We have an opportunity to spend a week in late May 2008 in Europe. We are travelling with a couple that have stipulated that they want to go somewhere warm with the opportunity to relax some of the time and we are more interested in a place with some culture (museums, historical sites, theatre, food, etc).
We are trying to decide between five options: Portugal, southern Spain (with a side trip to Morocco), Amalfi Coast, Barcelona, and Tuscany (Siena).
We are always so focused on culture that we never remember the weather or relaxation options. If anyone had any thoughts, they would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Europe options that are warm in May
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I would go for either the Amalfi coast (you can see the Naples Museum, Pompeii etc - as well as do some beach) along with a couple days in Rome.
Or, do southern Spain. You can spend a couple of days in Marbella and then do a little car tour of Sevilla and perhaps Granada or Cordoba or even some of the hill towns. The beach weather here will be more sure than the Amalfi coast. (We have found the water fine on Amalfi in May, but we're used to the north Atlantic. If you're used to very warm Florida water it might seem chilly.)
Don't know about theater in either place. Italy wins for food.
Why not consider the Côte d'Azur? There are many museums and historic sites in and around Nice, along with beaches both there and to the west.
How "warm"? I wouldn't go to Rome at the end of May, because I would expect it to be too hot - for me. Everyone has different standards. Another place to consider is Sicily. I'm planning a trip there for late April/early May, and it seems to have plenty of culture as well as scenery and beaches.
I love Barcelona ; it has culture, parks, museums, great food, the beach, side trips....
Any of the places you have mentioned will be warm in late May. Expect burning sun (it is three weeks before culmination!). Swimming will be possible at either location, and each place has nice beaches.
Each of the places has lots of culture.
So, it will be hard to decide.
Maybe this may help: Spain and Portugal are much less expensive than Italy (food, beverages, hotels).
May in Sicily is special.
Almost anyplace in Spain will be warm in May (except the mountains).
With just a week I would skip Morocco and concentrate on either Portugal or Spain.
Madrid's San Isidro (15 May) festival continues thru the end of May. If I had a week in Spain I would base myself in Madrid and do daytrips to Toledo, Segovia, maybe Sepulveda, maybe Burgos or Avila. Try to do too much and you'll spoil what should be a fun visit!
We spent an incredibly wonderful week in the South of France (Nice) the first week of May a couple of years ago. The eather was fantastic; upper 70's; just perfect. We also spent a great vacation first week of May near Oporto/Viana do Castelo area.
Just about anyplace on your list would fit your criteria. The one thing I would pass on though is a side trip to Morocco.
It will be HOT, and to get anything out of Morocco you'd want to go quite far inland - which will eat up 3 or 4 days, and be even hotter.
Thanks for all of the replys.
Definitely ditching the Morocco part. We are looking at Sicily today to see if it would be up our alley!
Our week in May this year was in the Cinque Terre part of NW Italy. It was HOT! Side trips to Lucca, Pisa and Genova should satisfy the cultural part of your vacation.
We did Puglia in May a couple of years ago and it was nice and warm. Food is great while the ruins are amazing
vamoodys:
Your initial lists includes many top destinations in Europe. Sicily is nice, of course, but to be frank: Your initial list is somewhat above Sicily. And Sicily is quite southern. In late May, the sun will be burning hot there. (We usually go to Sicily in February or early May, when other regions are still chilly.)
The most consistent weather at this time of year in Europe will either be in Andalucia or the far East in areas such as Cyprus or Turkey.
Italy and France will be at least moderately warm but can be a little bit of a lottery with rain. The rain can be very heavy and almost inhibit any outside activity.
The weather in Sicily should be as reliable as anywhere elase and very difinitely meets your other needs.
Cyprus is a good idea. And greek island of course (especially Crete and Rhodes-although in Rhodes it may be windy).
Hardly burning hot !
Weatherbase says the 20 year average for Palermo in May is high of 70 and low of 61. Sounds perfect to me.
Interesting... Weather Underground, queried for May 1 - 15 for Palermo, gave the average high over the last 10 (not 20) years as 72, with a range of 62-91. But it did say there's only a 1% chance of temps over 90. Sounds pretty safe to me, but things may indeed have been warming up.