Europe in December

What do you want to do? As a general statement, I'll just note one of the biggest differences between traveling in the winter versus the summer (beside the obvious temperature difference) are the short hours of daylight. Doesn't affect touring in the cities that much, but it limits how much you can see in rural areas.

Glad to see so many Charlottians finding this site!!! We used to go to the UK the last of Nov/early Dec every year for 20+ years. We have also been to Austria during that time. We really enjoyed it. Though in Austria what we enjoyed most then was the Christmas markets.

The UK is great in winter. Yes, the days are shorter, but that's not really a limitation in London, Edinburgh (great for New Years, if you can find and afford a room), Cardiff, etc. And we found that, except for the Highlands of Scotland, the winter weather is very similar to Charlotte's. A bit cool, damp and sometimes a bit more windy than here. Take a good water resistant coat with a zip-out liner, good gloves, a hooded scarf or hat and scarf. Wear good walking shoes that are water resistant and good socks. Plan on layers. I always took 1 or 2 short sleeve Ts, 2-4 long sleeve Ts or turtlenecks, 1 or 2 "big shirts" and maybe a cardigan. I took 3 pair of black or Khaki cotton blend pants (I am allergic to wool). Hubby is cold natured and always took some long underwear. He wore dark jeans or dockers, a long sleeve button up and sometimes a turtleneck with that and the long johns. The markets are really fun, and there is more of a chance to chat up the locals and the vendors in winter. Even Kew Gardens is lovely (the greenhouses, even if the other parts area a bit bare). Feel free to private message me.

Thanks Tom, i think we would prefer to stick to cities which are just as beautiful in the winter. We do have a direct flight out of Charlotte into Munich or Frankfurt everyday so i was thinking maybe a really pretty village or city in Germany, then perhaps Salzburg and Vienna.But we are open to go the other way to Brussels or Strasbourg too.

Thanks Toni, I have heard about the revelry in Edinburgh at New Year's too. What i had in mind, was something like you said, pretty christmas markets, small towns and villages. We have been big fans of Rick Steve's since we used his book to get around Italy. Best part was that we bumped into him at Bellagio and next day at the Milan train station and he was so polite to us and was genuinely interested in our experiences.

If Germany is your destination, I would suggest flying into Munich. From there you can visit Oberaummergau, Mittenwald, Nurnberg, Rothenburg all beautiful that time of year and go on into Austria to visit Salzburg and Hallstatt - although not much happening in Hallstatt at that time of year - just quiet beauty! We love Germany and Austria in the winter.

Austria sound perfect for you. Fly into Munich. Spend a day or two. Train to Salzburg. They have an amazing Christmas market there. You should realize that the markets run from the beginning of Advent until about noon on Christmas Eve. Spend 2 or 3 days there. Train to Vienna. Several nice markets here- be sure to try the Glughwein (hot wine punch- with spices and juices) and the roasted Chesnuts. One or two full days is plenty- unless you'd like to do a day trip by train over to Budapest (we did that one year- great way to get a small taste of another country). Then I'd fly to London. You could base there for the rest of the trip or head up to Edinburgh for New Years (if you can get a room) If you stay in London there are LOTS of things to see and do as well as some great day trips you can do by train. Here is the web address of an article I wrote about that :

http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm

We have done several similar trips (though we went in late Nov/early Dec. and only had about a week so we paired London with only 1 other city.)

Thank you once again for your suggestions. I think Munich into a few places of Bavaria and then onto Austria sounds lovely. Our vacation starts on the 23rd so i am afraid we may just get a day of christmas markets unless some of them are open after Christmas too. I wish we could find time to go to UK too but we have only about a week's vacation and i know i want atleast a week in the UK. Maybe next year, when we can pair it with Ireland.

Sonia, I'm a bit confused: at first you write you are going for the last 2 weeks in December and then you say you'll arrive on Dec 23? that makes for only one week. And a one week trip asks for a very different itinerary than a longer one - especially in winter when weather conditions can cause delays in your travel plans.

Beatrix, u are right, its only about 9 days. thanks for making me look at it practically rather than just dreaming of 2 weeks in europe!!! oh well!!