Best time in Spring to leave for 6-week trip

Posted by Peter (Scottsdale, AZ, USA) on 12/18/09 05:15 PM

Our itinerary in chronological orrder is; Naples/Almalfi Coast working our way up Italy Hill Towns, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, through Austria, Czech Republic, Romantic Road, Southern Germany, Switzerland, Alsace Lorraine, Rhine, Mosel, Paris. The three variables are WEATHER (Prague is pretty far up North and near the beginning of our trip), Hotel Availability and Cost (better earlier in the season), and Flight Costs (cheaper earlier). Our thoughts are between leaving April 15th or closer to May 1st. Would those Northern destinations be a bit cold/rainy, Switzerland all snowed in, days shorter if we left at the earlier date. Would good cheap hotels be more difficult to find and sites harder to get into if we left later?

Your thoughts?

Posted by Frank II

Freedonia

12/18/09 11:53 PM

16250 posts

If you leave April 15...you'll be done around the end of May. Easier to get rooms.

If you leave May 1, the last two weeks will be in June and finding cheaper rooms will be harder to get unless you book eaerly. (Prices in April and May will be less than June.)

When weather is going from cold to warm, always move from south to north to get the "warmest" weather.

And remember, mid April is hardly winter.

Peter...I'm going to make a couple of suggestions to you considering the number of postings you've initiated lately:

1) Take some time to look over this entire website and not just the "Travelers Helpline." There is so much information available and most of your questions will be answered--and then some.

2) If you haven't already, I'd suggest purchasing a copy of "Europe Through the Back Door" which is like a bible to many of us. You will gain so much knowledge and confidence by just reading that one book.

Posted by Tom

Danville, VT

12/19/09 05:18 AM

12040 posts

Weather-wise, there likely won't be any predictable difference over a two week period, but barring a freak cold-snap, none of those locations are likely to be very cold during your time frame. Also, there won't be that much of a notable difference in daylight hours. My only advice would be to push Switzerland as late as possible if you want to do some hiking. It won't be socked in with snow anywhere but on the peaks, but April and early May are shoulder season. Most of the tourist businesses in the mountains are closed. Snow run-off and pasture fertilization make hiking conditions rather messy until later in the spring.

Posted by Chani

Tel Aviv

12/19/09 11:16 AM

15777 posts

I concur. 2 weeks won't make much difference. The weather is unpredictable period. My personal experience is that getting cheaper accommodations is dependent more on searching well and booking early.

Posted by Maureen

Atlanta

12/19/09 11:31 AM

1358 posts

One thing to consider is when schools get out over there. When we went to eastern Germany and Prague, it was in the end of May/beginning of June, and the schools were just getting out. There were TONS of school groups in Prague, along with drunk German recent graduates.