Rainy camping, hurricanes, sudden snow storms… I must confess that as far as concerns weather disaster, I’m a kind of magnet (calamita per le calamità, I’d say in Italian).
After collecting several rainy travels, I can also collect some tips about how to get the best out of your rainy destinations.
Just arrived in Timisoara, Romania
This applies mainly to the short getaways, where a rainy weekend would mean to get wet and annoyed all over your experience. (Unless you decided to go to Thailand in the middle of the rainy season for a longer period).
learn how to get the best out of your short weekend getaway
I’m not giving you advices about how to dress and what kind of waterproof jacket to wear since, if you were satisfied with this, you wouldn’t find annoying a rainy travel and you wouldn’t need to read this post.
I’ll try to tell you what to do to find rain less stultifying for your trip.
Go jogging
No, I’m not crazy. Well, yes I am but not because I’m telling you to go jogging in case of rain.
Start your day jogging along the rainy street for one hour or two and then go back to your hotel/hostel/whatever.
In this way you’ll watch around and see something of the place and you’ll feel like a local (when it’s rainy joggers go jogging nonetheless).
You won’t care about the rain because you’ll be too concentrated on breathing and jogging and looking around. And you know it’s going to last just for a couple of hours after which a warm shower will be waiting for you.
Museums
Now that you’ve seen something about the city (not much, I know, but something worth seeing), now that you’ve had your shower, you can sit down and decide where to go during the rest of the day. Museums are a good option.
Search online the one that could be more interesting for you. Don’t stop at the most popular and institutional such as some National Gallery and whatsoever. Internet can help you to have an idea of the independent galleries of art, games, cinema, stamps and anything you like.
Malls
If you must give in visiting your beloved street markets, don’t underestimate the Malls. Most of them all around the world can be very peculiar.
Concerts and readings
Evening is coming, night will follow. What to do before and after dinner?
I’m sure you can find on the internet so many interesting concerts you wouldn’t even imagine and that you would have missed in case of good weather.
I’ve experienced this: there were times when I was eventually grateful to the rain because, without it, I wouldn’t have had the occasion to bump into “that” indie live concert!
Enjoy your hostel/hotel
I love staying a bit longer in my accommodation even if the weather is ok! Maybe I’m getting older… sipping a coffee in my room or with some stranger in the common room of a hostel is a nice a part of a trip, even more so if it’s pouring down. Just relax, write, talk or just look at the rain outside.
Change destination
Enjoying a travel is also a matter of flexibility. If it’s raining cats and dogs in the place you landed, and you really can’t stand it, check what’s the weather like some miles away from where you are, no matter if it’s a big city or a small village. You might find a more pleasant weather and live better the remaining travel days.
I did it the first time I went to Austria. I was supposed to camp in Bolzano, northern Italy, but I could’t stand camping with that rain that was forecasted to last for one week. So I called another camping in Innsbruck, they told me the weather was fine, we back-packed it all and left. Innsbruck was an amazing discovery I’ll soon write about.
Oh, well… yes. Someone told me that someone has recently invented a thing called Umbrella. They say it’s a smart solution in case of rain. Maybe I’ll try it, one day 🙂
18 Comments
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Ludmilla
I live in Seattle that rains 9 months non-stop and we do everything in the rain!! In the end of the day it’s just water 🙂
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Kimberly
Great tips! I would never ever think to go jogging in a new city and in the rain, but your right. Its a great way to explore and take in a new place while blending in =)
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Sandra M.
Great article and great subject ! it always rains in my country so great tips for people who want to visit Belgium haha 🙂
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Sabrina - In My Suitcase
Actually when I was in Belgium (3 times) I’ve always found at least one rainy day 🙂
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Dreammerin
Very nice post and idea to writing about this topic. The question is: what to do when every day is so cold outside… I need this spring to come. I need a lot of sun!! 😉
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Fatima Ali
Your post reminded me of my umbrella. I bought it when I was visiting Istanbul and took it back home. Later when my husband planned a trip to Malaysia, I took it along because it rains there often but unfortunately the airport guys kept the umbrella as we weren’t allowed to take it inside the plane that we had to board for Langkawi.
Fatima | http://www.blogsbyfa.com
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Alex
I definitely don’t want it to rain an entire trip that I am on, but I do absolutely LOVE the rain. So a night or two would be fine by me 🙂
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Jess
Great ideas! I hate the rain when on holiday but I know there are many things to do even when it’s raining. Nice post ☺
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Varun
Have some coffee in a cafe which spans out to an open view of the city. Trust me the entire evening will pass so easily. 🙂
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Kat
As the Vivian Greene quote says, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning how to dance in the rain!” It appears that you have learned how to do just that! 😉
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Dunja
Lovely post! It happened to me a lot during one of my trips to Tuscany. It didn’t stop me from sightseeing, haha