Visit Europe during christmas & NYE
 

I am planning a trip from atlanta georgia to Europe, December 22, 2011 to Jan 02, 2012. I was thinking about going to paris/barcelona or Finland/paris, I dont really have a good standing on which place to visit during the winter. If anyone could give me suggestions for the ideal vacation that includes 10 full days, split between two or three countries it would greatly be appreciated. And also any recommendations for hotels/apartment to stay in during that time.

Thank you

We have spent NYE in Paris: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...stmas-2009.cfm

And Lisbon - I'll post in a minute

Expect short days, cold and rain, but lovely decorations and great spirit. We also spent a few days in Brugges in 2007 and Strasbourg in 2008 to go the xmas markets.

Where you go depends on what you are interested in. What do you want your vacation to be like?

I'll post our Portugal trip...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...l-20102011.cfm

Oh and the other thing to think about is what is closed when. London pretty much shuts down on 25 Dec (no public transit and most things are closed). Alot of xmas markets close on the 24 Dec. So make sure you research what you want to see and plan your transport carefully.

What draws you to Finland at that time of year? The weather will of course be cold and wintery, but more importantly, the daylight hours will be very very short. I'm of Finnish ancestry and would someday like to go there, but in the summer. I've no desire to experience a Finnish winter - my grandparents' place in northwestern Minnesota was bad enough!

@ Hazel: We normally spend our christmas in michigan, so i am used to the cold. I thought possibly the ice hotel and the normal lights would be a worth while time. Other wise i'm just trying to build ideas of where to stay.

I went throughout Europe during the summer of 2005, and wanted to show my wife Europe during the winter time.

@ Jamikins: I would stay away from London only cause of how expensive it is. My thoughts were to either snow board, check out museums, take some tours of castles, go to a christmas market as long as I can get there as they are going on. I would be arriving in europe on the 23rd of december. I will check out your lisbon post. Other wise i was thinking about arriving in paris and staying there for 5 days through christmas and then flying to barcelona until the 2nd of Jan. The only problem is, is that i have been to both of these countries before and want to plan out a great trip for my wife.

I'm not sure why people think London is so expensive. I find it cheaper than lots of Euro cities (the £ and the € are not that much different right now).

Paris and Barcelona will be great. Go where you want to go.

I went to London in 2005, and i'm sure the US dollar has gone done since then. The cost of a meal, even though on par costs me 2x more. Do you have any suggestions as far as hotels for either country? A preference for Zurich versus Berlin? I'm not 100% sure where i want to go, other than having a romantic vacation.

If you are looking for hotel recommendations you need to give us a budget (120euros, 200 euros?) and the cities you are considering. Do you mean Paris and Barcelona?

Sorry to hear that about London, I live here and that is not my experience at all. I am horrified at the cost of things in N. America when I go back, a glass of wine (small) plus tax plus tip runs about 3x what I pay in London.

We have gone to Europe over Christmas and New Year's several times. We found London to be very very quiet on December 25 and boxing day on the 26th. Most of the Christmas markets close down about 2pm on December 24th. Prague Christmas Market stays open between Christmas and New Years. Paris is lovely and seem to be pretty much "open for business" through Christmas. Our very favorite place to spend Christmas eve is Salzburg. The midnight mass at the Cathedral is very memorable. They also have a nice little Christmas market up till Christmas eve. Weather can be cold and wet or snowey but that is part of the charm. Enjoy your trip.

We have gone to Europe over Christmas and New Year's several times. We found London to be very very quiet on December 25 and boxing day on the 26th. Most of the Christmas markets close down about 2pm on December 24th. Prague Christmas Market stays open between Christmas and New Years. Paris is lovely and seem to be pretty much "open for business" through Christmas. Our very favorite place to spend Christmas eve is Salzburg. The midnight mass at the Cathedral is very memorable. They also have a nice little Christmas market up till Christmas eve. Weather can be cold and wet or snowey but that is part of the charm. Enjoy your trip.

If romantic is what you're after, I'd steer clear of Zürich. London is pretty dead around Christmas. Paris would be my choice (though I haven't been to Finland or Barcelona in winter). I'd also think about Strasbourg, which is incredibly vibrant at Christmastime and a fine city to visit any time of year.

To give you some more ideas here are the pics we took in Bruges Belguim (the xmas markets were all open after xmas)
https://picasaweb.google.com/jamie.a.../BrugesBelguim

And Strasbourg (I think mos markets here close on the 24...)
https://picasaweb.google.com/jamie.a...asInStrasbourg

Friends spent NYE in Berlin last year and while it was freezing, they had a wonderful time - lots of markets and excitement.

Thank you guys for all of the recommendations. I would say as far as budget is concerned, I'd like to spend up to 175 euro a night. Jamikins: if you have suggestions for a short stay in london, I'd be more than happy to hear it. I will check out your pictures. Right now, I am in the research part of planning.

@ StCirq: Thank you for your recommendation on Zurich being a no go. Paris should be great for christmas.

Zurich and Berlin are a bit hard to compare.
Berlin is one of most affordable capitals in West/Central Europe, though I am not sure if it really fits your idea of a "romantic" winter holiday.
Europeans have two major destinations in winter: either the Alps or the Canary Islands or Turkey. The latter two are obviously for those who could care less about snow.
As AisleSeat wrote, places like Salzburg are very romantic at Christmas time, but due to its low elevation, rain is as common as snow in late December.

Scandinavia can have much more snow during that time, and Stockholm is quite romantic (especially because the days are short).

A contrast would be Southern Spain. Experience Sevilla or other parts of Andalucia, and with a little luck the weather will be more like spring.

I too would suggest Salzburg, with Vienna as well.

The Ice Hotel is built in Sweden, not Finland. http://icehotel.com/uk/ICEHOTEL/About-ICEHOTEL/

There are lots of normal lights, but you likely mean the Northern Lights. That's about all the light you'll get, especially if you cross the Arctic Circle. Daylight ended by 230-3 pm in Gdansk at that time of year and any part of Finland or Sweden you'd see is far north of northern Poland.

London is not necessarily expensive. It depends on how you structure the trip and where you stay. NYC is more uniformly expensive to visit than London, which has a far broader spectrum of price ranges for accommodations. For 175E/night, you can get a very decent hotel.

I think Prague or Krakow would work for what you're after; Prague especially and in your 175E night range you can still do well even though Prague is expensive around NYE.

I loved Paris last Christmas!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-fantastic.cfm

there is a second smaller report with some pics that I missed on the first report...(Christmas in Paris was fantastic part two)

anyone have suggestion for hotels in amsterdam around 150 euro a night? And a hotel in prague for something around 125-150 euro a night? Also what is the best district to stay in, in paris during christmas?

Thank you

Lots of debate on where to stay, so it depends on what is important to you. We stayed in the 6th because we liked the area around the Carrefour Odeon/St Sulpice (Gerard Mulot, Le Comptoir, Le Danton, Marco Polo all right in the area with the Odeon metro stop all right there...quick to take the Metro or walk to favorite stops). We prefer the Left Bank to the Right, and many will disagree with me.

There are Christmas markets at St Sulpice and St Germain des Pres, so it was ggod for us.

There are many other Christmas markets (I think La Defense and Champs Elysee have large ones...check this forum for info on locations).