Europe in early December: Looking for Dry Weather

That is an awfully big question. Have been through central Europe three times in the mid to late December time and always had rain or snow. Right now we are looking at the Algarve area of Portugal for the Thanksgiving period. The average weather suggests that one day in three will be rainy. You best bet could be along the Med coast of the Algarve or Costa del Sol in Spain. Remember most of Europe is in the far northern hemisphere.

That is my usual time of year that I travel: let me give you my 6-7 years of travel weather experience 1. Spain Feb/mar 2005: Sunny as can be almost the entire trip, but record breaking cold temperatures. 2. London May 2006: Rained the entire 7 nights I was there; broke 3 umbrellas, came home every night with my pants soaked up to my knees. 3. Germany Nov/Dec 2007: Rainy, cold, overcast if not rainy 4. Amsterdam/Bruges/Paris Nov/Dec 2008: Rainy, cold, overcast if not rainy 5. Vienna/Budapest/Prague/Rothenburg Nov/Dec 2009: Rainy, cold, overcast if not rainy, but we did encounter some sunny days, but not all day 6. Italy Nov/Dec 2010: Rainy, cold, overcast in not rainy, but did encounter some sunny days, some of those days consecutive. Mega-fog in Venice and Siena. Took a tour thru Chianti and the driver told us what we would be seeing if we could actually see, fog was crazy bad, but gave us time to tour San Gimignano. See a pattern? My trip to Spain in Feb/Mar was the most dry trip I ever experience, but it was by far the coldest weather I have experienced since my Buffalo NY days. Bitter, brutal cold. I slept in my jeans some nights. I always expect it to rain, no matter where I go. This year I am going to Belgium, Nov/Dec, and I am bringing my water resistant gortex jacket (that runners wear in the winter) and my umbrella. I expect it. I also make sure my shoes can handle wet weather. I wear Keen boots that were made for city walking. Hope this helps you see that it is tough to go where the land is dry during this time of year. Maybe someone will talk about Greece, Croatia, or TUrkey......maybe they are dry during that time?

Here I go again. We pray for rain all the time, but Israel is almost always dry, sigh. November - I'm usually still wearing sandals. Something to think about.

Chani, it is interesting that you should mention Israel. I am actually planning a two week visit to your country for later this year. I am asking this question re: Europe in early December because I want to stopover somewhere in Europe for a few days before coming back to the USA.

SL - when are you going to be here? You could try Turkey. If they fly from near where you are (USA - pretty big place), Turkish Air usually has good prices and Istanbul should be mild weather. Or fly through Germany, bite the "weather" bullet and enjoy the Christmas markets in December. London - take the tube and see the museums and the theater - never rains indoors.

I recommend you to check a precipitation map of Europe. One can be found here: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/average-annual-precipitation

Thanks, everyone, for your help so far. Chani, Israel in mid-November.

SL - I'll be back from a trip to the States by then and planning to go to a "traditional German Christmas market" on Saturday, Nov 26 in Jerusalem. If you need anything while you are planning or while you are here, just PM me.