mindylt1

My husband and I will celebrate our 18th anniversary in January, and it's my turn to plan the trip. We've lived in Europe for several years, and we've visited most of the "standard" tourist spots, so I'd like to go someplace new. Also, since we live in Germany, where we got slammed by snow and ice all last winter, I'm thinking about heading south. I know that no place is going to be really warm, but I don't want to be fighting the elements the whole weekend either.

One idea I have is Dubrovnik. We've been to Croatia, but it was a beach vacation in Istria, and we loved it there. Any idea how that might be in January? Obviously we won't be swimming, but will most things be open, and will we be able to enjoy the city?

I'm also considering Barcelona. Somehow, in our travels, we've managed to leave off Spain. My daughter took a school trip to Barcelona and enjoyed it....or is there somewhere else in Spain that you'd recommend?

Those are just ideas, and I am very open to suggestions. I'm planning to do this over MLK weekend, and could possibly take an extra day off, so we will have 3 or 4 days. With that amount of time, I'm looking for one main location, with the possibility of a daytrip. We love history, museums, and scenery, and just walking around soaking up the ambience. We're not too far from either Frankfurt International or Hahn, and we have a train station just down the street, so either of those would be our transportation preference.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!

KayF

One idea is Nice. We had a week there over Christmas a few years ago and really liked it. We were living in London at the time and it was a lot warmer and sunnier in the South of France. You can check historical weather averages on Trip Planner on www.wunderground.com Not sure if we were just lucky but most days during our week were sunny and around 15 degrees (celsius).

There are lots of shops and restaurants and from memory everything was open and there were lots of locals about as well as some tourists. There are some great day trips you can do by bus or train as well - St Paul de Vence, Monaco, Ventimiglia market, Eze, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, etc.

We stayed in a terrific apartment but with only 3 days perhaps a hotel would be easier.

Kay

sheila

Long weekend from where? London?

If the US, why would you?

mindylt1

Thanks, Kay. I'll look into Nice and the South of France, in general. My hubby is a bit of a francophile, so I don't know why I didn't think about that...

Sheila, as you'll see in my original post, I live in Germany

Any more ideas out there?

sheila

oops; sorry. Missed that. I looked, too.

In that case, Lisbon or Madrid would be my choices; but only because of the weather. Barcelona's lovely; so are Paris and Rome. Lisbon is top, tho'

Javeanomad

Barcelona maybe OK if you are escaping from snow and ice in Germany but the Costa Brava is cold in winter. For more reliable weather you need to travel further south - either Costa Blanca or Costa del Sol. The Atlantic side will be subject to more severe weather.
What about Morocco - Marrakesh, Casablanca, or Fez?
Hope this helps.

tcreath

I think Dubrovnik would be lovely in January. We were there in November, also off-peak season. Yes, the weather was a bit chilly, but most restaurants and shops were open and best of all there were very few tourists. There was something romantic about strolling the quiet streets of Dubrovnik at night with the street lights shining against the marble sidewalks. Loved it!! There are many daytrip options. We loved our visit to Kotor in Montenegro.

Tracy

nytraveler

For moderate temps I would head to southern Spain. Seville is you want culture, dining and history - Costa del Sol if you want golf and tennis.