Europe in the winter

[single]

Started to plan out honeymoon stuff. We are thinking about going to Europe this coming december. Something like Dec 11 thru Jan 11....

Been there a few times, but the fiancee has not. Ive only ever been in May/June. Any recommendations?

We are thinking of visiting Rome, Florence, Amsterdam, Paris and St. Petersburg. Ive been to all the other places, but never to Russia. Totally open to recommendations. I think priorities are probably good food, art museums, and public transport.

Too bad hugh conway is gone, I feel like this would be right up his alley.

#HughConwaymatters

[Tryingtostaywarm]

Weihnachtsmarkt + Gluhwein

[Purveyor of Slack]

Delay it till spring summer or fall. If not that just chill in the Dolomites and Julian alps. Meaning slack skiing.

[old goat]

Nothing wrong with hitting the big cities in the winter although I've not done it myself. Most of the attractions are indoors, public transportation is excellent, crowds and prices should be down. Don't know how xmas will affect things but I would think it would be a fun time to be there. The crowds will be on the slopes. You might want to narrow your itinerary--Europe is bigger than you think, especially if you throw in St Petersburg. You don't want to spend all your time and energy on transfers. It's not how many things you see, it's how much you enjoy each day. Enjoy what you see and do and don't worry about what you aren't seeing somewhere else. We spent 11 days in Amsterdam and it was great, although it was late spring, good weather which meant a lot more options of things to do. I don't know about St Petersburg but each of those other cities could easily be good for a week--especially with day trips to places like Versailles, Chartres, the Hague.

[Benny Profane]

I was in Tuscany late November the year before last. It's a good time to be there, because nobody is there. Hotel deals are easy and awesome. No museum crowds. Just bring a cool puffy down jacket and you're covered unless you're spending too much for dinner.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/tr...pagewanted=all

It actually gets green there after the last plow. I think that road biking would be ok with minimal cold weather wear. It may snow (we got a dusting in Montepulciano) but we had the town to ourselves. Good lord, red wine on a beautiful cold day is perfect.

[single]

. I don't know about St Petersburg but each of those other cities could easily be good for a week--especially with day trips to places like Versailles, Chartres, the Hague.

Great thoughts, thanks! I think that five cities would probably be the max of places to visit in a month. Might cut florence and paris down a little bit if I had to cut something, but I should probably hash out realistic itinerary and see what that would look like.

I was in Tuscany late November the year before last. It's a good time to be there, because nobody is there. Hotel deals are easy and awesome. No museum crowds. Just bring a cool puffy down jacket and you're covered unless you're spending too much for dinner.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/tr...pagewanted=all

It actually gets green there after the last plow. I think that road biking would be ok with minimal cold weather wear. It may snow (we got a dusting in Montepulciano) but we had the town to ourselves. Good lord, red wine on a beautiful cold day is perfect.

I was thinking the crowds would be down compared to summer. We are doing a couple weeks in hawaii this august instead of going to europe in the summer, it was so packed in may I can't imagine what august would be like.

Last time I was in europe was two years ago with my mom, and we did three weeks through italy (florence, rome, etc), paris, amsterdam, and spent a little over a week in norway. It was a little rushed, but not too bad. But I think I will probably want to slow down quite a bit this time. Maybe try to get it down to a week per city.

[Brecher]

We are thinking of visiting Rome, Florence, Amsterdam, Paris and St. Petersburg.

I would go to Venice instead of Florence, seems like the more interesting option. Rome is awesome, but you've been there, so you know. Found the catacombs outside the city to be quite fascinating.

Paris has the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, but other than that it just seems to be way too big of a city. Didn't like it too much, but I dislike cities in general, so this might be advice you need not take too seriously. One city i DID find to be beautiful though, is Edinburgh. Not too far from the highlands too, so this might be a nice option if you're not just looking for cities.

Granada is on my personal list, but I haven't been there yet. Should be worth the trip though, especially with the Sierra in the backyard. Hope I could help a little

[powtario]

Prague Christmas Market. Do it, wasn't bombed like everything else in WW2 and is beautiful.

If she likes trains then Paris-Florence with the Glacier Express thrown in could be good. Generally airports are kips and busy, trains can be classy and relaxed.

St. Petersburg is the only one that stands outside on a trip in central-Western Europe, let's hope the whole Ukraine thing doesn't go fully loco.

[old goat]

I love Venice--don't know about winter though. A big part of Venice is the atmosphere, not sure how enjoyable it would be if things are wet, cold, and gloomy. Carnival is supposed to be pretty cool though but that's later, of course.

Nothing to do in Paris besides the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower? Seriously? (For starters there's the military museum in Les Invalides where you can see Napoleon's tomb and stuffed horse and learn how DeGaulle won WWII.)

[Benny Profane]

Fuck, just sitting at an outdoor cafe with those gas fired umbrellas keeping you warm and watching the ladies pass by is fun.

[iceman]

…and when Benny's there, they all do pass right on by!

[/rimshot]

[Brecher]

It might not be a very popular opinion, but yes. I really don't think Paris is very attractive. Go have fun though, people are different luckily

[Benny Profane]

…and when Benny's there, they all do pass right on by!

[/rimshot]

Yeah, well wait until they need a big strong American to get them out of their next mess.

[abraham]

I say go for it, don't try to postpone til spring/summer. I've really liked Berlin, Copenhagen and Stockholm on my last couple trips. The idea of sticking around a city for a while is a good one for a trip like that. More than a weekend is better than just jumping between cities the whole time.

Are you going to get a car? Last time we rented a car it was at Schiphol and it didn't have snow tires. By the time we got to Austria we found out it didn't have snow tires and it could have caused some really expensive problems if we had an accident. If you're just in the cities a car is probably not worth the hassle. In Berlin we drove into the city, parked, and didn't touch the car until it was time to go home.

[BmillsSkier]

I would go to Venice instead of Florence, seems like the more interesting option.

If by interesting you mean in the middle of flooding season, then yes, it will definitely be interesting.

I love Venice--don't know about winter though.

You're right, it's not the right call. Again, Venice in Oct-January, when the OP is looking to go =

Fuck, just sitting at an outdoor cafe with those gas fired umbrellas keeping you warm and watching the ladies pass by is fun.

This is solid advice from Benny. Just sit outside in any of those cities and enjoy the world passing you by. You'll have drinks, and you can be reasonably warm.

It might not be a very popular opinion, but yes. I really don't think Paris is very attractive. Go have fun though, people are different luckily

Ok, you're doing it wrong. (But you did say you don't like cities so you may be disqualified here from the discussion)

Paris is gorgeous any time of year, but especially around Christmas. Walk from bar to bar, hotel lobby hop getting cocktails, enjoy stopping in small restaurants for a bite and to get out of the cold. It's fantastic.


Someone mentioned Prague Christmas market, which is pretty nice. Many of the cities will have something similar, but the whole Bavaria/Austria/Eastern Europe area does them better in my opinion.

I think you've picked a great time of year to go. Take your time and enjoy each city for longer than you think. I'd drop St Petersburg (world's northernmost city with > 1M people) Too far out for everywhere else you're looking to go, but that's just me. Oh, and bitter fucking cold.

[Brecher]

If by interesting you mean in the middle of flooding season, then yes, it will definitely be interesting.

Ha! No, didn't think about that. But then again: Most rain seems to fall in April/May and November. Also not significantly more than in the other months. So I think talking about "flooding season" is a little too harsh. But neither am I living there, nor am I an expert on italian climate.

Ok, you're doing it wrong. (But you did say you don't like cities so you may be disqualified here from the discussion)

If this is going to be a discussion of the best european cities, I'm most definitely disqualified. My recommendation for Edinburgh still stands though

[Deebased]

Drop Paris and St Petersburg and pick up the Amalfi Coast, Budapest, Venice for 3 days and Prague. You'll keep travel time down, get way more food/hotel/drink for your dollar and get to meet some genuinely friendly people.

Florence is one of the most under rated cities for food/sightseeing.

Lots of shit that will blow your mind if you can scratch the surface.

[old goat]

I assume you'll be changing your user name.

[iceman]

Wait a minute, aren't the Alps in Europe?

[BmillsSkier]

Facepalm.

People, trust me, having spent much of late November and most of December in Venice you do not want to honeymoon there during this time unless you like being wet and wearing your Hunter boots. See above pics for reference, or shit, google it.

/facepalm.

[Tippster]

Weihnachtsmarkt + Gluhwein

This. Go hit up the Christmas Market in Nuremberg as one of your stops. I'd also hit up Munich but that's my old hometown. Munich, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen... that would be my Itinerary for that timeframe. Fuck Paris. Fuck London.

Listen to BMills - Venice is no good during Xmas.

[Deebased]

I'd agree Venice is miserable in the winter but women still love it. Venice would be a side trip for his lady I can't ever spend more then a day or two there even in Summer it gets boring very fast, but if you're driving up the west coast of italy the lady is going to make him stop

[Ripzalot]

Facepalm.

People, trust me, having spent much of late November and most of December in Venice you do not want to honeymoon there during this time unless you like being wet and wearing your Hunter boots. See above pics for reference, or shit, google it.
,
/facepalm.

agreed. winter sucks here unless you are skiing.

[patxi]

I don't mind Venice in the winter. The part that's underwater has too many tourists in any case so that's ok with me. Stay on the other side of the main canal and there are less people and cool enough corners to explore which I like about Venice. Having said that, I wouldn't spend more than 2 days max in the city and a good portion of that would be spent eating.

I would also recommend maybe doing a tour of the second-cities in the countries mentioned. Italy: Orvieto, Todi, Perugia, Bologna, Lucca, Pisa, Genova, Verona are all good potentials. Germany: Freiburg, Ulm, Nuernberg, smaller towns like Dinkelsbuhl or Rothenberg of der Tauber, too many to list. Belgium: Bruges, Ghent, etc.,..

I think that Amsterdam and St. Petersburg would be better to save for a different time of the year.

Prague at Christmas is cool or any of the German places. Istanbul for New Years was memorable.

Unless you hit it right, I imagine that you will get sick of the shitty weather in Europe this time of the year. I would look at EasyJet timetables and plan a week in Marrakesh to break up the grayness.

Honestly, you can't really go wrong and you can be completely flexible this time of year. Don't reserve anything and just see where you end up. If you don't like it, one overnight train trip and everything will change.

[Meathelmet]

Facepalm.

People, trust me, having spent much of late November and most of December in Venice you do not want to honeymoon there during this time unless you like being wet and wearing your Hunter boots. See above pics for reference, or shit, google it.

/facepalm.

You fail. If you cant keep your significant other fired up in venice (or in the rainy wintery europe in general) you should get your sacks removed.

Winter time is the time to travel around. You have marginal amount of peeps strolling around, the weather doesnt make you sweat your
balls off the moment you step outside, the people (restaurants/locals/hotels) are not weary of the summertime stress and the prices are much
lower. Have spent the last 2-3 weeks dicking around french riviera/provence and it has been an absolute blast.
Even if it has been raining.

There is not basically single soul anywhere, the mountains are even more stunning as in the summer and you have the laid back vibe going on with the locals. People actually take notice and sit down for a coffee with you.
The only downsize is that in places that are geared for summer tourism, only few or any places are open.
So when trying to find lodging you have to pay attention or use the social skills to find the Gites/gasthauses.
But that usually pays off.