Winter travel/why I like it.
 

For the past few years I have been making winter trips to Great Britain. Being retired I can go at any time, but I now prefer my solo winter jaunts. I use the rail system with some buses and a taxi for those places necessary. Here is what I like. Fewer people at the sites I visit, More B&B choices, lower cost and long nights. I know most people like the long days of summer, but for me, I like nothing better than a dark, early night spent in a pub and after a hard day of travel, I sure look forward to my toasty bed. Last year I visited Wool in Dorset, York, Cleethorpes, Wellington and London. Yes, I got cold and wet on occasion, but had a ball. Making plans for this Winter.

I am also a big fan of going to places out of season, albeit not just cold and wet places. I also tend to go to Asia in the middle of the monsoon or the ultrahot 40°C dry season. One of the reasons is how much money you save and how easy it is to find accommodations, as well as the fact that there is often a chance that the weather will be just fine and not at all as bad as the statistics show.

This said, in Europe, after having seen seaside resorts totally closed down and deserted as well as other out of season places, I often get an urge to see them in the height of the tourist season because otherwise it is just, well..... sad.

We have travelled to the UK & France in February & March and were very lucky in our weather - 15º C in Paris!!

We prefer winter/ off season travel simply because of fewer people and better prices. Yes, there are some venues not open but we feel the $1000 or $2000 we save goes to another trip.

Almost all my trips over the past 9 years have been in winter. Only dowside is alot of places are cold but I also like less crowds, better airfares, better prices for nicer hotels .

We did London and Scotland in February one year. Loved it! I prefer cold weather though. The only thing that was not open was one castle, and there was a sign that it was closed due to weather, lol! We had a lot of snow on that trip and loved it.

We most often travel Nov-Mar. In addition to lower prices and fewer people, being from FL, we appreciate the cooler or even cold weather. There are more exhibitions and concerts,game is in season,and I love the shorter days. Nothing beats Paris after dark, with the illuminated buildings. The theatre season in London is in full swing.

It is true however that lots of places we've wanted to see have been partially or fully closed for the season but we've always managed to find something else.

One of the reasons I am looking forward to finishing school is so we can travel on the off-season :)

Hey! I'm just about to travel to Britain (London, York, Newcastle and maybe Glasgow)to next Jan-February. What's the weather going to be like? Rain and snow?

For the past couple of years, I have been travelling extensively in the winter too. And because there were less people, I enjoyed myself better. And come to think of it, last year's winter wasn't like a typical winter at all. At Rome the temperature was... 18, 20degree-ish. I had to take off my jacket and walked in a short-sleeved shirt on the street. Last year in Amsterdam was a good time too. It was their hottest winter yet. Then when I was in Switzerland- I just absolutely loved it. The alpine peaks were covered in snow, but the cities were mild enough for you to walk eithout shivering. And luzerne was absolutely fabulous. There were barely a few tourists in sight! I kind of felt like we were the only tourists there at that time.

But then again, no matter that the weather would be like everywhere else, it's always better where I am right now, Russia, where winter means -25 degrees on an afternoon, and -35 on many a winter night...

A few years ago my family stopped using the February school vacation for trips to warm places and started going to Europe. It was far less expensive at the time, and while the exchange rate has made such travel less of a bargain than it was six years ago, it still is competitive with travel within the US.

In the winter I like to travel to cities. The concert, dance, and theater seasons are active, the weather is fine for museums and shopping, the crowds are much lighter, the air fare is half the price of the summer. And as a special bonus, lots of destinations are warmer than home in Massachusetts.

I also like to travel in the winter, and it is partially for all the reasons listed, and partially because, like mms, I like winter. I actually love winter.

Art, music, dance, etc., all the attractions of cities, are great in the winter. And I can walk in the winter for much longer periods than in summer.

Last February in Paris was great.

I have traveled to Europe only in February (except Switzerland in May) for all the reasons listed. I also save the summer months to travel to National Parks here in the US and Canada. So far I've been extremely lucky with weather as it did not rain once the entire time I was in London with the bluest skies :D.

I hate winter in Canada so that is why I love winter travel to Europe. The weather is pleasant (read not cold), less people to contend with. Like Roger I love the thought of arriving back to a cozy B&B with a log fire roaring, all tucked in a duvet.

We travel to Euroope in winter because that is when we have time to take a few weeks. Coming from Sydney Australia we like seeing a real winter and actuially wearing coats and winter clothes, perhaps getting the opportunity to see snow - these days even rain is a rarity for us so the winter weather is a bonus. Added to this we seem to strike good weather in winter by some miracle anyway. last year we swam on the Amalfi Coast at New Year for example.

Having uncrowded visits is great. last year we were in Rome on the Saturday before Christmas and had NO WAIT to get into the Vatican museums.

"Hey! I'm just about to travel to Britain (London, York, Newcastle and maybe Glasgow)to next Jan-February. What's the weather going to be like? Rain and snow?"

Who knows? Or, frankly, cares?

It's practically certain never to snow in urban England - or at any rate not to stay on the ground for more than a few hours if it does. In the very rare event of snow actually sticking, expect immense transport disruption.

Rainfall scarcely varies in any consistent way from month to month, but for what it's worth February is, on average, just about the driest month of the year. In a normal winter week, you'll find an unpredictable mixture of chilly damp days, crisp, brilliant and dry days, any combination of the previous adjectives and a near-certainty of no extreme weather.

But since no-one comes here to sunbathe and you're not planning any country walks or mountaineering (or if you are, you need a different itinerary), why does any of this matter?

>>This said, in Europe, after having seen seaside resorts totally closed down and deserted as well as other out of season places, I often get an urge to see them in the height of the tourist season because otherwise it is just, well..... sad.<<

The high season in Brittany and in German North Sea resorts is between Christmas and the first weekend in January.

People like to walk along the beaches and enjoy the sea breeze. In the afternoon we drink hot chocolate or coffee with rum and whipped cream topping (we call it "Pharisee" for obvious reasons).

And: In winter, Brittany is one of the warmest regions in France (in summer, it is the coolest).

Well, as I said in the start of this tread, I really like winter travel and have experienced all sorts of weather. Last year from Dorset to York we had snow, so much that we arrived over 2 hours late. The sidewalks in York were frozen over as soon as the sun sat. Heavy rain the next 2 days. Next off to Shropshire for warm sunny days. So, snow, rain and sun in a short 8 day visit.