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Started By
Message
Europe around Christmas / New Year's
Posted on 7/13/18 at 10:49 am
Posted on 7/13/18 at 10:49 am
Update: Booked for Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Got a $540 RT ticket on American so feeling good with that purchase.
Finalizing the AirBnB/Hotels this week. This thread was a great reminder to cross check some of the opening times for the activities we choose.
Appreciate any other advice on those four cities!
-------------------------------
My girlfriend and I are looking at taking a trip to Europe at the end of this year. We are in the early days of planning but I assume we will have 10-14 days. She has never been to Europe while I have been to the continent a number of times, albeit not in late December.
Given the weather, I am leaning towards the south... Spain, France, and Italy. I've primarily been looking at:
Madrid
Seville
Barcelona
Nice, France
Florence
Rome
Naples
Venice
I'm also interested in the Cinque Terre, day trips into Tuscany, and day trip possibilities to Parma / Modena / Bologna.
Advice on opening / closing at that time of year, weather considerations, other areas to consider?
The trip is a pretty blank slate at the moment so I appreciate any input.
Got a $540 RT ticket on American so feeling good with that purchase.
Finalizing the AirBnB/Hotels this week. This thread was a great reminder to cross check some of the opening times for the activities we choose.
Appreciate any other advice on those four cities!
-------------------------------
My girlfriend and I are looking at taking a trip to Europe at the end of this year. We are in the early days of planning but I assume we will have 10-14 days. She has never been to Europe while I have been to the continent a number of times, albeit not in late December.
Given the weather, I am leaning towards the south... Spain, France, and Italy. I've primarily been looking at:
Madrid
Seville
Barcelona
Nice, France
Florence
Rome
Naples
Venice
I'm also interested in the Cinque Terre, day trips into Tuscany, and day trip possibilities to Parma / Modena / Bologna.
Advice on opening / closing at that time of year, weather considerations, other areas to consider?
The trip is a pretty blank slate at the moment so I appreciate any input.
This post was edited on 11/18/18 at 8:41 pm
8
Posted on 7/13/18 at 11:36 am to lynxcat
quote:
I'm also interested in the Cinque Terre, day trips into Tuscany, and day trip possibilities to Parma / Modena / Bologna.
We're doing a trip similar to this in September, including Cinque Terre and Modena. I'll definitely post a trip review of where we went and what we did whenever I get back from that.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 11:54 am to lynxcat
It gets dark at about 4pm.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 12:42 pm to Shaun176
Posted on 7/13/18 at 12:59 pm to lynxcat
Your range of destinations definitely needs to be narrowed. Cinque Terre is not a good choice in December, due to weather and off season and early sunset.
To me, cities offer a better dark-of-winter destination than smaller towns or rural areas. More things will be open, with a greater variety of indoor options for dark late afternoon or crummy weather.
To me, cities offer a better dark-of-winter destination than smaller towns or rural areas. More things will be open, with a greater variety of indoor options for dark late afternoon or crummy weather.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 1:21 pm to lynxcat
we're doing our honeymoon at that time, but ours is based around Christmas markets.
Doing:
London
Prague
bratislava
budapest
Zagreb
reykjavik
Pretty much the opposite of what you're thinking. All cold weather
Doing:
London
Prague
bratislava
budapest
Zagreb
reykjavik
Pretty much the opposite of what you're thinking. All cold weather
Posted on 7/13/18 at 2:31 pm to hungryone
quote:
Your range of destinations definitely needs to be narrowed. Cinque Terre is not a good choice in December, due to weather and off season and early sunset.
That's helpful! Thanks.
quote:
To me, cities offer a better dark-of-winter destination than smaller towns or rural areas. More things will be open, with a greater variety of indoor options for dark late afternoon or crummy weather.
A lot of what I have read online mentions cities in December over rural. This makes me rethink some things.
Personally, I'm super interested in Central / Eastern Europe and want to do a Poland, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, and maybe Croatia trip. However, this doesn't feel like the best trip for someone's first time to Europe (especially in the winter).
Posted on 7/13/18 at 2:41 pm to lynxcat
Christmas markets in Germany are pretty cool.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 2:43 pm to lynxcat
quote:
this doesn't feel like the best trip for someone's first time to Europe (especially in the winter).
My fiance has only left Missouri twice, so talk about shock, ha.
She's all into Instagram and pinterest. So I was told by a friend to have her follow those accounts especially the pics of winter. She went from no f'ing way - to yes please almost right away.
But im sorta banking on snow, im screwed if its just cold and dry.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 2:46 pm to mizslu314
quote:
But im sorta banking on snow, im screwed if its just cold and dry.
I sort of went in with the mental model of "find warmth" but maybe that's a bit too limiting.
Love the idea to follow places on Instagram...do you know who she is following? Travel bloggers?
Posted on 7/13/18 at 2:48 pm to RogerTheShrubber
quote:
Christmas markets in Germany are pretty cool.
Munich is one of my favorite cities in Europe...trying to visit someplace new for both of us.
Appreciate the reco
Posted on 7/13/18 at 2:55 pm to lynxcat
couldn't tell you since I dont have one, but I do know each of those cities have like a semi-official page. That might be where you should start, from there they have leads to other accounts.
Also, best part, these parts of the country everything is realllllly cheap. You can live like royalty for a few weeks.
Also, flights at that time are amazing. ours is $440 RT out of chicago.
Also, best part, these parts of the country everything is realllllly cheap. You can live like royalty for a few weeks.
Also, flights at that time are amazing. ours is $440 RT out of chicago.
This post was edited on 7/13/18 at 2:57 pm
Posted on 7/13/18 at 3:01 pm to lynxcat
Not sure why a “first trip to Europe” is better spent in any one place over another. Every trip is different, with different possibilities. Don’t get hung up on preconceptions and you’ll enjoy every destination. Agree that learning about potential destinations is the best way to sell the trip. Google Street View is a great tool for this....pick out potential hotels, or areas to visit, and “walk” down those streets with her.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 3:34 pm to hungryone
quote:
hungryone
Google Streets is a great idea...that can be a fun way to learn about the areas together and make the trip less intimidating.
Posted on 7/13/18 at 3:35 pm to mizslu314
quote:
Also, best part, these parts of the country everything is realllllly cheap. You can live like royalty for a few weeks.
That's how I felt about Portugal. Amazingly affordable and I expect Eastern Europe would be very similar.
You should definitely post about your experience. Great list of cities!
Posted on 7/14/18 at 5:05 am to mizslu314
London is hard to top for Christmas in my experience although it is limited, wife is a Brit so over the years we have spent a few Christmases in the UK.
Posted on 7/14/18 at 7:11 am to lynxcat
(no message)
This post was edited on 11/8/20 at 8:40 am
Posted on 7/15/18 at 6:46 pm to Kraut Dawg
Vienna has in my opinion the best Christmas markets - worth looking into. Nice in winter is kinda dull.
Posted on 7/19/18 at 8:18 am to lynxcat
Why dont you spend the most exciting honeymoon in Russia?:) My firends have just come back from travelling by trans-siberian express train (just have a look at this https://rusrailtravel.ru/trans-siberian) starting from Moscow, passing through Nizhniy Novgorod on the way to Perm and Ekaterinburg in the Ural mountains and then into Siberia, Irkutsk, Baikal lake, Ulaan ude. Many men many minds, but my friends are really crazy. They told me it was smth incredible
This post was edited on 7/19/18 at 8:21 am
Posted on 7/19/18 at 10:08 am to lynxcat
We've gone to Europe during that time frame the last three years. My recommendation is to go to places who do cold weather "well", rather than trying to seek out a little bit of warmth elsewhere.
Winter in Austria/Germany/Hungary, etc. are nice. Bundle up, go into bars and restaurants with fires burning, etc. Drink gluhwein on the streets.
I've only been to Vienna after Christmas (most markets closed), but we found it a little gloomy. Especially because there are so many gardens and they're all useless in winter. But places like Salzburg, Innsbruck, etc. are great.
Winter in Austria/Germany/Hungary, etc. are nice. Bundle up, go into bars and restaurants with fires burning, etc. Drink gluhwein on the streets.
I've only been to Vienna after Christmas (most markets closed), but we found it a little gloomy. Especially because there are so many gardens and they're all useless in winter. But places like Salzburg, Innsbruck, etc. are great.
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