Honeymoon suggestions

Sightseeing in Europe in late November is possible, but it will be done in chilly to cold weather.

The farther south they go, the warmer their weather will be.

I have been all over Switzerland, but never made it to Zermatt. The reason for that was, yes it is a bit difficult to get there and expensive.

They could still go to Switzerland in November, but might like Italy or the Greek Islands more.
There will be snow in the higher elevations and a lot of rain and fog. I don't think November is a great time to see Switzerland.

It will still be chilly in Italy, be not as much. Rome, Florence and Venice are a great choice. Lots of history, great museums, art and old cities with great food.

I have been in Italy (Rome, Florence, and Venice) several time in November and December and found the weather for touring to be fine. Yes, it does get a little chilly in the evenings, but the days are very nice with temps in the mid-60's not at all unusual. I can recall several pleasant afternoons spent sitting at cafes in places like Piazza Navona and comfortably enjoying both the sites and the people watching.

You are not likely to get warm weather guaranteed anywhere in mainland Europe at that time of year and it's certainly not Greek island weather, unless you are very lucky! It is too early for skiing.

Assuming that they don't want to spend their entire time moving on, I would suggest a maximum of 3 locations for 12 nights.

They could focus on Spain (Madrid, Granada, Barcelona or Cadiz), Italy (Florence, Rome and Venice) or combine Amsterdam with Paris. Personally, Brussels wouldn't be in my top 100 places to visit in Europe. Bruges and Ghent are more interesting.

Alternatively, at that time of year, they could hop across the Mediterranean and visit Morocco, where the weather would be much warmer. 12/14 days would permit them to have a few nights in Marrakesh, a few days up into the desert hills and some time on the coast.

Or possibly Sicily.

"Their interests range from museums to natural beauty to " walking on cobbled streets " to hiking to fine dining to exploring old towns.... we are trying to help them plan this so that they are not spending many days on trains."

Have they considered a castle-hotel stay of 2-3 nights? Maybe one in the Middle Rhine Valley?

Burg Liebenstein overlooks the Rhine River and is surrounded by old-world towns that tick the boxes you mention and are worth exploring.

Braubach
Marksburg Castle tour (open year-round) in Braubach
Bacharach
Rüdesheim
St. Goar
Hiking around Rüdesheim
Rheinsteig Trail

Christmas Market in Koblenz opens Nov. 24

Burg Liebenstein is in Kamp-Bornhofen, which is 10 minutes by train south of Braubach (20 south of Koblenz) and 35 minutes north of Rüdesheim. Local trains connect these towns every hour throughout the day. To get to St. Goar and Bacharach, take the train south from K-B to St. Goarshausen (9 minutes) and use the ferry crossing. The castle-hotel has a shuttle service between the town and the castle.

Frankfurt International would be the airport of choice for this destination.

I am not sure exactly when the Christmas markets start, but probably closer to the end of November. If they were willing to push their trip out a little they could visit some of the different Christmas markets if that interests them.

I would push further south. More Rome, Florence. Amsterdam and Brussels at that time of year runs a high risk of being cold, windy, and snowy or rainy. Daylight is short so it can be miserable to be outside. Even Paris risky. Save Zematt for a summer trip.

I'm going to go in the opposite direction..... We LOVED going to the UK at that time of year. London is wonderful- lots of museums (many free), beautiful churches, amazing history (from BC to the present- including Celts, Romans, WWI, WWII, the Beatles and the 60s, etc.), lovely music of any kind- classical to rock, markets, dining from pub grub to world famous chef- owned restaurants, beautiful gardens, the monarchy with its pomp, and on and on.
Day trips are easy to do on your own by train or bus, or there are some good day trip companies (many here like London Walks and they have an excellent reputation for their local walks as well as their trips outside London).

If they wanted, they could fly into London, spend several days there, then go to Scotland (Edinburgh, or Inverness would be easy) or on to mainland Europe. We used to combine London and various destinations in Austria (we LOVE Salzburg and Innsbruck and Vienna). Then fly home from the second destination.

November is not the best month for sightseeing in the most of Europe. It has however one advantage - crowds will be much thinner. But some (if not many) sites will be closed. Lovely seating outside of restaurants, cafes will be all inside. Days will be short and most of them will be cloudy or rainy. If they are lucky they can encounter nice days in Crete or some other Greek Islands, Malta, Canary Islands (part of Spain).

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my post. My daughter and future son-in-law are reading these also . We welcome any more suggestions ! Judy

I also would suggest a city - oriented trip for this time of year. That way, if the weather is bad, you have plenty to do indoors. The possibilities include Paris and Rome, as well as London. In Paris, at least in late October, the outdoor cafes are still open, but with plastic coverings on the outside.

Noting that Dallas seems quite limited with direct flights to Europe - London, Paris and Frankfurt

Nov 12 Depart Dallas
Nov 13 Arrive Rome - 3 nights
Nov 16 Train to Florence/Venice - 2 nights
Nov 18 Fly to Paris - 4 nights
Nov 22 Eurostar to London - 3 nights
Nov 25 Depart London. Arrive Dallas

Note also that Nov/Dec is the more probable time for acqua alta flooding in Venice, so I'd go with Florence I think.

I would suggest Italy, we were engaged there.

As for November, are they going then because the wedding is in November? If so, I would personally recommend considering pushing the honeymoon off until April/May. Its not traditional, but who care? My wife and I did this because she was non-negotiable on getting married in the summer and neither of us had any interest whatsoever in Europe in June... so we decided to go in the Fall. It gave us something to look forward too after the wedding, plus we got to go for longer (We had to take a week off of work for the wedding due to logistical reasons... we both have extremely flexible jobs).

Just something to think about.

Italy would be my recommendation given the desire to visit Europe. My personnal preference would Hawaii, Mexico or one of the islands in the Caribbean.