jeanniemarieaz

My husband I will be in Europe for 3 weeks in June. We are trying to decide where to spend the last leg of our trip. We're looking for sun, beautiful beaches and views, and a good mix of culture and nightlife. Ibiza, San Sebastian, Sicily or Nice? Any recommendations?? Thank you!!

kja

You might want to wait to visit Sicily until you can give it at least 2 weeks, or even 3.

sandralist

You don't need 2 or 3 weeks to visit Sicily. Presumably you weren't thinking of visiting the entire island, which would take you more like 2 or 3 months. It's filled with historic fascination apart from a few selected spots, Sicily is not noted for its beautiful beaches, and certainly not its nightlife in June.

Sun is not reliable in June in San Sebastian, and the nightlife is mainly about eating at the bars. People argue about whether beautiful San Sebastian has a lot of cultural interest apart from its food. I don't think so, others do.

Nice has pebble beaches, if that makes a difference to you, and for natural beauty, most people would go to one of the smaller towns nearby. Nice itself has a huge amount of cultural interest. Don't know if it has what you want for nightlife.

Never been to Ibiza.

It seems to me that if you are willing to go as far as Sicily, then you might also consider a lot of other destinations. Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, Greece....

kimhe

<the nightlife [in San Sebastian] is mainly about eating at the bars>

Great nightlife in San Sebastian. Several subterranean/basement discos and nightclubs close to the beachfront. http://www.sansebastianturismo.com/e...ghtlife/discos

There are also several music bars in the Reyes Catolicos area behind the Cathedral. Probably the best bet in San Sebastián for a really late night out when you are over the disco age. Udaberri Berri, Splash, El Nido, Pokhara are those which come into mind, but there are also more music bars and some dance clubs around here. In general, more upscale and laid-back than other parts of the city. http://www.timeout.com/barcelona/tra...-san-sebastian

I highly recommend the jazz/blues/funk Bar Be Bop long into the small hours. On the edge of the Parte vieja/Old town. The best atmosphere, and often great artists performing here.
http://www.barbebop.com/contacto/

And Etxekalte jazz oriented night club can be wild and fun. On the other edge of the Parte vieja: http://www.etxekalte.com/Etxekalte___Historia.html

Weather statistics for San Sebastian in second half of June says 7 hours sun/day (wetterinline.de). Expect heavy showers every now and then.

San Sebastian city beaches: http://www.sansebastianturismo.com/e...o-to-the-beach

Nonconformist

Sardinia might be better for beaches.

Rien63

While I can't comment on your other locations, I would avoid Sicily right now because of the migrant situation. I don't know how much you've been following the story, but it's reached crisis proportions. A large number of migrants are coming into Lampedusa in need of medical care so they're being airlifted to hospitals in Sicily. From what I understand the country is just rather chaotic with tensions running high.

If it were me I would just eliminate Sicily from your list for now since your other possible locations should be much calmer.

susanna

I spent a week in June in San Sabastian, the weather was very similar to SanFrancisco which is NOT beach weather. It was beautiful, fabulous food, friendly people, but, if you want to relax and lay around in the sun for that week, I would pick a different location.

jeanniemarieaz

This is all great information. Thank you so much!!! We've heard similar things about the weather in San Sebastian which is the only reason we were hesitant to go there. I did NOT know what was going on in Sicily so perhaps we will wait and go there another time. We definitely want to go to Greece some day as well as Croatia. My husband is Serbian, his family is from Montenegro so we hope that will be our next trip. This will be our first time in Europe so we want to cram in as much as possible. We are beyond excited!!! Thanks again!

jeanniemarieaz

I guess we've ruled out Sicily and Nice at this point. Still torn about San Sebastian. We keep getting mixed reviews. It looks and sounds so beautiful but I know we'd be disappointed if we didn't have some sunshine. We live in Seattle and get plenty of rain and gray days, so definitely try to avoid it on our vacations.

sandralist

These comments about the migrant inssue in Sicily are absurd exaggerations. What news are you looking at? Have you looked at map to see where Lampedusa is?

There is absolutely no reason to avoid going to Sicily because of migrants. Sicily is not "overwhelmed" by them in any way and the situation is "calm." It would be like saying don't go to California because of illegal migrants from Mexico.

This pure hysteria.

What makes it even sadder is that the "crisis" is that the migrants coming in boats are not reaching land. They are drowning. Recently, a boat caught fire and FIVE PEOPLE wereairlifted to Sicilian hospitals. That's chaos?

Seriously, folks. Italy is going to continue to rescue people, and care for them all over Italy. If you are hysterical about improverished people and war refugees, please go elsewhere. (In that sense, we really do have enough on our hands. Stay away.)

kimhe

<Still torn about San Sebastian. We keep getting mixed reviews. It looks and sounds so beautiful but I know we'd be disappointed if we didn't have some sunshine>

I've lived here and visited almost every June/July since 1987. Have always had all the beach time we wanted, as said average 7 hours sun pr day in June, and not at all unusual with tempeartures in the 80's. French and Spanish elites have come here in summer since the mid 19th century exactly for the pleasant summer climate and the beaches. Here's sun hours statistics for San Sebastian. June almost tops the list when it comes both to sun hours and temperatures: http://www.wetteronline.de/?pcid=pc_...tion&iid=08027

The normal thing in San Sebastian in the summer months is many hours sun pr day and the occacional heawy rain shower ever second or third day. And after heavy rain, San Sebastian is at its most beautiful...

Dukey1

Interesting that Ibiza has suddenly TOTALLY dropped off the possibilities list? I know the place can get wild at night but if you want sun you'll usually get it.

jeanniemarieaz

Thank you, kimhe!

jeanniemarieaz

Dukey1- we haven't ruled out Ibiza just yet. We know from what we read and photos we've seen that Ibiza would be likely be great! However, it wasn't in our original plans. The idea of going to Ibiza just came up in the last week or so. San Sebastian was our original plan. Just want to look at all options before making a decision. I wish we could go to ALL of them!

Rien63

sandralist,

I wasn't trying to make any political statement on the issue, this isn't the place for such a thing. But I have been following the story closely and my only reason for mentioning it is because thousands of people are entering Lampedusa but also Sicily and being admitted to Sicilian hospitals. There are as many people surviving the trip as not, thus having a significant impact on facilities.

Given jeannie has three great alternatives I suggested she eliminate Sicily simply because this isn't the BEST time to go. As I said I have been following the story and truth is the residents are on edge; it's a tense and charged situation.

I realize it is easy to misunderstand posts and be misunderstood, but I was simply stating a fact that this is affecting Sicily right now not just Lampedusa. I wasn't trying to be alarmist or have some sort of ideological agenda, so please don't read anything into my post that isn't there.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...mand-smugglers

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...escue-migrants

Rien63

Here are some actual photographs of the situation:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/gal...st-in-pictures

sandralist

Rien83,

I live in Italy and I assure you that I follow this news closely, and know very well what is happening. I also assure you that there is absolutely no reason not to visit Sicily this year. You may not be aware that this was going on last year as well. Last year, the Italian coast guard rescued several thousand people at risk of drowning at sea.

Refugees and migrants also come ashore in Greece, France and Spain. Whenever migrants come ashore, they are given medical attention by people who wear protective gear. If they need immediate intensive care, they are airlifted to hospitals that can give them that care.

Italy has a very long tradition of rescuing non-Italians in need, for free. Several years ago, when the Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Italy, survivors in need of medical care were airlifted to hospitals in Rome and treated for free. Every year in Italy, hundreds of tourists are airlifted from the hiking and skiing trails of Italy and airlifted to hospitals, and treated for free. Every year 20 million foreigners visit Venice -- some have correctly identified this as a crisis for Venice -- and nearly equal numbers visit Florence and Rome. As you can imagine, many hundreds of these "strangers" fall ill or are injured and need hospital care. Italian hospitals take them in.

Would you tell people to avoid Venice and the Dolomiti and le Cinque Terre because hundreds of non-Italians are rushed to hospitals there every year?

I am sure wherever you live, if 5 people traveling on a highway were caught in an explosion and were severely burned, your hospital would treat them. Or they would be airlifted to a hospital that could. No doubt this would happen even if they were destitute foreigerns.

Sicily is a very large place, as is the rest of Italy, and while the Mediterranean countires need the help of the rest of the world in paying for these rescues and for bringing an end to the conditions that compel people to flee their own lands, this situation is not overwhelming Sicily or Italy. There is no call for the kind of alarm you feel and no reason at all -- truly -- for you to be cautioning people against travel to Sicily.

Rien63

sandralist,

I can see by your post that either I'm not communicating effectively and/or you're misunderstanding my words. I feel like I'm being unnecessarily attacked. Did you actually read all my posts because some of your points have nothing to do with the situation at hand, like this for example:

'Would you tell people to avoid Venice and the Dolomiti and le Cinque Terre because hundreds of non-Italians are rushed to hospitals there every year?'

It's not ONLY about the people who are receiving medical care. I don't get the connection between your statement above and what's happening now in the south. Maybe the media is making too big a deal of the whole thing, wouldn't be the first time. It is curious though that the EU is considering an urgent meeting since the most recent disaster.

The whole thing's a tragedy for everyone involved and I don't want to taint this thread any more than it's already been tainted.