonged garbage strike, is making this an unattractive choice for our daughters’ first visit there. We were originally flying to Munich from the US and then connecting to Paris. My wife and I are now thinking of keeping our flights to Munich but picking somewhere else in Europe to to connect to and spend the week. Current choices we are pondering are Portugal (Lisbon particularly), Croatia, southern Italy, or Greece. Any places we should avoid for a late March trip, or for reasons I’m not considering. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/2 "2023-03-18T20:00:26Z")
I’m in Italy now, we spent 12 days in Venice, Bologna, Naples, and Rome. The weather has been spectacular, with warm days up to 20C (70ish for you ‘murricans) and cool nights down to 5C (40F) and a grand total of 15 minutes of rain. We were on a food tour last night with people who had just come from Paris, and between the garbage and transit strikes it was not ideal. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/3 "2023-03-19T12:58:22Z")
My understanding is that the garbage collection problems affect only some arrondissements where the collectors are directly employed by the City, mostly out of the central areas most visitors are concentrated in\*. Other areas where the service is sub-contracted aren’t affected and collection is as normal. \*Light blue on this map = normal service, green = strike-affected: > **[Grève des éboueurs : les poubelles s’accumulent à Paris avec 5 400 tonnes de...](https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/paris/greve-des-eboueurs-les-poubelles-s-accumulent-a-paris-avec-5-400-tonnes-de-dechets-non-ramassees-2730882.html)** > > Au septième jour de la grève des éboueurs contre la réforme des retraites, des monticules de poubelles restent visibles dans certains quartiers de Paris. Les trois principales usines d’incinération autour de la capitale sont... ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/4 "2023-03-19T18:30:24Z")
I can’t speak for the others, but Lisbon is amazing. Beautiful, rich in culture and sort of crazy - modern but ancient. Great transport, really good food, great tourism and really good shopping (if that’s your thing). It felt completely safe, presumably in part by the fact that they manage the homeless and drug users in a very humane fashion. A hint though… avoid the “main road” restaurants that attract tourists, and go one a block further (there are hundreds of places within each suburb) I stayed in an AirBnB in Alfama, the ‘old district’ which I thoroughly recommend. Really spectacular, lots of tiny mom and pop hole in the wall coffee shops and restaurants. Its great for tourists, so hence my suggestion above to delve deeper into the neighborhood than the obvious places. Some of the best food I found was in these tiny local oriented places. It is also cheap. Prices were on a par with Cape Town, where I live, so affordable for me, but trivial by US standards. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/5 "2023-03-19T20:14:38Z")
Austria is beautiful and close to Munich, but that changed the trip to a mountain type of vacation and I’m getting more of a city vibe than a rural village one. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/6 "2023-03-20T02:18:40Z")
I can add another vote for Lisbon if you decide not to go to Paris. We really enjoyed our stay there and the prices are reasonable; the food and wine is excellent. If you like museums go see the [Gulbenkian](https://gulbenkian.pt/museu/en/) - there’s something for everyone there - sculpture, paintings, textiles, mosaics, furniture, etc. The [national museum](http://museudearteantiga.pt/english) is pretty great too. The [Oceanarium](https://www.oceanario.pt/en/) is also fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/7 "2023-03-20T11:54:39Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Austria is beautiful and close to Munich, but that changed the trip to a mountain type of vacation and I’m getting more of a city vibe than a rural village one. Austria is one of my favourite places in the world, we ski there and hike in the summer. You also have the benefit of easy and cheap trains from Munich airport to Salzburg (2.5 hrs, 50 euro each), then on to Vienna (3 hours, 50 euro each) and from there down to Budapest. (2.5 hours 25 euro each) [this site is helpful](https://www.oebb.at/en/) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/8 "2023-03-30T05:37:02Z")
Too late for the OP, but: > **[Paris breathes easier as refuse workers’ strike called off and rubbish cleared](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/paris-breathes-easier-as-refuse-workers-strike-called-off-and-rubbish-cleared)** > > City is cleaner, though not yet entirely clean, after three-week strike ends but union threatens more action OP: where did you end up going? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/9 "2023-04-07T16:15:39Z")
We ended up going to Paris. The amount of trash piled up was overhyped by the media. And much of it was beginning to be picked up after we got there. The transportation strike in Germany was of much more concern to us as we flew threw Munich to get to Paris. All in a great trip, especially for our daughters, for whom it was their first time to France. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paris-garbage-strike-other-options-for-visit/981334/10 "2023-04-07T16:47:10Z")
I was going to vote Lisbon. If you’ve never been, it’s awesome.