JoeTro

I may have the chance to study again in Europe, although my travelling would be much more limited than last time. I'd probably have a week or so either before or after Christmas (depending on when I'd want to go back home to the US). I'm thinking of a few possibilities below.

I love art museums, but I also really like to visit castles, gardens and parks, and I'm wondering if visiting them in the Winter would be really bad. Also, just the general coldness factor.

Another consideration for me is price: are there some destinations that might be really cost-effective now rather than say, April, or July?

Thanks.

My suggestions:

1) Lisbon (could I spend a week here)?
2) Berlin ... and maybe Dresden. (lots of interest for me in both places, but also lots of castles/parks)
3) Munich and castles and somewhere else (Austria?)
4) Bratislava and Vienna
5) Ljubljana and Berlin (could fly on Easyjet).
6) Krakow and maybe Warsaw.
7) Prague and daytrips
8) Copenhagen and somewhere else (maybe Berlin?)

JoeTro

Oh, another concern is if things I'd want to see would be closed; maybe this is more prevalent in some places than others.

traveller1959

You may visit any of these places around Christmas. It will be cold in any of those cities (even in Lissabon), but you will nowhere face big trouble with snow. For cities like Berlin or Munich, the week before Christmas will be kind of rushy. The pedestrian zones and shopping areas are illuminated with special Christmas lights and will be crowded with people buying gifts. On Dec. 24, everything calms down. The days between Christmas and New Year are usually very quiet and relaxed, and there is still Christmas decorations and illumination. Usually the weather is better, too.
In in these days, the hotel rates in the big cities are unbeatable. Check the internet offers of the business hotels! You may get a 5*-hotel at 3*-rates!

JoeTro

Thanks. I should have been a little more clear. I could probably go to those places say Dec 8-16 or January 8-15. I'd be home in America from a little before Christmas to after New Years

cheribob

Joe,

I ski in Europe every year. Usually between January & March. I've spent a couple of days after the ski trips in the following cities: Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Prague and Athens. The weather was never a problem (except in Athens where it rained!). It was usually either the same temperature as the US midwest (20 to 40 Farenheit) or a lot warmer! I never ran into a lot of snow in these cities either.

That's about all the input I have as far as the coldness factor. I would think castles would be OK. I went to Neuschwanstein, the Hapsburg Palace in Vienna and the Hoensalzburg in Salzburg, Austria in early March. However, there would not be much to see in the gardens at Christmas, of course.

Xenos

We went to Northern Cyprus last Christmas - my trip report's here - http://tinyurl.com/ncpfy

The weather was cool rather than cold and a couple of days we only needed t-shirts. There are numerous castles to visit and a few museums and art galleries if you're into that sort of thing and virtually everything was open whilst we were there. I'd certainly recommend it as a good (and warmer) alternative to a winter city break and flights and hotels are certainly a lot cheaper than in the summer months, but you would need to hire a car to see everything, because public transport's not so good in winter.

JoeTro

ttt

JoeTro

any more responses? Thanks so much.

Ingo

I'd like to encourage you to go to Dresden/Berlin. I live in Dresden and find the time before Christmas magical. The Christmas Markets (the oldest in Germany), the many Christmassy concerts, and of course the many castles and small towns which are well worth a visit in winter too. Of course you won't see blooming flowers, but a garden can be wonderful in winter (with snow) too.

There are plenty of world-class art museums in Dresden as you probably know. In addition, the Historic Green Vault will reopen 15 Sept 2006. (Reservations in advance highly recommended).

Let me add that Dec is high season in Dresden. If you stick with budget accommodation this doesn't affect you - only the hotels increase their prices. January in general is much cheaper and low season (usually cold!) and you could possibly get a deal on a hotel.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Ingo

JoeTro

Thanks for the advice. I guess I do need to be careful I don't go too close to Christmas if I want things to be a little cheaper. My fear about Berlin/Dresden is that there's lots of stuff at Potsdam I'd want to see that might be better in the Spring.

I'm considering Bratislava/Vienna, or maybe just Prague for now. We'll see, though.

nessundorma

One of the good things about visiting northern destinations in winter is that those places are really built for cold. So there are lots of ways to warm up.

I don't think you get much out of going to gardens in winter, however, and days are short. Castles and churches can be incredibly chilly once those old stones freeze. I suggest you pick a destination with museums whose art works you want to see, especially since going to these places in the down season will give you the opportunity to see those artworks without the crowds.

You are wise to look to go before Christmas, because some Europeans use the week after Christmas to visit family, so travel bargains may disappear.

JoeTro

I'm very, very tenatively thinking the following, say starting early/mid Dec.

Ljubljana (2 days)
Graz (1 day)
Vienna (4 days)
Bratislava (1 day and fly out late)

I'm worried that this might be too fast; should I add a day anywhere? I'd really only have about 1/2 day in Graz counting travel, for example. Also, it seems like I'm going to places in which I'd want to do some exploring outside or to places (especially Vienna) with good palaces and gardens that might not be so good in December.

Other considerations include 2 cities between: Lisbon, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, but I worry about the difficulty in flying between those pairs cheaply (it seems like flying to Berlin or between Munich and Prague could be OK), and that things might be closed (like Melik or Karlstein in Prague)

JoeTro

any thoughts about this? Thanks!

JudyC

For your interests, except visiting gardens, everthing else is more enjoyable than visiting them in high seasons. As I have visited most of them in the winter, either 2 weeks before Christmas or in January, February.

On your latest list, it seems you would spend a lot of time on traveling between destinations. Perhpas it would be more enjoyable to spend the entire time either between Vienna and Budapest (more interesting than the other 3 places), or between Vienna and Prague, as it is only short train ride from Vienna to these 2 cities- and all have more than enough to offer (besides some daytrips)for 4-5 days.

noe847

I'd vote for Vienna and Prague. I have visited both in Dec/Jan (Vienna 3 times and Prague twice). Neither will be so cold as to prevent you from enjoying it. Athough you will have winter weather, you cannot be guarenteed of weather cold enough to produce snow. You can easily take the train between Prague and Vienna.

If you love museums, Vienna will be fantastic. It boasts one of the top art museums in the world, the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Additionally, the Albertina houses some amazing drawings. The Museumsquartier is a huge new cultural complex which contains the modern art museums. Vienna also has the St. Stephen's Cathedral, a beautiful example of Gothic architecture. The famous Viennese coffeehouses are great for a warm break.

Prague has an amazing castle complex, which includes a Gothic cathedral and some museums on the grounds. Additionally, there are art museums nearby. The old Town square is hard to beat in the winter. The Christmas market extends into January, but I don't know how long.

JoeTro

Thanks for the tip. Is there a way to get from Vienna to Cesky Krumlov? It seems like this might be more convenient than doing it from Prague.

JudyC

Twice a day, direct train from Vienna Franz Josefs BH to Ceske Budejovice, takes less than 4 hours. Frequent buses (the bus terminal is across the train station) from C.B. to Cesky Krumlov take less than an hour.

sara_qc

The castle at Cesky Krumlov doesn't offer tours (may be closed) after Oct. 31. We were in Prague in Nov. 2005 and didn't make the day-trip there because of that.

JoeTro

Thanks; that's a shame.

What castle do you all prefer, Karlstein or Konopiste? Konopiste would be closed in December, which is another concern, and I'm not so sure that Melnik would be as nice. Maybe Prague is something better saved until April?

JoeTro

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