Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Urgent- Pleaseee HELP - Spain, Italy or France for Xmass and New years

Urgent- Pleaseee HELP - Spain, Italy or France for Xmass and New years

Old Nov 30th, 2016, 07:21 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 298
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Urgent- Pleaseee HELP - Spain, Italy or France for Xmass and New years

Hello everyone
My father passed away last christmass from pancreatic cancer, and my mom and him were suppose to go on a trip to spain, but never made it.

This Christmas we have a flight to London from Canada (we live in the us)

we leave 23 - jan 1

my question is what would be the best itiniary to get good weather and a nice place to spend xmass and new years for us..

Mom is 70 Im 40 -- not super active people

Spain - was thinking Barcelona and seville to madrid to lonon

Italy - don't know any area but was thinking maybe Rome and ???

France - was thinking Paris and Nice ?

Please Let me know as soon as possible.

Thank you so much
Lilly2016 is offline  
Old Nov 30th, 2016, 09:29 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,763
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
Good weather is not guaranteed anywhere although it will generally be a bit warmer in the south (although that does not always hold true). At the moment it is about 5°C max in Paris and about 13°C max in Nice.
kerouac is online now  
Old Nov 30th, 2016, 09:31 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,763
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
If your trip is only from December 23 to January 1st, I hope you are not planning to go to more than one other place besides London, so the term "itinerary" would be a bit abusive.
kerouac is online now  
Old Nov 30th, 2016, 09:34 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 5,234
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm confused about your itinerary. How many places are you actually trying to visit? I'm counting 8 days and if you're not super active, you'll cover less ground. Travel days and jet lag might eat into that too.

Logically, I think I'd split the trip between London and Paris. Because I'm assuming you fly home from London as well. The problem is that the weather probably is not what you have in mind. What are your interests? Budget? Does your mom have any mobility issues?
marvelousmouse is offline  
Old Nov 30th, 2016, 09:40 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,613
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
If your flight is to London, I would visit London. Yes, it may be cold but you can bundle up and enjoy a wonderful city.
KTtravel is online now  
Old Nov 30th, 2016, 09:54 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,642
Likes: 0
Received 12 Likes on 1 Post
Why did you book tickets to London if you want to go to Spain, 8taly, or France?

I would go to southern Spain for the best weather.
joannyc is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 05:08 AM
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 298
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hello Everyone, TY soooo much for your replies....

the reason i booked the london round trip was:
1. my husband and little boy are traveling somewhere else via London to see my father in law - and we were going to be on the same flight for half way. Easier for transportation from Buffalo where we are to toronto.

2. London via toronoto was Nonstop and much better price-- prices high for xmass NY week.

3. figured it was a hub to where we decided to go

-----
as far as the cold weather.. - we are from Buffalo, NY colder than Alaska at times.. so we can handle the cold, just not Cold Winds -- with cold winds we think it's hard to sight see

----
I would have rather stayed in one place for the week, but my mom wants to see at Least two places.. her original idea was Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon Portugal in a week, she wants to jam it in mostly bc of cost.. and bc she is ok with jus getting a taste of the cities.. (unlike me), and I think she now feels time is limited to travel with Dad being gone and all their travel plans never happening

----
Now - I am not familiar at all with Europe so i wanted to get info as to which of these would be the best option to do ... during the holiday week..

1. Train to Paris - see something in France - (mom not a big fan)
2. Italy - Rome and the sea side? not sure if there is a fast train from London and if it's a good time during the holidays?
3. Flight London to Barcelona -- 3 days in Barcelona than Flight to Seville 3 days there and Train to Madrid and Flight back to London

Or any other place that maybe better.. Please LMK asap,
any advice or input sooooo much appreciated.
Thank you
Lilly2016 is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 06:04 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,607
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
You have less time than you think, basically six full days.

Most North American flights arrive the next morning. So, you arrive on Christmas Eve, one of the busiest travel days (into LHR?). The next day, pretty much everything in London will be shut down - transport, restaurants and museums. You need to be back in London on Dec 31st, to be sure of making your flight out on Jan 1st. Again, a major holiday.

I see three options, unless you just stay in London - and it will get dark earlier than you are used anywhere in northern Europe. Buffalo is on the same latitude as southern France.

The first is London and Paris, connected by Eurostar, or London and Nice, connected by air, although you are too late for cheap fares, and your mother isn't interested in France.

The second is Lisbon and Madrid, connected by a night train. Personally, I would just stay in Lisbon, but with the night train you could add Madrid, although it will be colder (it's higher and inland).

The third is to combine Barcelona and Madrid.

Unless you stay in London you will lose a lot of time moving around. Since you have already bought the tickets to London, any flight connection will not be protected, so you need to leave AT LEAST four hours from the time you land in London until the time you fly out, and that's not allowing for a change of airport, which I would NOT attempt on Christmas Eve. That's why I say you have only six full days on the ground.

For info on European trains including the night train and how to buy tickets:

seat61.com

For schedules: bahn.de

For cheap flights: skyscanner.com

Good luck, you're going to need it.

BTW, there is no reason your mother can't continue to travel. I am a 69 year old woman, and I just got back from a three and half month trip, all but two weeks were solo, and I included central and east Asia.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 07:37 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,971
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You are doing RT London. Since you have an international flight out of London, you really must be back in London the night before that flight. So, you have time for London and one other place, period!

Seaside in Italy is not a good choice in winter.
Days are short, dark very early, weather is iffy.
Sick with a nice city that is easy to get to.

Upon landing in London, fly or take a train directly on to the main city you wish to visit. Stay 4 nights (3 days), fly or train back to London for last 2 one 3 days.

Paris by train would be a good choice. Easy, fun, not rushed.

Barcelona by plane would be an OK choice.

Malaga would also be a good choice because you could see Malaga and Granada.
You could also do a fast trip to Seville, Córdoba, Granada or some combination of Malaga, Seville, Córdoba, Granada (only time for 3 though, and that is really rushing it), and it very much depends on what flights you can get.
Sassafrass is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 08:53 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 49,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I get the sense you don't have a realistic grasp on how short your time is. And you're simply not going to get "good weather,"if that means warm and sunny, anywhere that you have time to go. Then you add in that you don't travel at a particlarly energetic pace. SO....your choices are very limited.

There is no fast train from London to "the seaside in Italy." Plus it's not the season to be hanging around shut-down beach resorts. Scratch that.

Paris is do-able. But if your mom doesn't like France, scratch that.

>

You don't have enough days for that if what you've told us is correct. Plus it has you hanging around 3 extra airports, which on a whirlwind trip like this is absolutely no fun and eats up loads of time.

Go to ONE other place besides London. Or sign up for a tour.
StCirq is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 09:04 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,549
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
Fly about 4 hours after you land at LHR directly to ONE other city -- Lisbon or Barcelona would be possibilities because they are cities with things to do despite it being winter (it simply won't be seaside weather anywhere).

Then 4 days later fly back to London and stay the rest of your very short time there before flying home.

You don't have time for anything else -- but finding accommodations and flight this late for Christmas week will require both a serious search . . . and a lot of $$$. Any discount fares will be gone and many hotels are already booked up.
janisj is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 09:05 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,831
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
My condolences about your father's death. You could easily go to Paris but since your Mom doesn't want to, why go there.

I'd go to Spain that is easy enough to do from London, of course. Having to get back to London cuts the time a day, so I wouldn't try to do as much as you envision (all those cities). You could easily fly into Barcelona and then take the train to Madrid, so do 2 cities. Seville is just harder to combine with Barcelona, they are too far apart with no easy direct connection (except flight possibly, but you don't need more flights). You could fly into Seville from London, then take the train back to madrid, also, either way.

Or you could fly into Malaga, take train/bus to Seville, then fly back to London, if possible. I'd just stick to 2 cities with only a week.

Easyjet, my favorite budget airline, does fly nonstop from LGW to Seville, but the flight is at 6:20 am and I'm sure you won't be able to get that (no flight on Christmas). They also fly from LGW to Barcelona at 6:50 and at 9:10 (not sure you could make that) and at 2:20 pm. They fly between LGW and Malaga at 6:50, 10 am and 4:45 pm, and to Madrid from LGW at 12:25 pm.

I believe Vueling also fly nonstop between LGW and Barcelona at 9:50 am. British Airways flies nonstop between LHR and BCN at 9:55 and 1:25 pm, and has several flights to Madrid, also. Iberia flies between LHR and Madrid at 1:50 pm.

So I'd pick among those choices, depends which airport you fly into. Of course you can connect between LHR and LGW but it's a bit of a pain. If you fly into LHR, which I suspect, I'd fly to BCN or Madrid, as I think those are your choices from there nonstop. Coming back, since you have to do it a day ahead of time, it doesn't matter so much if you fly back into LGW then have to get to LHR. So you could fly back from Seville to LGW. Easyjet has a flight from SVQ to LGW on 12/31 in the morning.
Christina is online now  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 02:50 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,613
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I have been to London in winter and we had a great time as there is so much to do indoors (as well as brisk walks out of doors.) There are so many museums, historical sites, shops, etc. that you will never have time to fit it all in. London theatre is wonderful, tea time is fun, etc. There are also opportunities for trips to Bath, Stonehenge and other locations.

If just staying in London won't do, the easiest next plan would be to add Paris by train.
KTtravel is online now  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 02:58 PM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,919
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Unless you immediately fly somewhere else on the 24th, you'll be basically stuck in London until the 26th. Everything in London is closed on Christmas Day, and there is no transportation running at all. Even walking around isn't a lot of fun, because the streets are showing the bad effects of a lot of drunken reveling on Christmas Eve. As someone else said, if you decide to fly somewhere else immediately, be sure to leave at least four hours (or six, as I would prefer) between the flights, because the connections will not be guaranteed.

Spain sounds best to me, given your mother's wishes. I would go as far south as possible, but you still won't find beach weather. Barcelona is pretty far north.
bvlenci is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 05:38 PM
  #15  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 298
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
oh Wow... Yes I guess I don't have realistic expectations.. mostly bc of the massive Lack of information (before your comments). I have been to multiple travel agencies in Buffalo and no one could help .. they only sell tours to europe and do not have any for that time frame.

Yes I think a tour would be the Best for us, but the travel agent couldn't help us.

I did look at google flights and had found the following itiniary using Ryan air and BA and Vueling air arriving london 12/24 at 12 noon, leaving london to Barcelona on 12/25 9 am than leaving Barcelona 28 to Seville and than Train from Seville to Madrid 12/31 in am - than 01/01 leaving Madrid at 9 am arriving to London (YES HEATHROW) at 11 ish and leaving to toronto at 3 pm.

costing about $350 pp for all flights minus train from Sev - madrid

----

That being said... i agree with what you all said, i didn't have the info

So Please LMK What ONE european City is best to go see from London

Paris
Barcelona
Madrid
Rome
Ireland ? Scottland

anything else???

mom loves to travel but she is getting slower and Cost is a big issue for her...

so for her to be wanting to see a great city that week, what's the best one.. she is def NOT the museum type (opposite me), loves to just immerse herself in the culture of the country / city.
food, shows, shops, cultural events etc

what is the best
Please LMK
Thank you so much

if you had to pick ONE like you guys said.
Lilly2016 is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 05:58 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I think you need to do some research on the weather in the places you will be going. Seaside visits make no sense anywhere - there is no beach weather in europe at that time of year.

Yes, southern Spain will be warmer - perhaps highs in the 60s but lower at night - but still no beach weather.

For Italy do realize that you can get snow as far south as Rome, although it's rare.

You time is so short, and the days this time of year are short that I would limit yourself to 2 places so you don;t spend the bulk of your time just getting from one place to another.

If it were me I would do London and Paris, but if you mom doesn't like the idea of Paris then make it London and Rome or London and Madrid. That way you have a couple of days in each place to see things and the chance of a trip into the country - although do remember it will be a winter countryside.
nytraveler is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 06:03 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,607
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Your mistake was starting with a TA. What you need are GUIDEBOOKS. Try your library or hang out at your local Barnes and Noble with a cup of coffee and some of their books.look for DK Eyewitness, Fodors, Insight, Lonely Planet.

We can't decide for you what you or your mother would prefer. As I said, I would go to Lisbon. If you are interested in architecture you should go to Barcelona. If you don't care for museums I would skip Madrid. But you need to acquire enough info to make a sensible decision based on your interests.

Do you already have tockets getting into LHR at 12 noon? You want a flight out that evening. Equally DO NOT fly into LHR the day you fly out. You will have no margin for error if something goes wrong.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 06:16 PM
  #18  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 10,256
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I've been to both Paris and Rome for Christmas and either would be great if you can work out the transportation kinks given your arrival and departure from London, etc.

I've actually been in Rome during the Xmas/New Year's time frame twice and both times weather was, well, not warm, but comfortable for me as a Californian (in a coat and gloves, which I often had to remove during the "heat" of sunny but crisp afternoons).

And I've been to Paris two times at Christmas. One time I struggled with the weather a bit, but it was in no way unbearable.

Have not been to Spain since I was a child, but it seems another good option.

Check skyscanner.net for flights.
Leely2 is offline  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 06:56 PM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,613
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I would ask your mother to pick one city and then plan around her choice, even if that just means she picks a name from a hat.
KTtravel is online now  
Old Dec 1st, 2016, 07:19 PM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 5,234
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I don't like to fly. So I would pick Paris, most likely. Or I would just stay in the UK- split your time between London and somewhere else, like Edinburgh or Bath. But I think you should talk with your mother about what she really wants to see. Your parents must have had specific things they wanted to see in Spain.

Usually it costs less to stay in one place. But a lot depends on what lodging you can find. I have travelled with older relatives a lot and the transit days tend to be really tiring. I've found it much easier to stay in one place. 6 days sounds like a lot but in reality I've found we can do one "activity" a day, so if traveling with them, I can cover the same territory in 6 days that I could cover in 2-3 days on my own. (but it may be different for you- the relatives I've travelled with are 5-10 years older than your mom, and also not in the best health).
marvelousmouse is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -