FROM speedy new quadrupod jets and slower prop planes, from fast liners and converted wartime Victory ships, 500,000 Americans will land in Europe this summer in the greatest tourist invasion in history. With curiosity and half a billion in cash, they will wander from the all-night-sun Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle, to the stoned isles of the Aegean. Some will tramp through cathedrals, others will look for the high life, and many will exhaust themselves trying to combine some of both. But Americans in Europe in 1960 are in for some surprises.
The natives are on the move too. In many places the demand for hotel rooms will outrun facilities; 1960 is the year of the big squeeze, and traveling will often prove hard work. At the height of the season, which begins this month and runs through September, tourists must be prepared to scramble for unreserved hotel rooms, cadge for scarce festival tickets, and moan their way through traffic tie-ups that rival rush hours in Manhattan. But customs red tape has been minimized, and except for the Iron Curtain countries and Yugoslavia, visas are burdens of the past, and so is the black market for currency.
Prices & Budgets. Prices have risen sharply, along with Europe's standard of living, are up 5% to 10% this year above 1959. Minimum budget: $10 per person per day, plus round-trip fare. The most expensive countries are Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium.
Still cheap are Spain, Austria and Ireland. Biggest travel bargain in 1960, after the initial expense of getting there: Greece, where accommodations are improving, though rarely luxurious, and prices are low: $10 per day for deluxe double room, $2.50 to $3.50 for the best dinner available.
Air, Ocean & Rail. Air fares are 8% higher than last year for first class ($900 New York to London round trip); up also are economy flights ($486 New York-London round trip). Planes are virtually booked solid until July 15. Cheapest scheduled flights are on Icelandic Airlines DC-45 and -6s between New York and London ($405.20 round trip). Other bargains: round-trip tickets that allow unlimited stops en route. With a jet flight from New York to Rome on a round-trip economy ticket ($620.30), a tourist can choose stops in 24 cities in eleven countries. Charter flights that require a minimum of 69 people from an organized group (e.g., women's clubs, country clubs, lodges) cost as little as $250 per round trip.
Travel by sea costs 5% to 8% more than last year in all classes (about $604 to $864 for first class, $420 to $467 tourist class round trip). Ship space is almost entirely filled through July 15, but there are some first-class bookings available. On the Continent, a joint 13-nation Eurailpass offers unlimited rail travel, plus rides on ferry boats and steamers on the Rhine, Danube and Swiss lakes, with a single $125 ticket valid for two months. Rail bargains are being offered by Britain and Ireland: a 1,000-mile tourist ticket for $34 first class and nine-day unlimited-mileage tickets for $39. Switzerland's weekend rail trips offer a return fare almost free, and in the Scandinavian countries tourists are being offered fare cuts of 25%.