Winter Honeymoon - Help
 

We are looking for suggestions for winter honeymoon locations (late February / early March). And welcome all suggestions.

We will be staying 7 days. We don’t mind the cold, though it would be nice to avoid being cold and wet at the same time (which eliminated Scotland from the list). We don’t downhill ski, so I’m thinking winter mountain sport spots are probably not a good option. When traveling, we like to visit museums, historical sites, eat in local restaurants, visit shops to find things that are unique to the area, and generally relax. We like to visit both cities and smaller villages or towns. I’m inclined to take advantage of the off-season timing of the trip to visit a place that would tend to be overly crowded in the summer.

My initial thoughts are London, Paris or Dublin.

I’m also considering Italy (Venice and Rome, but wonder if these are better visited in the summer or fall).

Greece is not an option for this trip.

Any thoughts or suggestions for a romantic and relaxing winter destination would be appreciated.

I think any would be fine, as long as you are prepared for the weather and it seems you understand this. I agree you would tend to find fewer crowds in museums. Go to weatherbase.com for temps and rainfall (expect the latter).

If you go to Rome or Venice you may find some Lenten events going on which may be interesting to observe. You would find this in Paris, London and Dublin but to a lesser extent I would imagine. I assume your honeymoon would be before February 21; if not you may want to avoid Venice as Carnivale would be going on from mid-Feb to February 20 (Ash Wednesday is February 21), which would make hotels more expensive and the town can be very crowded. Conversely if your honeymoon is during those dates, you might want to go to Venice for Carnivale that is up to you. Venice in those months would be cold for sure so gondola rides may not be as much fun, but you don't have the flooding which can occur in the fall months, so overall if you are dressed for the weather and are OK with maybe not taking a lot of gondola rides, then I think it would be quite nice; but really any of the cities on your list would be a good choice. For 7 days in Dublin you would probably want to go out into the countryside as well. You would find Ireland warmer than you think, you may even see Spring flowers in March.

Although you don't ski, I have to say that the Alp regions of Europe are so beautiful in winter and there are many activities like winter walking, cross country skiing, horse drawn sleigh rides, sledding, ballooning, or just sitting by a fire sipping mulled wine that you can do other than skiing. You can also take the cable cars up and admire the wonderful views. I lived in Switzerland and actually think the Alps are more beautiful in winter than they are in summer. Although museums and historical sights are a bit thin on the ground in mountain towns, good hotels and restaurants, breathtaking sights and relaxation are not. Just something to think about. With only 7 days it would be a little hard to combine a city and mountain, although you could possibly go to Venice and then get to a Dolomite area ( (you can get to the Belluno and Bolazno areas in 2 - 3 hours). Milan is about 3-4 hours by train from Alp areas and is a wonderful city for a few days, and in Feb and March you could also go to an opera at La Scala, plus it has the museums, restaurants and historical sights. You could also go to a place like Salzburg or Vienna and combine that with a trip to the Austrian Alps. Vienna has an absolute ton of museums and history and activities and restaurants (and pastries!). Salzburg is seriously charming as well. Finally, I have to put in a good word for Zurich combined with a trip to the stunning Swiss mountains and which could be very easily done in the 7 days and Zurich has the museums, history, restaurants, charm and shopping as well.

I know it isn't on your list, but I would pick Florence. It is so rich with museums, you don't have to worry about poor weather. And if you get sunny days, you can visit some smaller Tuscan towns, like San Gimignano and Pisa, that are otherwise overrun with tourists. Florence, with it's red tiled roofs, looks beautiful in any weather.

I would also consider Vienna, partly because it is sometimes easier to be in a place that knows how to handle cold weather.

But I would also consider Sevilla, and then renting a car to do a loop through Andalucia and visiting Granada.

If you are drawn to the idea of Venice, the off season is a great time to go. Rome, too.

I also wanted to suggest Nice and a tour through Provence, since weather is often mild and sunny there.

Recommendations might also depend on the starting point for your journey. If you only have 7 days, you probably want to minimise travel time, flight connections etc. (By the way, do you have 7 days including travel days, or 7 days plus travel days? Big difference.)

I would recommend Barcelona, one of my favourite cities. It won't be hot in late Feb/early March, but it won't be cold either. It's a fascinating, lively city - I love its architecture, the restaurants, etc. You could rent a car for a few days and drive to Girona (walled city) and Cadaques (near the French border), a small fishing village that has been a popular artists' colony and holiday home the Spanish.

In response to the question -- I ave 7 days Europe -- the tavel to a from are not included in those days.

Hi B,

1. Paris
2. Paris
3. Paris

In that order.

((I))

Any places you might avoid?

I'd avoid the places where short days and wet weather would be the norm: Netherlands, al of the British Isles and Ireland, Belgium -- and I would think twice about Paris. If you love Paris, and I do, then it's fun, just like NYC is fun even when it's cold, especially as a week's holiday. There is plenty to do indoors. But Paris can not only be rainy but snowy and icy, and if you have never been, not being able to comfortably do a lot of outdoor touristing could be a disappointment to some people.

And of course I would avoid all places where most of the reason for going is the views -- because you could get one solid week of bad weather. So I would stay close to urban centers.