Hello,

My girlfriend and I are going to take a short (4 maybe 5 days) trip to Europe in early November. We want to go to an area that is in the mountains, with lakes and woods. We also want to stay in a nice, romantic hotel with possibly a spa around. Any suggestions?

Grindelwald, Switzerland

Lake Como, Italy.

Baden Baden

I would suggest http://www.villafeltrinelli.com if you have (well over) $1000 a day. Any of a number of places in Baden-Baden, if not.

Best wishes,

Rex

Although... on second thought... November? How about Sedona, Arizona?

Europe is more convenient at this time. I should have said mountains are a big plus. I really enjoyed southern Germany (south of Munich) with the Alps and lakes. I checked out Baden-Baden, they call themselves winter capital of Europe. Not so nice in November? I don;t quite want to go back to souther Munich area but somewhere similar with spas and mountains would be nice. I enjoyed black forest area in the past as well.

I meant "summer capital".

Try finding pictures of the Baden-Baden area and decide wh ether or not it really seems that "mountainous" to you as opposed to somewhere like Grindelwald.

Baden-Baden has hills, not mountains. It's like the hills in central PA (which are also called mountains). It will still be nice in early November, but you may have some rain.
BB has several spas to choose from. We were there about 2 weeks ago and stayed in a hotel with its own spa (the Sofitel/Dorint) and also went to the Caracalla spa, which is a lot of fun and worth a visit. BB can easily be reached by train from the Frankfurt airport.
It has lots of good restaurants (I think you would enjoy the Kurhaus adjacent to the casino), good cafes, nice shopping. Things to do beside the spas include taking the Merkur train (a funicular) up to the top of one "mountain" for a beautiful view of the area (on a clear day, it's really nice at sunset), hiking around the old castle, checking out the modern art museum, strolling along the pretty canal. Overall, BB is an elegant, romantic place and fun if you're willing to accept that these are small mountains, not towering peaks. And no lakes to speak of, a few small ones, but you can't see any of them from BB.

My other rec would be Salzburg, close to the mountains, enough to do if the weather doesn't cooperate, and you could hop over to Hallstatt, definitely gorgeous lake views there.

I would skip any of the real Alpine mountain resorts. Early November is their dead time, the summer/early fall visitors are gone and they are all focused on getting ready for ski season. (Baden-Baden, in contrast, is fully open to welcome visitors year round.) Plus they would take more time to reach from the airport, eating into your short vacation span.

November is kind of a problem in Europe as it is too early for skiing and too late for nice fall weather or most outdoor activities, it is just plain wet and cold. Some hotels might be closed until the ski seaon which starts more in mid-December. Grindlewald, mentioned above is not on a lake or really near a lake, is not really going to be that nice in early November, and does not have any hotels with spas (believe me I have looked, I used to live in Zurich).

Take a look at weatherbase.com to get an idea of weather in various places.

Finding spas in most other mountain lake towns is going to be a bit of a problem as well. If you rule out the Baden-Baden area, some reccos would be:

Lake Como – not really great weather in November, unless you luck out. Pluses are that hotel prices should be good (assuming they are open on your dates) and that Villa d'este, a fabulous hotel, has a good spa. Take a look at http://www.villadeste.it/

St Moritz - the lake is really not that well located for views from hotels or the town, which is what I imagine you want, the lake is at the bottom of the valley and a bit outside of town. Weather will also be a bit of an issue. Plus side is that there are many good hotels, most have spas, one to consider would be the Suvretta House, take a look at suvrettahouse.ch.

Lucerne Switzerland – again weather not great, and I am not a fan of Lucerne. I am a fan however of the Burgenstock Park Hotel thoel located on a mountain above Lucerene, and they have a spa. Take a look at http://www.buergenstock-hotels.ch/

Interlaken, Switzerland - like this town even less than Lucerne, also the weather issue. However the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel is wonderful (at least he public aeras and has a – spa which should be great) you could also get up into the mountain areas of the Jungfrau by train in 30 minutes or so if you luck out at get good weather. Take a look at lhw.com

Lake Geneva aera – this is not strictly a "mountain town" region, as it looks over TO the Alps across Lake Geneva. It is however extremely beautiful, albeit a bit brown in November. Would probably be a bit warmer than any of the above places as it has a little bit of a micro climate, you can also do walks and tour vineyards for winetastings. I can recco three excellent hotels all with good spas:

Lausanne Palace & Spa
Grand-Chêne 7-9
1002 Lausanne
Tel: (+41-21) 331-3131
Fax: (+41-21) 323-2571
http://www.lausanne-palace.com/

Le Mirador Kempinski, Lake Geneva
CH-1801 Mont-Pèlerin (Vevey)
Lake Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: (41-21) 925-1111
Fax: (41-21) 925-1112
http://www.kempinski.com/en/index.htm

Hotel des Trois Couronnes
49, rue d'Italie
Vevey, Switzerland
Tel: 41 -21 923 32 00
Fax: 41 -21 923 33 99
http://www.hoteltroiscouronnes.ch

The Mirador is up above the town and would be in the pines and so would probably have the most country atmosphere. IMO the spa at the Lausanne palace is the best, although the gym and pool at the Mirador are quite something.

November weather is iffy all over Europe, especially where there are mountains and lakes. But the thing about weather is that you never know what it will be. Even in the rainiest months, there are sunny days.

You haven't said what your budget is, but take a look at the Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola in Lugano. It's a member of Small Luxury Hotels, and it has a fantastic spa. http://www.villacastagnola.com/
Best of all, November is low season, so the rates are very good.

This is a gorgeous and very romantic hotel, the kind of place where you won't mind staying in if it rains!