Good travel spots in Europe
 

I'm sorry to be so vague but I am asking people to give me good places to travel to in Europe. I like old places, good beer, castles, small easily navigate-able cities, eating meat, and gambling. I want to go this January and would rather visit a place with mild winter weather.

Sorry, but no place in Europe has mild weather in January. Perhaps very southern Spain might have nice-ish temperatures. But even that isn't guaranteed. Europe is very far north and winter is generally cold, wet, and often snowy.

But it may depend what you mean by 'mild'.

Try Barbados--Europe is too cold.

Napoli

Sorry, but no place in Europe has mild weather in January>

not so - much of Italy, souther France, southern Spain, Portugal and Greece have what has to be described by any definition of mild weather. Been to Italy many a January and often in the 60s, but not always.

It's true that Rome in Jan can be 60. But you can also get snow.

If someone wants a guarantee of decent (50s or so ) weather I think the only place reasonable relaible is southern Spain. Almost anyplace ele yuo can get chiily temps with rain or even sleet.

Warm, January, Europe = Canary Islands. That's as far south as you can get in Europe.

Mild is a relative term. As a Californian, my definition of mild is probably very different from someone from say, Minnesota.

Anyway - I can't help you with the mild-in-January part, but for beer, I can definitely help you.

Belgium is a fabulous destination for beer. Lots of great choices, including the Trappists. Belgian's treat their beer like many other people treat their wine.

Germany is an obvious choice for beer. For big cities, Munich is a good place to visit - lots of great beer to drink there. The Germans aren't as creative with beer as the Belgians, but German beer is solid and invariably good. The Franconian region in Northern Bavaria is the place to go for beer in picturesque towns and smaller cities. Bamberg is my favorite - the Rauchbier alone is enough motivation to fly across the ocean.

Then there is the Czech Republic - another great beer drinking destination. I have only been to Prague, but I WILL be going back - there is more beer to drink :)

None of these places is likely to be mild in January, but I say if good beer is what you want, bundle up and go for it.

Beer and mild winters don't seem to go together, IMO. Belgium and Germany are the beer centers. Italy, and Spain, will have the possible mild temps, and my experience at least with Italy is that the beer is pretty poor. It's all about wine, of course. Gambling -- I don't know where except Monaco you can do that. But we don't gamble. Monaco, which is surrounded by southern France, is not known for beer, either.

I think you will have to decide what is most important.

Well, you could fulfil some of your interests on the Rhine, just near Frankfurt, even if the weather's not right. Even though this is a wine region, you can still get quite good beer here, you can get castles, and there is a casino in Wiesbaden. Eating meat is no problem either - get a pork knuckle for a massive portion of meat. Plenty of restaurants would serve this.

And at the risk of disgusting many, I was told about this place by an acquaintance. I've never been but it seems you can get supersized portions of food (a meat lover's paradise). It's at Hofheim, which is towards Frankfurt:

http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/...60321183608672

Not sure whether this is yuck or not ...
Lavandula

For Belgium, I would recommend the town of Dinant. Small and easy to navigate with an old and charming center, has a castle, plus beer and gambling (The Casino).


The other options are Bruges, Ghent and possibly even Antwerp, though for gambling, the nearest casinos are at the coast in Oostende and Knokke (I would choose the latter). If you do go to the coast, De Haan, which is between the two is also worth a visit.

http://www.partouchecasinos.be/

As for weather, that is the biggest gamble of all. We just don't know. It could be mild, but it could just as well turn out to be quite severe. It has been so erratic lately that one simply can't rely on any past experiences from previous years.

"I like old places, good beer, castles, small easily navigate-able cities, eating meat, and gambling."


Your criterion are at odds with each other.

What's more important beer and meat or mild-weather and gambling?

If beer and meat are the top priorities then it just screams that you go to Germany. Spefically to Bavaria and Franconia and even more specifically I'd put Bamberg at the top of the list. It is an orgy of meat and beer that also meets some of your other criteria of being a small, easy navigateable city that also is oozing with history. There is even a small castle at the top of it's highest hill.

The bad news is the weather can be rather unpleasant in January. However, January is bock beer season so just bundle up and drink plenty of the strong bock beers and you'll be happy.

Cinqu Terre in Italy can be interesting. Being located on the coast of Mediterranean Sea....the weather may be pleasant/mild.

<<I want to go this January and would rather visit a place with mild winter weather.>>

If that's the case then why did you tag Iceland to your OP? They call it Iceland for a reason.

In addition to some of the ideas above you might look at Crete for milder weather.

Băile Tușnad in Romania-- a dumbass answer for a dumbass question. Love to get into "dumbass" mode once in a while :-D

Your problem is not gambling - there are casinos in many places in europ - although in some they used to be (or perhaps still are) only fo foreigners.

You problem is the weather. The places with good beer generally have cold winters (think NY or Boston) with snow a definite possibility.

You can get mild weather and gambling in southern Spain - but not great beer or huge chunks of meat (more likely sea food and tapas).

The OP registered and posted this and has not returned. Doubt s/he is still reading . . .

The OP registered and posted this and has not returned. Doubt s/he is still reading

Always find it annoying,when OP never comes back to at least say a thank you, to everyone who has been helpful !!!

Allright, sorry for not posting to thank everyone for their responses. I am thinking of going somewhere a bit warmer like Italy so will need to adjust what I am looking for.

Thank you for coming back chatchaat. I had another thought--have you looked at Cyprus? I was there in Nov 2000 and the weather was perfect. I don't know if it's always so nice but surely it's warmer than most of Europe.