ledhead

Hi everyone,

My family and I had wanted to go to Nice, FR or Amalfi and wanted to swim in the Mediterranean. However, my daughter is in medical school and only has 17 days off in December because of an accelerated program she is in. Obviously if we go to those places in December we wouldn't be able to swim (I don't think) so we are thinking of putting off that trip for another year.

The problem is, we are not sure where to go in December. Have been to Germany, London, Paris and Tuscany already. What about Norway, Sweden and Finland in December? Is it too cold or, would that be a good itinerary for winter travel? Would we be able to do the Norway in a Nutshell tour and see the fjords? Or if not, could we have some recommendations please!

Christina

YOu can't go to the beach in December, it is winter in Europe. YOu can only do that near the equator. It's only around 60 degrees F outside in afternoon (down to around 40-45 at night) in Nice in December. The water is about that same temp (60F or 15C).

I think what is too cold depends on the person and what they want to do and how they want to spend their vacation. I travel in winter when it can be 20F in the daytime, but that's to go skiing when you expect cold weather. I wouldn't want to spend my vacation time in winter doing other things as I wouldn't enjoy it as much, but I don't have that much vacation time or money to spend, so I must maximize it.

Why don't you go to Mexico or the Caribbean for a winter vacation if you want to go to the beach?

nytraveler

Um, SCandinavia in winter will be cold - like the northern US. Nothing like Siberia - but what you might get in NY or Boston - in a regular winter. Certainly not to cold to go outside - but you probably wouldn't want to do hiking or spend hours outdoors.

Southern France or Italy is more likely to have moderate temps - good for touring - but even there you can get snow in winter (but rarely).

Not sure where yuo are from or what temps you are comfy in. We had a neicce visit from FL and she kept aking us to put th heat on when it was 70 degrees. IAll of us were wearing tees and shorts - but she was in heavy jeans a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater. (Maybe she was anemic. But I think she was just used to really hot temps.)

kerouac

During much of this past winter, it was often colder in southern France than northern France, contrary to popular believe. Of course, "eastern France" beats both of them for being cold due to the continental climate.

In December, without making it an obsession, you should take advantage of some of the magnificent Christmas markets. Strasbourg has the best one in France, but cities like Lille are also excellent in December. Lots of the German cities also have fabulous Christmas markets, and you should probably not overlook Brussels and Bruges either if you have not visited them before.

One of the things I like about northern Europe in the winter is that it is totally alive and full of cultural activities, in comparison to the southern cities that are in hibernation -- they do just about all of their interesting stuff in the summer.

hetismij2

Norway may be cold, it may not be. This year they had a very mild winter for instance, whereas last year was extremely cold.
NIN runs all year round.

Maybe you could consider a Hurtigruten trip - even one way, so you see more of the country and real winter above the Arctic circle. You will then also experience the Arctic night (since the sun doesn't rise in December), though you do get twilight, and have a great opportunity to witness the northern lights.