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Christmas in Europe Itinerary Suggestions

Hello fellow travelers! As the title suggests, my husband and I will be spending Christmas in Europe this year. Because we've been chasing the best use of our miles and points, we have the following flights booked:

12/15 arrive in Madrid
12/29 depart from Dublin

That's literally it, lol. SO I'm curious: what would you do to fill in the puzzle between the two cities?

About us: mid-30s, relatively in shape, looking for good food and a lovely atmosphere with some Christmas spirit. I'm sure we'll visit some of the major sites wherever we land, but for this trip we're really looking to just take some leisurely strolls and enjoy the ambiance and eat good food. A balance of a trip and a vacation, ideally. We've both been to Europe multiple times but aren't averse to revisiting a spot/city--we've never been over the holidays and perhaps spending time somewhere we've been before would aid in that relaxation goal (Spain and Ireland will be new countries for us, however). Italy is my absolute favorite place in the world, but we'll be spending 10 days in Rome in June so don't feel the need to put it into this itinerary although we'd be open to it.

Since we'll have to fly to Dublin no matter what, we're not opposed to spending 5ish days in Spain, flying somewhere else for 5-6 days and then spending our final 3 nights in Dublin, but we also enjoy taking trains so are fine with that as well.

Curious what you all come up with or what suggestions you have for us!

Posted by
302 posts

I should have included--this may be blasphemous, but we aren't all that interested in Germany/Austria for this trip. As much as I would love to experience the Christmas markets, the anticipated crowds are scaring me away.

Posted by
1433 posts

Christmas feel and or markets w/out Germany/Austria. I can think of three between your locations: Alsace Region (Strasbourg, Colmar & surrounding towns), Copenhagen and London.

Enjoy you trip.