Western Europe honeymoon in Jan/Feb
 

Hello everyone!

My fiance and I are considering Western Europe as our honeymoon destination starting end of January 2022. I know it's going to be winter but we would like to take advantage of the low rates to explore Europe for the first time. We considered Maldives but it doesn't seem like the best bang for our buck considering the airfares and pricey resorts there due to peak season.

We would like to explore historical architectures, food, culture, some adventure/nature activities and, of course, relax on an island. Do you think Spain would give us all of this in winter? We are also open to considering other locations like Greece, Portugal and Cyprus.

For Spain, I have been reading up and found places like Andalucia, Tenerife, Seville, Madrid and San Sebestian I would love to visit and an additional Sierra Nevada for a winter destination. Our length of stay will probably be around 10 days so it will be difficult to visit more than 3 cities. Which ones do you think would be best to visit (and in what order) at the end of January for a honeymoon?

I would really appreciate your suggestions to make this a memorable honeymoon :) Thanks!

Remember that along with winter in Europe comes shorter days, less sunshine and little opportunity for eating outside. If “more bang for the buck” does not give you the experience you really want, then no matter how cheap, it is not good value. OTOH, if you don’t mind bundling up, seeing great museums and cathedrals, and cozy evenings inside are good for you, then winter might be great.
Of course you have a budget, but it IS your honeymoon. If it is to be in winter, then don’t pick a location that is primarily a warm weather destination; pick a location that is good, no matter the weather or pick a location known for winter vacations. It seems you have a ton of different ideas, kind of all over the place, including city sightseeing, architecture, nature and “relax on an island.” Picture your days and evenings. Museums and dinner inside, hikes in woods or walks on beaches and dinner in outside cafes? If the Maldives was your real wish, there may be other, less expensive places that would fit.
Where are you departing?

None of the places you listed are at their best in winter ... and any reference to islands means you haven't looked at a globe, not a map. They are all too far from the equator. Are you from the US? Many Americans mistakenly equate the Mediterranean with the Caribbean ... no! It's much farther from the equator ... temps are something like Washington DC. You can have a wonderful honeymoon in London or Paris, with stunning museums, superb restaurants, fascinating walks through historic streets, lanes & parks. And if the weather turns rainy or windy, there's always a cafe to duck into. And the nightlife will be far more interesting than in summer in world capitols like these.

You probably won’t get everything: warm island plus city culture and nature hikes. If you can give a more specific picture of what you hope for in a honeymoon and your total budget, including travel, as well as your location, you can get some good, concrete suggestions. Will your total trip be 10 days or will you have 10 days on the ground plus a couple more travel days? You may also still have to take COVID restrictions into consideration.

Europe in the winter can be really special -- Christmas markets, winter festivals, theatre, concerts, long evenings in front of a roaring fire. If its January and it must be Europe, I'd want a city-centric trip . . . definitely not an island sojourn. Nowhere in Europe will have 'beachy weather' though Sicily and very southern Spain might have pleasant days. But to have long days and warm weather look to the southern hemisphere. Maybe South Africa?? Great beaches, wonderful scenery, amazing animals, and interesting culture/history.

10 days is not very long - you stay 10 days "length of stay" - does that mean you'll actually have 12 or 13 days total when factoring in travel days??

When I was younger I liked winter vacations in Europe, but that was to go skiing in the Alps.

Janisj has a good suggestion! I’m an American living in England, and have been to South Africa twice for the Christmas - New Year period, and a couple more times in spring and fall. Nothing better, IMO, than escaping the northern hemisphere winter and spending some time in the south. Cape Town itself has everything you could wish for in a city, with beaches, mountains, wine district, fantastic restaurants, modern shopping centres, and the Cape of Good Hope. With a few extra nights you could fly to one of the luxury safari lodges bordering Kruger National Park.

Cyprus might be a good option for you. It’s a big island, the 3rd largest in the Med. There are many historical sights, lots of culture, restaurants etc. It’s Greek ( the Republic) with a hint of the Middle East thrown in. The best mosaics I’ve seen at in Paphos which has an old castle in the harbour. Locals are very friendly & hospitable.
In the Troodos mountains there will be snow with ski resorts open and by the coast it might be sunny & warm but there could also be rain. Jan is the rainiest month usually. Wild flowers start to appear by Feb.

Thanks for the honest feedback! Thinking about this a little more, we are willing to move "relax on an island' to a nice-to-have as long as we do have somewhere to decompress after the wedding i.e. it can be relaxing anywhere. The important part is to have a good experience in terms of things to do, sightseeing and some adventure. We are not looking for nightlife as such so we are fine with cosy evenings inside, in a cafe or somewhere else indoors. Having a cultural experience and hikes in the woods/forest would be great!

We will be departing from Oman after visiting some family there. I had 10 days for the whole trip in mind but on a second thought we are willing to include 2 extra days for travelling. Let me know your thoughts :)

Thanks for your input :) I did see that we do have a chance of a winter sun in Southern Spain and this is where the idea of Spain came about. South Africa would've been great but we are planning on visiting the country later in the year for a close friend's wedding.
Apart from Spain, is there any other European country to consider for February? And do you perhaps have suggestions for what kind of places/cities to visit during this time?

Thanks! I'll definitely look into Cyprus a bit more. Let me know if you have any specific places you would recommend in Cyprus?

Paphos is really lovely, nice seafront, good hotels eg the Annabelle, Almyra or the Amara in Limassol if you want to be more central.

But from Oman, you have several choices. South Africa has been mentioned, which is a fantastically beautiful country to visit, have been many times, Seychelles (did not like Mahé island very much but there are other islands to choose), Mauritius, Kenya & it’s Indian Ocean beaches + safari. I’m not sure of the COVID situation/entry rules of these places except Cyprus is pretty easy. Check out Tripadvisor too for Cyprus suggestions as they have a pretty active forum.

Perhaps consider Nice in the South of France? It started its tourist life as a winter sun destination for British and Russian aristocracy. Evenings in January/ Feb will be cold; however, you should get sunny days to eat outside for lunch (although no weather is guaranteed on the Med in winter).

Plenty to see and do, both culturally and socially, with day trips a plenty to pass the time.

"Apart from Spain, is there any other European country to consider for February?"

Any country in Europe can be great for a winter trip . . . just not for lazing in the outdoors,, beach time, even just walking in the countryside (possible on good days / not possible on really rainy/snowy/blizzardy days -- which you can't plan ahead for). I spend time in London almost every winter and LOVE it, and Paris can be magical. Venice really doesn't work because of the possible flooding. So -- if you want a winter city trip pick any one or two cities that interest you and go for it.

If you want a low key/kick back/lots of outdoors time and South Africa is off the table for this trip -- maybe look into the Canary Islands or possibly Morocco or the Azores.

Maybe I should ask which European destination will maximize our chances of being outdoors in winter? Will Southern Spain + Canary Islands be a good combination for this? I'm also strongly considering Portugal now. Thanks :)

A few years ago we spent some days in southern Spain in February and while it certainly wasn't terribly warm, it was shirtsleeve weather for part of most days. We based in Gibraltar for a couple of days and in Tarifa for the rest. We'd been to Gibraltar before and found it as interesting as ever, even though the crossing to/from Spain was subject to some delays (only for cars; pedestrians can cross easily, and there are rental car offices on the La Linea side of the frontier if interested.)

From Tarifa we visited a couple of wonderful "white villages" in the Andalusia hills, and also visited the Baelo Claudia Roman ruins near the sand dunes and beach where the kiteboarders and windsurfers were enjoying themselves immensely. Every day was sunny, the roads and restaurants pretty empty, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We didn't go into Cadiz but could have easily; Seville is a couple of hours from Tarifa as well.

Here are a couple of photos if interested.

Barbary apes in Gibraltar

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...62388e6ec2.jpg

Europa Point lighthouse, Gibraltar

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e495f41111.jpg

Jebel Musa, the southern Pillar of Hercules, as seen from Gibraltar. There's frequent ferry service from Tarifa to Tangier in Morocco.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...57588dd7bf.jpg

Baelo Claudia Roman ruins

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a62dffe7db.jpg

Vejer de la Frontera, one of the white villages

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...46dbab94ee.jpg

A bruja ready for Carnival burning in Medina Sidonia, another white village (and a very historic one.) All the street trees are full of oranges in the winter.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...082532f741.jpg

On the beach near the Punta Paloma sand dunes

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...22a5a2f8d0.jpg

Here's a map of the region if interested - https://goo.gl/maps/F89wWmHDC39ps8TTA

We visited Andalusia in southern Spain in December (I'd been there twice before in warmer months) and we absolutely loved it. The weather was mild with some sunny days (check historical weather at wunderground if you wish). I would not hesitate to return again in winter, although I have never visited in January or February. If you have 10 nights on the ground, then I agree that a maximum of 3 stops would be best. I suggest you focus on Andalusia, with stays in Seville, Granada and Cordoba. This is a classic itinerary and for good reason. In this area, the main airports are Seville and Malaga.

Donostia-San Sebastian is quite cold and rainy in January (well, it´s rainy all year round, and rarely too warm), so I would not include it for a winter trip if you´re looking for warm places and beach weather.

Most Europeans are outdoors 365 days a year.

If you're looking for beach weather the Canaries are fairly busy during the winter. It won't be my definition of hot but you'll have no trouble finding places with Northern Europeans swimming in the ocean. Problem is you'll lose at least a morning getting there and a second one on the return. A ten day trip makes those mornings precious.

The second thing is don't think north south. Granada IIRC is 700 metres above sea level. That means it'll be colder than say Valencia which is further north.

The only red flag I see in your requests is the want/need for adventure. What's that? Remember on the mainland many of the adventure activities are likely closed for the off season. You'll find surfing,scuba, sailing etc easily on the Canaries.

Final point your personal cold tolerance ends up playing a big role. I wouldn't call any of the places discussed cold or even that cool. If OTOH you're from Hawaii or other warmer parts of North America you might have a totally different cold tolerance.

As a northern European I tend to go as south as possible for this sort of holiday and as close to the coast as possible. The Canaries are the obvious visit as they are geographically part of Africa. I also go to Morocco as they offer a European-lite version of Africa and Islamic Africa (partially because Morocco has a number of religions and a good policy of positivity to other religions) Two obvious places to stay are Marrakesh (often warmer here than on the coast) or Essaoiura on the coast(more traditional) but there are plenty of others. I'd also look at the Azores but note that the weather changes a lot on an hourly basis in the Azores.

Southern Portugal and Southern Spain is also possible but I'm not convinced unheated water will be ok. Some people reckon that Sicily is also good and certainly prices fall heavily in winter and I've been frozen in Sicily in February.

Another option would be to go to a spa (fresh or salt water). There is a culture of spas (both out doors and indoors) on line from Germany to Hungary and some of them can be fantastic. When combined with skiing or at least cross country skiing or just snow that can make for a great holiday.

No matter where you go in Southern Europe there is risk that the weather will be/might be cold/rainy etc, whether it is Spain, Canaries or Cyprus etc. Athens can be ok too as can as lot of places. Some years it can be a mild winter, others it can be severe. I’ve been very cold on the Côte d’Azur in Feb, vineyards with frost and ice but it was lovely. If the OP can accept the risk, any of these options can work.

Hi!

I know it's not what you asked, but anyway... have you thought of Cabo Verde? With 10 days you can visit something like 3 islands. Sal has very good beaches, and beach things to do (wind-surf, diving, etc). It has some recent very good hotels, I Was there 20 years ago and stayed at Hotel Morabeza, That was ok, but I know by friends that there are much better now. It's a desert island, without water, so one must be carefull - cannot drink tap water. At Boavista you can visit the Volcano, and it's a completely different island, very green, with lots of agriculture. And then at Santiago Island you can visit Tarrafal, the terrible prison for portuguese political prisioners.

Of course that me, being portuguese, felt at home at Cabo Verde. Their oficial language is portuguese, and we have a common history and culture.

Last but not least, it's cheap.

Well, that's just an idea, perhaps to make you even more confused (sorry!)!

Helena

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos and experience - it definitely looks something worth considering for our honeyoon. Since you went in February which is the time we are planning to go, do you have an itinerary we can use as a guideline? Also, how would spending nights in Gibraltar and Taifa compare to the typical Seville, Cordoba and Garnada stopovers?

Could you share your itinerary please as a guideline for what we should be looking at? We are also considering extending our trip to a total of 12 days and squeezing in 3 days at the Canary islands for around 3 days. Does that sounds like a good idea?

We planning on extending our trip to a total of 12 days to fit in the Canaries - this is something we really want to do! I see the flight from Barcelona is about 3 hours so if Spain does work out, we are planning to start with Tenerife, go up to Andalucia and finish off at Barcelona. Does that sound like a good plan?

For adventure, it could be anything and not necessarily those with an adrenaline rush (although some of it would be nice ;)). This is the first time to Europe for both of us so it's difficult to contextualize what kind of adventure we are looking for (if that makes sense). I think we would survive lows of 8 degrees :)

Cabo Verde seems interesting and something I never thought of - thanks, I'll take a look. Although this definitely makes me more confused xD

Morocco has been on our mind. However, we see that the COVID situation doesn't look very good there and the extended curfews might not make a our trip too enjoyable.

Portugal is something we are strongly considering. Do you have any suggestions on a Portugal vs Spain honeymoon?

The area we visited in February is very different from the Seville/Cordoba etc. area. In Jan/Feb I suspect the weather would be significantly cooler in those areas (but probably still nice.) Evenings will be chilly throughout the region, of course. You could certainly combine both areas in one trip - they're not very far apart, after all.

It's been 20 years or so since I was in Seville and Cordoba (never got to Granada) so no current info, or course. On that same trip (as Seville) we spent a couple of days in the Alentejo region of Portugal and loved, loved it. (It's in the warmest part of Portugal - too hot in summer but nice the rest of the year.) If I were going on a honeymoon (congrats by the way) I'd head in a minute to a hotel in that area where we stayed - quite a wonderful place, the Horta da Moura near the hill village of Monsaraz.

Gardyloo, Horta da Moura looks so wonderful, the kind of place that really leaves a memory. Don’t know how much more traveling is in my future, but this is going on my wish list of places to stay.

The big issue is 12 days is very rushed for that. Barcelona can also be cold . Even in May it can feel cold. I love Barcelona but accept mid winter it can be cold. At least it'll be warmer than Madrid -)

12 days will leave you approx 9-9.5 free days on the ground after accounting for transatlantic flights, immigration/logistics, and jet lag. If you plan three bases the transit time cuts another 1.5+ days from your sightseeing/exploring/relaxing time. So you are talking about 7.5 to 8 free days for 3 places.

With less than 2 full weeks and being winter time I'd probably limit myself to two destinations

This is a valid point - we also don't want to exhaust ourselves after the running around from the wedding. Is Canary Islands + Barcelona a good option then? We can leave Andalucia for some other time. Otherwise, we are also looking at Portugal which we might be able to fit better in 12 days.

I don't think you're going to the islands but one specific island. There are quite a few Canary islands and some are fairly large.

Plan out what you want to do. For example in Barcelona

Sagrada Familia ?
The museums?
Some people like going to the main market but I find it touristy.
That time of year at most you're walking along the beach


Make your own list and then decide how long you want to spend in each. Two stops will be much easier

Canary Islands, at least the popular ones eg Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura are busy in the winter season ie very touristy. There are some really built up areas, I think you need to research where to go if you are looking for local culture. There are some lesser known islands which have been on my list to visit.
Did you look into Madeira already?
The Andalusia itinerary looks like a great option for winter.

For the Canary islands, we're leaning more toward Gran Canaria. You would not recommend this for an end of Jan honeymoon?

Barcelona is definitely in our itinerary so now the decision is whether we would like to split our time between Barcelona and, Gran Canaria or 2 cities in Andalucia (Seville and Granada?). Any thoughts?

It really depends on your interests.

Granada the Alhambra.

Flickr Slideshows (Photostreams)

Portugal is a small country, with lots to visit and do. The hottest part of the country is Alentejo region, but this year we had snow there in January. So, we never know. A few years ago I spent a week there (in a village called Minas de São Domingos, between Serpa and Mertola, that has a very nice boutique hotel) exactly at the end January, beg Feb, and it felt almost Spring, only had one day with a litle rain, and there were already lots of flowers in the fields.I live in Porto, and usually here we have rainy days and very cold weather until end of April. I lived in Lisboa for a year, it's only 300 kms away, but in my experience, there you can have one or two days of rain, but then the sun appears. Here in Porto, you can have one week, two weeks, always raining, sometimes I feel that I can't remember what the sun looks like!

I'm not sure if Portugal fits your wishes. When you mentioned Portugal, I though Cabo Verde because they used to be a portuguese colony (still in my lifetime).

If I were you, I would choose Andalucia, Spain. I love Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla, Algeciras, Gibraltar (well, that's not Spain, but it's there), Tarifa, Malaga... I made a promess to myself, I will return there (have been twice) in Winter. And you can take the boat to Ceuta (half an hour) or to Tanger (2 hours, I think).

Spain is more expensive than Portugal, but nothing comparing with some other european countries. Good food, good wine, happy and beautifull people. And someplaces, like allambra, can be real romantic!

Congratulations for your wedding!

Helena

beaches in Oman
sorry, link is not posting, but if you actually want beach time, why not go while you are in Oman. The beaches look amazing there and they have so many adventure activities with some unique and beautiful resorts. I will try to post links again later.
If you have narrowed the trip down to Spain, then focus on Seville, Granada, Cordoba, perhaps Marbella and Barcelona. That will fill your time nicely.
Otherwise, I would actually suggest you do a very different city (like Paris or Rome) in another country for four nights and pair it with Southern Spain. You might also look for festivals during that time.

A mix of both would be great! Is the Andalucia region recommended for a beach holiday? This way we can skip the Canaries and focus on Andalucia + Barcelona.

Thanks HelenaFatima for sharing your experience. I was considering Portugal because we could cover a lot of it in the short time we have, compared to Spain which is HUGE. I am debating between Andalucia and the Canaries so hopefully I'll be able to decide soon :)

If you mean to actually go in the water, no. It will be way too cold. Feb is really not beach holiday time in most of Europe. It is usually too cold even for sunbathing too. Let go of this idea.