Best March destinations for 55+ couple

Have you traveled to Europe before? if not, I'd suggest London. There is so very much to see, most of the museums are free (!), and they speak English. Transportation is a breeze, once you get comfortable with the Tube, and the city is very walkable. Great food, as well. We particularly enjoy pub meals.

I was in Spain mid-March 2024. If you are interested in one week in one location, I have a couple ideas from that recent trip and previous visits.

I was in Barcelona for a week - that was a first trip for me. A week was not too much time if you enjoy Gaudi and Catalan modernism. I enjoyed the Maritime, Picasso, Catalan National Art Museums - there are others that are worthwhile as well. I took only one day trip out of Barcelona to Montserrat. Many threads on this board suggest other possibilities that I couldn't include. March was good for weather and lower tour numbers during my time.

Madrid - A favorite city of mine. I did encounter cold weather this year and wished I'd been better prepared, but it was a good time for low tourist crowds. I have been to Madrid multiple times including week long stays in the city. Great museums - major art museums Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza , Reina Sofía, smaller museums - Romanticism, Cerralbo,& others, the Palace, Royal Collections Gallery, Maritime, Temple of Debod, historic center, churches, on and on and on. (I am a fan.....) Day trips easily done include Toledo and Segovia. Other options - El Escorial close to Madrid, Cordoba for the Mezquita at a slightly longer distance.

Of course, London as suggested above is great for a week - I've done that in March also. Paris is another city that works well for a week. I've had multiple one week and slightly longer visits to Paris in different seasons of the year. Multiple day trip options from both of these cities. No lack of sites and museums in any of these spots!

Madrid is an easy flight, full of great museums.
Tell us something about yourselves that might spark an idea--this is like throwing darts. Or, tell us where you fly from and we can tell you how to determine the best direct flights to make the most of your week.

Try Malta.

We were in Spain in March of 2020. We returned home two days before the world shut down. We split 10 days between Barcelona and Madrid, with one overnight in Toledo in between. It was chilly in the evening but nice during the day. A million museums so you can have your choice. We didn't even go to the Prado and more than filled our time. I can't speak to the crowds - everything was blissfully empty for obvious reasons!

With only a week, I’d go to either London because there are lots of museums. Or Venice because it is a museum. But I’d also consider Paris for the sights /museums. Nice for the days trips along the Mediterranean. Florence for museums/history. It all depends on your interests.

PS: a lot of us use the “all topics” link to look at posts instead individual forums. You can quickly see what you are interested in. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/all-topics

You mention love of museums but dislike of crowds. Those dynamics militate against each other as museums mostly predominate in urban areas.

Hungary is one idea that would be perfect for a week of museum going and small towns. A three-town visit to Pecs in southern Hungary, Budapest and Eger in northeast Hungary might work. Pecs is a midsize town that served as a European cultural capital about 15 years. It's packed with great museums despite its midsize. Budapest is a big, aggressive city, bursting with great museums and sites, but maybe you could stay only 2 or 3 nights. (It's become my favorite European city and is easy to get around with its easy-to-learn metro system.) Finally, Eger is a midsize city with some fine museums and baths nearby.

Another one of my week-long sojourns was to Berlin, shortly before Covid. Lots of museums, easy access to the sites of Potsdam as well - multiple royal palaces, Bridge of Spies (Glieinicker Bridge), Cecilienhof of WWII fame. That visit was in early April - temps like home in Chicago.

Berlin offers a variety of around 170 museums plus a lot of fun things to do, e. g. events such as Chocolate Festival, special interest locations such as medieval restaurant Tafelrunde, hidden places like the tunnels below Berlin, and a lot of special cuisine from around the world.

Since you only have a week I might prioritize any nonstop destination from your home airport. Connections/transfers and possible delays could really eat into your available time on the ground.

Thumbs up to all the destinations mentioned above. I just returned from a 3 week trip with a week in each - Berlin, London and Paris. This past February we had a terrific trip to Madrid and Barcelona. My husband and I travel to Europe all seasons except for high, high season, summer. As to crowding in museums, we’ve found it’s an all the time thing regardless of the time of year. What I noticed in particular at the Barberini in Potsdam in late November, the museum was crowded with Germans, not foreign tourists. In early December, the Orsay in Paris was shoulder to shoulder, the ticket line at the Orangerie was an hour long.

Traveling in March you may encounter cold but I’d really count on some rain in most of Europe.

Better March weather than London might be Vienna. Hard to find a city with more museums and its not too packed with tourists. Paris would be excellent as well.

I am also a museum lover. Florence(if you love Renaissance art), London or Vienna-I was surprised at how much I loved Vienna.

I spend a lot of time in Europe these days because I'm retired. Most of that time is spent either in museums or beating the sidewalks, admiring the architecture. Most museums are not crowded. You just need to skip the big-name places or accept that those are a few hours where you'll be part of a mob. The very most popular cities may have a very few places that are mobbed (Barcelona being probably the most extreme example, with at least five packed-to-the-gills attractions), but their other sights probably don't get very many visitors. Most travelers spend only a very few days in each city, so they don't have time to go to the less famous sights.

Aside from conditions inside museums and historic sites, some cities do feel hectic and crowded because of the sheer number of people walking down the sidewalks in some areas. Istanbul, Venice and Rome are among such cities (I haven't been to Paris or Florence recently), but you just need to walk a couple of blocks off the path everyone else is taking, and you'll find yourself nearly alone--except for the cats in Istanbul.

Someone else mentioned Nice. The weather in southern France would probably be somewhat more pleasant in March than the weather in London-Paris-Berlin. Nice has at least six art museums itself, and there are a lot of smaller art museums scattered among the Riviera coastal towns and in the nearby hill towns. None of those places was at all busy when I was in the area in 2017. I don't think that area is particularly strong on historical museums, if that's more your interest than art. I'd agree that it's hard to beat Berlin for historical museums.

I went to a lot of museums in Rome and found only the Vatican Museums badly overcrowded (they are truly awful). The Borghese was busy, but they cap the number of tickets sold for each two-hour entry period, so it isn't unbearable, just less than ideal. I haven't been to the Colosseum for lack of interest, but I assume it's quite crowded, because it is very difficult to get tickets. I might encourage you to consider Rome despite the crowds often encountered on the sidewalks, because most of the museums were so peaceful for me. However, next year is a Holy Year and Rome is expected to be more swamped than usual. Partly because the March weather tends to be rather mild--at least around midday--Rome gets a lot of tourists then, just not quite as many as later in the year.

chief3t,
Vienna is a great choice within your parameters. A week would be filled with lots to see and do. There are concerts in many locations in March. The Kunsthistoriches Museum of Art is magnificent (lots of Breugels!). The food, the loveliness of the baroque and art nouveau buildings, the ambience and sense of relaxation and enjoyment of life really appealed to us when we were there. And an overnight trip to Salzburg is easy. Plus, the Spanish Riding School has some Lipizzaner shows in March, if I have read correctly. The Schobrunn Palace is lush and gilded, and some plays and concerts are available there also. I was there in the summer,but winter weather wouldn't deter me from going back. And the Alps aren't too far!

Wow, so many quick responses. Thank you all. A bit about us. I work for United Airlines, so from Denver, we have been to London once (didn't see everything we wanted to). We are hoping to go to Frankfurt, Cologne, Bruges, and Amsterdam on an 8-day trip this month. We generally want to fly to a UAL destination, but we can get just about anywhere.
I may have misrepresented my dislike of crowds. I don't like being in large crowds or being jostled a lot. I didn't have too much trouble in London. We hope to travel to Europe quite a bit, so all of these suggestions are well received.

Munich??? I'm looking at a non-stop. Museums and some nice day trips like Neuschwanstein, Nuremberg, maybe Salzburg.

A non-stop is good for a trip of a week, as suggested above. Makes everything more relaxing.

All the destination suggestions above have been great! Fun thread - I hope you return and let us know your final plans!!!

We are hoping to go to Frankfurt, Cologne, Bruges, and Amsterdam on an 8-day trip this month.

I think you'll find that most of us on this Forum would consider that a way too ambitious itinerary for 8 days. How about cutting it down to, say, Frankfurt and Cologne, or Bruges and Amsterdam. Moving from one place to another will eat up the better part of a day, when you think about it. Checking out of one hotel, getting to the train station or airport, transit time, getting from airport or train station to new hotel (or apartment,) checking in, getting settled...

I would choose no more than two cities to visit with only 8 days; one might be even more rewarding. Remember what Rick says: assume you will return.

If you do not mind the cold associated with March, I see you have a good number of options open. It's because of the cold, tedious and a nuisance that I don't go over in March, would only consider it if a number of variables were advantageous, air fare for example, or a great deal for France.

Be prepared to see European tourists, maybe lots of them.....just depends For going after museums I suggest Vienna, Berlin (not for me, though, in March), and especially Paris.

Based on your city list I recommend to visit the Rembrandt's Ansterdam exhibition of Städel Museum in Frankfurt.

Rhine valley is nicer in April than in March (e. g. cherry blossom in Bonn).

Be aware that Europe has by far more depth and options than Denver. Each of the mentioned places are good for minimum 3-5 nights and there is so much to discover in between and around, e. g. Mainz and Wiesbaden, Mid Rhine Valley with all the castles and vineries, Aachen, Ruhr area, ...

For traveling in Germany best use Deutsche Bahn journey planner.

We are hoping to go to Frankfurt, Cologne, Bruges, and Amsterdam on an
8-day trip this month.

If my airfare was next to free and if i was traveling from the right coast, and someone asked me along on that trip .... yes. Why not, sounds like fun.

1 arrive
2 frankfurt to clogne, late
3 cologne
4 cologne to bruges early
5 bruges
6 bruges to amsterdam early
7 amsterdam
8 go home

... and United has flights to Frankfurt from Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, San Francisco and Washington–Dulles,

and to Amsterdam from Chicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, Washington–Dulles and (Seasonally) San Francisco

Thus you could do a multi-city (open jaw) into Frankfurt, out of Amsterdam or vice versa on the lines suggested by Mr E. That broad itinerary could certainly work. Frankfurt to Cologne is just over an hour by hourly direct train, Cologne to Bruges about 3:30 ( change in Brussels) eg- depart 17:42, arrive 21:26.

Bruges to Amsterdam depending on route is under 3 hours eg- 18:30 arrive 21:50 (change Brussels- hourly to 20:30)

Assume you will be back can have two meanings- either take it slowly and explore one or two places in depth; or explore multiple places in rather less depth then return to the places you like or want/find you need to spend more time in.
Both are equally valid methods of travel and the time taken to change cities is often over-stated IMO.

We are hoping to go to Frankfurt, Cologne, Bruges, and Amsterdam on an 8-day trip this month.

I think you'll find that most of us on this Forum would consider that a way too ambitious itinerary for 8 days.

I wouldn't. Not everyone has the time or the inclination to limit their vacations only to itineraries that provide in-depth tourism at every destination. And these are cities that are within 2-3 hours of one another by high-speed train. It seems like a great week to me.

We are hoping to go to Frankfurt, Cologne, Bruges, and Amsterdam on an
8-day trip this month. We generally want to fly to a UAL destination,
but we can get just about anywhere.

With 8 days I would go to:

1. Paris
2. Vienna and Budapest
3. Fly into Bonn, then go straignt to Cologne, then Bruges, Amsterdam.

Mr. E had some great choices.

If you like museums, then Paris, London, Amsterdam or Rome would be great.

You are only going for a week, so I would avoid trying to cover too much ground. Stick to one place and do day trips if you want another city.
Example, from Paris you can do Versailles or a long day trip to Normandy.
Madrid, you could do day trips to amazing Toledo and Segovia as well as enjoy the Prado Museum.
Amsterdam has the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
London, you could do the British Museum, Tower of London, Parliament as well as day trips to Windsor Castle, Oxford, Canterbury, Cambridge and perhaps Stratford Upon Avon.