Spring Travel, 2013

i would consider reversing your itinerary by starting in Spain or Italy and ending in England. You might find the weather to be more favorable this way.

Agree to do the reverse, weather is unpredictable but in my opinion, start south and head north. We were lucky I guess but had great weather on all trips except one time in London in March years ago, early in the month and it was cold. I think we even had some snow just outside the city that year. April and May are great months to go to Europe.

How long are you going to be gone? If it's just for a couple or three weeks weather won't matter that much. There's not much difference between April 1 and April 15 anywhere in the world.

Open jaw; fly into Rome, enjoy Italy, fly to London, explore UK, then fly home. Might even consider something as different as flying into Istanbul and then flying to the UK. Nice weather in Turkey last May. Took the 7 day RS tour. Daily sunshine. Mostly clear skies and sunshine in London pre and post. One day of rain spent at the Museum of London, the National Gallery and in my favorite pub.

Thanks for the suggestions. They make sense. I think we will be gone 3 weeks so we could start south and go north to the UK before we come home. I have a lot to do to plan for it. I appreciate your help.

I was in Crete in early April three years ago. Weather was mostly warm and sunny - perfect for touring, picniking and relaxing in outdoor tavernas but not for swimming - the sea was pretty cold. We did have some rain, but adjusted what we were doing as necessary. The wildflowers were out in abundance. The UK weather is totally unpredictable - you takes your chances with it but there is always lots to do indoors if it is cool and wet - or buy an umbrella and cope with it. Even in the south a warm and waterproof jacket is recommended for the evenings and the cooler days.

I was in Rome right after Easter a couple of years ago, and it was very busy. You may want to take that into account. In Italy that Spring, it was in the 60's and sunny most of the time, but there was some rain.

I agree with those who suggested starting in the south; however, you should be aware that spring weather is especially unpredictable. We once flew into Rome on April 12. I could hardly believe my ears when the pilot announced that the temperature on the ground was 0 degrees Celsius or 32 F. I think it only reached 40 F that day. People kept telling us that the previous week it had been in the 70's F. Both London and Rome have plenty to do indoors, if you run into really bad weather. We were in Italy again starting on the 1st of May and, for the most part, had glorious sunny days, mostly with highs in the 70's and a couple of times reaching the upper 80's. The countryside of Lazio and Tuscany is enchanting at that time of year.

I would just like to say we where in Italy this past May then flew from Italy to England June 1st. Except for one rainy day in Rome, the rest of Italy was nice and sunny. England, on the other hand was dreary and rainy and cold the entire week. We wish we had started with England and gotten the dreariness out of the way as it put a damper on the end of our trip. If I had to do it over again I would hit the "almost-guaranteed" rainy places first.

We were in Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Bruges and Brussels from April 16-May 12 of this year and I wore my rain coat every day and wool scarf most days. It was the wettest year on record and very chilly. Like in the 40's at night and only a few days in the low 60's. Lots of days it was around 55-58 degrees. Starting in the south sounds like an excellent plan. Check out wunderground.com Travel Planner for the period of time that you will be in those cities and you can obtain historical weather data.

South to north is smart. And good weather is not guaranteed anywhere, but particularly in the north. While April and May CAN be nice they can also be cold and rainy. Hell, July can be cold and rainy (apparently London is having a miserable summer). No need to worry, just pack to dress in layers and bring an umbrella or light rain jacket.