Europe in January itinerary

You have 7-8 days after travel to "see" four countries. You will have much more darkness than daylight.

2 days in Paris but 4 in Nice?

A little rushed perhaps?

You are going to lose at least half a day every time you switch location. You need to pick ideally 3 and a maximum of 4 locations, otherwise you are going to spend longer in transit than actually seeing places.

The weather in Cinque Terre in January is cold and wet.

You are really short changing Paris, with only 1 full day there (2 nights), particularly with jet lag. Cities are best for January, not the coast or the countryside. You can easily fill 5 full days/6 nights in Paris, if not a week. I would then fly to Seville - 3 full days can easily be filled here plus additional days for Cadiz or Jerez day trips. Fly to Lisbon for at least 3 full days there/4 nights.

I hope you and your mother will have a lovely trip. January in Europe is typically cold and in at least two of the areas, Nice and the Cinque Terre they are offseason. I have been to Nice in late January before and while the Cote d'Azur is one of my favorite places to visit, unless there is something specific you want to see in Nice, I would skip it and spend the extra time split between Paris and then Italy.

As for the Cinque Terre, I have not been in January which is the coldest and wettest time of the year with the average temperatures around 48 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of the restaurants and hotels are closed at this time of year. While you will beat the crowds, you won't have great weather for outdoor adventures. I would look at spending some time either in Florence or Rome before you hope down to Seville and Lisbon.

As for enough time, the general rule of thumb is you will lose about 1/2 day when you transfer locations, so while you can spend only a few nights in cities, you actually have less site seeing time. With shorter hours in Winter, there is even less time to explore the major sites.

Good luck with your planning, hope this information helps.

Sandy

How are you getting from one place to another? Those cities would entail long train rides unless you plan air travel. I've been to Europe twice in January. I also just returned from Cinque Terre (mid October) The weather wasn't particularly great in CT. I don't think it would be fun in January. I think in the winter you need to be visiting big cities where you would have options in varying weather. IMO, Sevilla is a great choice, but I'd want more days. Haven't been to Nice but wonder how nice it'd be in January. Pisa would probably be fine. Paris was nice for us in January, though chilly for those not used to that kind of weather.

Re. Barcelona. I haven't been to Lisbon, but I was in Barcelona in January. We enjoyed it, weather was about mid 50s with sunny days. There was more than plenty to do. Relatively speaking Barcelona is closer to your other cities. I'm not sure there are great options for travel between Lisbon and Sevilla.

All in all, that's a pretty fast pace, and I don't know how old your mom is, but it may be too much for her. And this opinion comes from someone who moves at a faster pace than most on the forum.

Thank you everyone!
It sounds like you all agree that it's too many destinations so I will work on limiting it to three!

The reason for only giving paris such a limited amount of time is due to the weather. I'm concerned that it will be too cold to spend much time outside? I know there are many lovely inside activities to explore in Paris, however, I do prefer outside activities. Paris seemed a lot colder to me average temperature wise than Nice and Cinque terre weather, but perhaps they are more similar when you factor in wind chill and humidity?

I chose mostly coastal cities/ towns because I love being by the water and I figured 50 degrees or so would be better for walking and outdoor activities. Nice and Cinque terre is where I was looking forward to most because of the waterfront location...should I be considering sicily instead?

I really do not like crowds which is one of my reasons for choosing end of jan/ early feb and the only other time I can go is summer.

We are planning on flying between all of these cities besides Nice to Cinque Terre to Pisa will be by train. The flights I've found are all non stop and only 1-3 hours in length but It sounds like I really need to calculate a 1/2 day loss due to daylight restrictions and airport time.

It's not just the cold you need to factor in, but heavy rain and wind, with grey skies and poor visibility. I don't think it's an ideal time to enjoy the countryside towns.
Safe travels and have a great trip!

I've done some pretty 'fast travel' trips but even I would never consider something like you outline. ESPECIALLY in January. In January you want a city - where if it's cold and nasty there are plenty of indoor activities. Some place the CT in January you would have to get really lucky to get a dry, sunny day. More likely it will be rainy or windy or cloudy or all three and it will be miserable and there is NOTHING to do inside (unless you want to sit in a probably less than optimally heated room and read a book). Nice might be slightly better because there are a few museums there but I still wouldn't go there in January. Seville will have the best weather of the places you list, it could be quite pleasant and even if it weren't it does have some museums and churches, etc. Lisbon also has things to do in bad weather. Paris, Lisbon and Seville will also have things to do after dark. Cinque Terre - nothing. Personally I'd just split the time between Paris and Seville. From Seville you can day trip to Cordoba. You could actually do a pretty nice week long trip to Seville, Cordoba and Granada which is where you'll have the best chance of decent weather plus lots of interesting stuff to do even in bad weather. The other week you could split between Paris and Lisbon but that's a lot of traveling around in the space of two weeks.

Southern Spain and Portugal would give you the best weather. Since you asked, I prefer Lisbon to Barcelona and I love cities. More charm, fewer touts. I adore Seville and Cordoba.
I also spent two weeks in Nice one time but not sure about the weather in January. I also love visiting museums and Nice has some. Skip Paris this time of year if you want to do outdoor activities. Add Madrid if you visit Southern Spain, Andalusia.

Do you have your plane tickets yet? What cities are you flying into and out of?

I adore Sicily, but it's more a 2- to 3-week sort of destination. I wouldn't recommend trying to slot it into a trip like this.

Lisbon and Barcelona have similar temperature averages for January, but Lisbon gets a lot more rain. Lisbon is also a lot hillier. On the other hand, a few days in Lisbon (please, not just 2 nights) will allow you to see more of the city's highlights than you could manage in Barcelona. And Barcelona is probably going to be a lot more tourist-overrun. That's a tough decision.

I'd consider 3 nights the absolute minimum in Lisbon and Seville. Many people who go to Seville also want to see Cordoba, which is possible as a day-trip though Cordoba's absolutely worth sleeping in for 1 to 3 nights itself. If you want to see Cordoba while staying in Seville, I'd say the minimum for Seville is 4 nights.

Barcelona is tricky because of a combination of a lot of popular sights and the need to pre-purchase timed tickets for many of them to avoid long ticket lines and possible sell-outs. I wouldn't want to spend less than 4 nights there, though some people only allow 3 nights and just cram in as much as they can.

You need to think about all the activities required when you change cities and hotels: packing up, checking out, getting yourself to the airport (can take close to an hour) or train station, waiting time (2 hours at the airport, maybe 30 minutes at the train station), the actual time on the plane/train, getting off the plane and out of airport (if flying), navigating to your new hotel, checking in and dropping off your luggage. Then there's the hard-to-quantify process of getting oriented to a new city: Where's the nearest metro/subway station? Is there a bus we should take to the first sight? Where's the bus stop? All of that adds up, and 1/2 day is the minimum you will lose each time you have to go through that process. Consider, too, that flight delays are not rare. If you stayed longer at each destination, that half-day-or-more would be actual sightseeing time, so the fact is that if you move around less, you have time to see a lot more.

I understand the desire for variety, but I'd try to stick to three cities (with perhaps a day-trip or two).

What is on your mother's bucket list? Yours ?? And why ??

If I were planning this trip for January, I would eliminate Pisa and Cinque Terre for additional days in Seville and surrounding area, move the Nice days to beautiful Paris. Can't speak about Lisbon except that many people love it.

Also, do you really have 14 nights on the ground, knowing that the flights from and to home will eat up two full days ?

I think # 1 is good. #2 bad. Paris is a second rate sight. Nice doesn't even make the chart. Better: Marseilles to Ville de France sur Mer + Eze Village (note: NOT Eze on the coast) Italy: Pisa + Rome. #1 in Spain-- 2 days in Grenada, After 500+ days traveling in EU, and we have not yet got to Lisbon, but Barcelona is not to missed. The Route de Vin Alsace + Colmar beats everything on your list..

Sorry, but your itinerary is so typical of many that I see on this forum.

It is way too much travel. Only two nights in Paris, Seville and Lisbon, when all those cities require much more time. You will waste more time in travel, so even two days in a city like Seville, coming from Pisa then going to Lisbon, you will probably only have one full day there. RIDICULOUS!

Eliminate at least two of your stops. Plan stops that are closer together geographically. I say eliminate Seville and Lisbon and do the others right. Pisa's Leaning tower sanctuary will take half a day to see, so skip spending the night there. Also, look into a stop in Lucca, nearby.

When planning a trip for January (I've done this twice), you need to keep in mind the short days and cool/cold weather. I choose to go places that would be "warmish" or that would have "real" winter. I didn't want a place with a lot of rain or winter mix. As much as I love smaller towns, in general, there is not enough to do in inclement weather.

Smaller, attractive towns that would be nice in January, include Salzburg, Austria or Luzern or Berner Oberland villages. Or for somewhere warmer and drier, smaller towns in Spain like Cordoba or Girona

I loved Alsace, but we were there at harvest time (early October) and it was very beautiful and fun. In January, the landscape would be pretty dead looking. Colmar and Strasbourg would be reasonably nice, but for a January trip, I'd look at other places.

If you really want something in Italy, I'd think about Florence, big enough with plenty of indoor activity and picturesque. Or Sicily.

I think Paris IS a good choice, as is Vienna,

Anywhere in Spain, except the Basque region, could be a great choice. There is so much in Barcelona and the surrounding Catalan region. Andalusia should be reasonably warm and is visually appealing and with many cultural sites.

In case its helpful, the January itineraries I did were as follows:

Trip 1, and my first trip to Europe and with my energetic young adult sons that had many requests, but limited time, open jaw:

Vienna-3 days
Budapest-3 days
Prague-3 days
Munich 3 days (day trip to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau)

Trip 2, with young adult daughters, open jaw:

Barcelona/Girona 7 days
Flew to Vienna, 3 days
Salzburg, 3 days (day trip to Munich)
Luzern, 3 days (day trip to Bern)
Berner oberland (4 days stayed in Lauterbrunnen valley)
Geneva, 1 day (to see CERN)
High speed train to Paris, 3 days

Andalusia is the warmest, driest part of Europe, and you are planning to go at what may be the coldest, wettest time of year. Sevilla, Granada, Malaga, Cordoba - all are great and easy to get to by train or bus. Barcelona's weather could be a bit chillier and wetter, but it's a great city to spend a few days. Italy is pretty mild in winter but as others have said, those scenic coastal areas may not be worth visiting if the sun isn't shining - and even then, you'll have so few hours of daylight. I would want to be in cities where there are things to see and do (and places to eat and drink!!) after the sun goes down.

The first thing I would do is go to timeanddate.com to the daily historical weather data for January for the past few years for the cities you are considering.

I would be happy in Paris in any weather, but I suspect that if you arrive in poor weather, you won't see its beauty and will feel you're wasting your time and money. Venice, Florence and/or Rome are better choices with overall better weather.

How much wear & tear can your mother really take with such an agenda?

From all I read, your mother will certainly remember the manic hassle of unpacking, packing, checking in and out of hotels, spending lots of time rushing to airports and train stations to wait, and not having a chance to REALLY visit.

Do your mother the great favor of NOT doing this to her.

On a two week trip, please make her only change hotels just once. Pick two special destinations to her and let you and your mother really enjoy where you are and take your time visiting, walking, trying different restaurants, bars, galleries, whatever it is you both like. Maybe take a day trip or two to a vineyard nearby.

For reference my mom is 58, I am 24. She is even more energetic than me. I did not mean to imply that we may not return together for health reasons, you just never know what life brings!

We are flying in and out of Paris. Arriving the in the morning on the 22nd and departing in the evening on Feb 5th

It’s not ideal that you’re not flying open jaw. With that amount of time. I’d be thinking Paris and London or Paris and Amsterdam. No experience with Nice, but I don’t think it would be ideal in January.

Other options within France to combine with Paris might be Lyon or Dijon. Also, there are a lot of nice day trips from Paris.

Reading through your post and the replies, I hesitate to chime in my opinion. Who am I to opine on your perfect, first time trip to Europe? You're youthful enthusiasm to tackle what seems like a well thought out, personal list of must see sights based on your love of the sea, a range of countries and uncrowded locales reminds me of my first mad, headlong race across Europe with my newly issued passport and a sickening feeling I would never again feel the heady thrill of Europe again. That was thirty years ago. Somehow I've managed to return again and again. Remind yourself that you will too. Be kind to yourself (and your mother) and pare your list down just a bit. Jet lag is real. A train connection will be missed. You'll fall in love with someplace and wish you had just one more hour to explore.

With the exception of Seville, I've been to everywhere on your list including Barcelona. This past January/February, I spent a 3 week solo trip for 10 days in Lisbon/Portugal, 6 days Nice and 5 days Paris so I feel I can speak with relevance . These are my perceptions and suggestions; take what you can from it.

Lisbon hands down over Barcelona personally for me. Barcelona is gorgeous, the food exquisite but I just couldn't take the over tourism of the place. Off season, it may not be affected so. I was there in mid-September 2018. Lisbon in January was sunny and 65 most days, perfect for hiking those hills if you ask me. I had rain twice while there but it was over quickly and the sun quickly was back out. The prices for everything were significantly less than Barcelona. I can't say enough about how friendly the Portuguese people are and easily made local friends.

Nice is how winter was done at the turn of the century! The Belle Epoque heyday of Nice harken back to the 1880-1930 period when the rich and wealthy wintered over there. Royal families all had winter palaces in the area. The Romanovs built the largest Russian Orthodox onion domed church outside of Russia in Nice which you can still visit. The secret is in the geography of the place. The gentle arch of the coastline backed up against the foothills of the Alps there, directs the wind and weather systems to the east and west (Ligurian coast and Rhone Valley). Nice is absolutely splendid for mild, sunny days in January and February. I can't tell you how delighted I was to be able to roam small villages like Eze-the-village and St. Paul de Vence with hardly another tourist in sight. I can only imagine how packed these places must be like in summer. Prices off season were another perk. I managed a splurge hotel room with my own terrace with an ocean view regularly 298 euro for 70 euro a night. Nice will also give you a touch of Italy too. After all, Nice was part of Italy until the 1860's when the people decided France's government looked a bit more stable. It's the home of ravioli (Yep, not Italy) . Nice also celebrates Carnavale for two whole weeks in February like nobody's business. The whole city is alive with festivities.

A little piece of my heart is in the Cinque Terre but my last visit in late fall made me tear up a bit to see the flood of tourist surge through town on the morning train day tripping in from big cities. I haven't been there in the winter but have when its raining and cold. There really isn't much to do when it is. It's all about the outdoors there. Pisa can be day-tripped from CT and it saves having to change rooms.

After the sun of Lisbon and Nice, I flew into snow covered Paris! It didn't bother my sight seeing plans a bit. There is so much to do and see in Paris indoors. You walk a few blocks and zip into a metro station where its warm and dry. Easy peasy.

Last January was so nice and affordable, I'm headed back. This time finishing up in the Netherlands for my cold weather shock to the system this January with a friend in tow to share the good times. Good travels!