Empty Nesters at Christmas
 

The kids are all with in-laws for the first time, and this lonely Mom and Dad want to head to Europe for Christmas. We like both city and small villages. Any suggestions for Europe or Great Britain?

What a terrific idea. I'll start: What about Salzburg, Austria, or Lucerne, Switzerland, or maybe Wells, in the southern UK? Oh, or maybe Rothenburg, Germany? Way too many possibilities. J.

What a great idea. We do the same thing and have a great time. I would recommend you look at Strasbourg. It was a great experience and there are many day trips you can take to the Alsace wine road, Badeen-Baden and the konengsburg (sp?) Castle and you can have the cuty and small villages. We have been to London, Paris, Rome and Strasburg at christmas and had fun at all of them. They arent small villages though but with they day trips it breaks up the stay in the big cities. This year we are flying in and out of Marsailles and doing some of SE france and Cinque Terra and Florence. NYE in Florence.

Brugge, Belgium! We went for New Year's two years ago and are headed back for Christmas this year. It's beautiful during the holidays.

Munich, Innsbruck, Edinburgh.

One of our best Christmases ever was the first one that we were in exactly your situation. We went to Paris. You can see trip photos here:
http://www.rozault.com/Paris2003

One good thing about Paris at Christmas is that France is a very secular country, and there are plenty of places open on Christmas Day. We spent Christmas morning at the Modern Art gallery in the Pompidou.

This year we are trying Nice, and hope we have as good a time!

Skiing in Zermatt

What a lovely idea! Have a wonderful time wherever you go!

Great idea, but the possibilities are enormous! I have never been to Europe over the Christmas holiday, but have been to both Brugge, I think the little canals and main square would be gorgeous. Absolutely love Salzburg and saw a picture of the city with snow over the holidays. However, having lived in Germany, most everything is closed on the holiday and people are with there families, so the Paris idea sounds really good.

Thanks for the great ideas. Paris and Strasbourg are top of our list after all your great replies (and Brugge), but I'm wondering if anyone has spent the holiday in the Cotswold area of England? It's one of our favorite spots other times of the year, but I'm afraid it might be closed up at Christmas.

Ditto to what nonnafelice has said about Paris at Christmas--exactly. Except we (my mother, sister and I) went as our "last year before we have in-laws and babies" holiday.

Enjoy!

Were there restaurants open on Christmas Day in Paris?

Oh, yes, although it would be worth it to do a little research. Also, many restaurants have a special menu on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, in which case it's wise to reserve.

Thanks. I'll do some research. As I said Paris and Strasbourg are top of the list, but in case my husband still thinks Great Britain should be an option, I'm hoping someone might have an idea for that area too. You are all so great with suggestions. Your help is very appreciated.

We had this "delimma" last Christmas. We flew into Paris. Spent a night in Riems where we really enjoyed the Christmas market. Then we drove to see friends in Heidelberg, on to Rothenberg, Fussen, Munich and finally Christmas in Salzburg. It was a great trip. We had been to these areas before but the Christmas markets and the snow made it very special.. We stopped in Colmar on the way back to Paris. It was pretty but pretty slow after Christmas.

Alsace: Riquewhir is the best.
M

Wow! These suggestions are great. We've never been in the Alsace region (except at night on a train) Where is Riquewhir? Other than the suggestion for Wells, it's sounds like everyone would choose France or Austria over England?

I would not go to London. We were there last year for 2 weeks and while we went to a great concert at St. Martin's in the Field a few days before Christmas, it was really quite boring in such a wonderful city. Most of the museums were closed as were many restaurants. Everything was closed on Christmas Day, the tube, stores, restaurants as well as on Boxing Day as well. Hardly any decorations..........head for somewhere else but London!

Thanks! We'll for sure skip London. Are the villages as closed as London?

Riquewhir (FR) is between Stausbourg and Colmar. They are famous for storks on their chimneytops although I'm not sure that happens now. Great little middle ages village.

Thanks for answering back and letting me know where it is. We will definately be checking out the region.

travelrene, here's another vote for Paris. But, to be fair to the UK, how about Bath? You could do a week in Bath and a week in York or Edinburgh. To get more ideas for the UK, you could post a separate thread asking specifically how to spend two weeks in the Cotswolds, etc.

Also, the latest Travel & Leisure has a spread on where to head for Christmas--I haven't read mine yet but the usual suspects are on the list.

Best of luck and have a wonderful time w/your husband.

My husband and I are also first time empty nesters this Christmas but he has used up all his vacation time. I keep saying I am going to go on my own but it does seem cruel to leave him here alone over the holidays! But there's always next year! But we have been hesitant to travel here in the US or to the Carribiean at Christmas because of the outrageous prices charged at that time of year. Is that the case at European destinations, say Paris? Also has anyone been to Barcelona or Amsterdam at Christmas - those are two cities we have enjoyed at other times of the year.

We went to Paris on one of the go-today.com Christmas package deals -- we paid about $1500 for the two of us including airfare from Boston and hotel with breakfast for 6 days. It worked out very well for us, and we were perfectly satisfied with the hotel.

I think you do have to book those pretty well in advance though. If you try to book your own airfare around Christmas, it's hard to get good deals.

Go-today does have quite a few Christmas packages, so you might want to check them out.