Suggestions for place to go to escape winter

Sevilla, ES?

Dubrovnik or perhaps Cavtat. Athens. Agree with Nafplio as a smaller town option.

A good place for winter sun, including hiking and swimming, is the Canary Islands- I know they are technically Spain but they are quite different to the mainland. You might also want to look at Cyprus, or even north Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, or Egypt).

Thank you!

Oaxaca, Mexico, or Mexico City, or a colonial city in the mountains like Guanajuato. Endless sun and warmth. Cheaper than Europe, no jet lag, arguably better food.

Buenos Aires!

Had you not already been there, I would have said Malta :-)
Looking at your suggestions, I assume you are more into Southern Europe and the Mediterranean than the Caribbean or Latin America, so I go for this:

Cyprus is said to be nice in winter (but I have not been there). Maybe also Crete - really off season, so take care not to be in a tourist area, but still.

The previously mentioned Canaries are a classic from Europe. I would put Madeira in the same category - Portuguese, but different vibes than the mainland. Not sure about the Azores.

If Muslim countries are acceptable, popular choices would be Egypt or Morocco - they are significantly more temperate in winter…

Take a cruise around the Horn of South America or visit Australia.

Don't go to Azores in the winter!

We were in Naples / Pompeii over Christmas and had 50F / 10C, and zero rain. We loved out time there. It hits all your sweet spots but no comment on indoor swimming! Puglia would also work. What about Palermo, you've been to the other side of the island but not there? Several posters loved Valencia, Spain. Cheaper than other destinations in Spain. (Look them up on trip reports.)

I once spent a week in Madeira in February, and it rained almost the entire time. I don’t know how typical that is, but the Canaries might be a better bet. The only slight problem is that it’s not straightforward to get there from North America; there are no direct flights, so you’d have to travel via mainland Europe.

Wherever you consider, do check the winter weather records. A lot of the Med can be rainy in Jan/Feb.

Rio, Australia, Thailand, South Africa

In Europe if not pricy is a requirement, then Montenegro (think Portugal or less). Definately different looking than Portugal or Spain. Some of Malta's character is some locations. Croatia has gotten expensive, Italy is not cheap,

Just because a place is 10F warmer than Estonia in February doesnt make it a good winter destination. Most of the ideas, including mine, are terrific warm weather venues. Go in the dead of winter and maybe you miss the spectacular for a life time.

Love art, music, history, swimming (indoors during winter), hiking,
cuisine…Hoping to live like a local in one place for two months or two
places for a month each.

Art: some very good museums
Music: hard to beat from Jazz to Klezmer to Classical. Concerts, dinner shows and Broadway style musicals. Winter is the high season. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/updated-budapest-performance-venue-list
History: facinating and I bet a lot new to you making it possibly more interesting.
Swimming: modern and ancient geothermal heated bath houses. Here is one in the dead of winter (is why the steam) https://www.bizarreglobehopper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/visit-szechenyi-baths-budapest-in-winter.jpg and the largest indoor pool complex in Central Europe. Some hotels have great indoor pools. Here is the Corinthia https://media.joinup.travel/storage/hotel/29508/photos/4Corinthia-Hotel-Budapest-2.jpg
Hiking: a city begging to be walked.
Cuisine: from local to the best from every corner of the globe to Michelin Star.
Live like a local: easy, I do it and at 25% to 30% less than a lot of Western Europe.

Ohhh, where? Budapest or Vienna or both where winter is in-season.

Does it have to be in Europe? New Zealand is a great escape.

So happy to find another swimmer here!

I can tell you with some certainty that you will not find hotels, other than ultra luxury and even then, not many, with good indoor pools in Italy. But some cities in Spain (Valencia is the one I know well) have great public indoor pools, very close to the center but I see Spain is not in the equation for this trip...

Hotels in Asian cities often have wonderful indoor pools...if that's of any interest...you could do wore than to spend a few months in Shanghai....winters are fairly mild there....

Lecce itself will be good in winter but the coast towns in Salento would be very quiet--still you could have some great day trips, and swim:

https://centronuotolecce.it

Just so you know, the Old Town of Nafplio (if that’s what you're thinking of, and not the new town right next to it) relies mostly on tourism, it only has about 150 permanent residents. In the winter, even if the weather might be nice, most of the shops, restaurants, and bars are closed. If you're going to Greece for the weather anyway, you might as well go to Athens.

Thank you all so much for all of these wonderful suggestions. I really appreciate it. Sorry for the delay in replying, you have given me a lot to consider - some great ideas for next winter and the years ahead!

MaryPat - thanks, I have always wanted to go to Seville but husband's been to Spain and wants to go elsewhere. (I hope to get there one day!)

Shoeflyer - thanks, have wanted to go to Dubrovnik for 40 years (!) and had not considered it in the winter. Perhaps it will be less crowded then?

Cat VH - thank you, the Canaries are appealing. La Orotava looks beautiful! And yes to Morocco and Egypt, hadn't considered Tunisia before.

Toby - hadn't been considering Mexico but it certainly does line up with what we are interested in, thank you. And also love the food! Wondering how safe you and others feel going to Mexico these days?

muscimoll1 - yes we would love to go to Argentina!

l-b-m - thanks for the thoughtful reply. Cyprus is on the radar. Also interested in going to Madeira and the Azores, though I'm now hearing mixed things about these islands in the winter. Have always wanted to go to Morocco and Egypt would be cool too.

geovagriffith - very interesting idea I had not thought of re the Horn of South America. Hoping to keep the costs down in the near future but will think about for the future.

Janet - why not the Azores in the winter? Rain?

Sandancisco - Good to hear about Naples/Pompeii. We had a tour booked to Pompeii last year but it got rained out. Have not been to Palermo. Thought it might be too chaotic (?) Indeed just spent time in Siracusa, went to Noto for the day and overnight in Taormina to see the ancient theatre there. Were interested to travel more of the island, see the Valley of the Temples, Selinunte, Segesta...but didn't want to spread ourselves too thin. Also a little nervous about driving in Sicily.

Acutor - Sorry to hear about your weather in Madeira (!) and appreciate you sharing that.

Lin C - definitely I'm checking the weather reports! Some rain would be okay, and better than all the snow and ice we get as far as I'm concerned, but hope not to run into too much rain.

Mr. E - interested in Montenegro for sure, Thailand, South Africa, Australia... and your message on Budapest may just have convinced my husband that despite trying to avoid wintry weather that Budapest would be very nice in winter. We have always wanted to go there. Been to Vienna, loved it. Hope to go there and Budapest as well as Prague, etc - the list goes on!

Laura - thanks. Yeah love the idea of New Zealand and Australia for that matter but thought it might be more expensive with the flights and there.

Ekscrunchy - great to hear you're a swimmer too and appreciate your thoughts!

JoLui - thank you, good to know.

We are now thinking perhaps we go for a few weeks in the winter instead of a couple months, so that we could go somewhere else later in the year. Leaning this winter towards going to Athens and then Crete. Hope it won't be too rainy/windy in Crete. Thanks again for all your thoughts!

Tinka: here is my recent trip report. Safely was never a concern.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/mexico-and-a-bit-of-florida

Thank you Toby! Good to hear and I appreciate that.

Tinka, I most often only get to a place once, so I want to see it, maybe not at its best, but at least near its best. That means places like Montenegro in warmer weather. Okay, Montenegro I keep going back to, but in warmer weather. But Budapest is near one of its best in the winter.
https://youtube.com/shorts/npsiM7hAg_M?si=1Kw9697fjbSANcwt
https://youtube.com/shorts/kKygNK_n-CE?si=XAZJfqOQ-osuRhh0
https://youtube.com/shorts/H9YjND_oFUM?si=bWoNsOufU-umKwAE
https://youtu.be/omlmeasR958?si=LSFOcRbtqtToG1cs
https://youtube.com/shorts/1FIra_uTp10?si=V6atLoi2UQMVgVEf
https://youtube.com/shorts/ISy1ARIrGLk?si=dX5FiwkMhBhHB7Qr
https://youtu.be/oKJSVY2ek1k?si=z_WLJKGnHYxD_HNz
https://youtube.com/shorts/Sa-XLGSbjo4?si=jHr6VZ4Pcn1BPWlo

Thank you very much Mr. E! Budapest will definitely be on the list sooner than later!

On the Travel Forum home page, under Destination Q&A, select Portugal. The first thing you'll see at the top of the page that comes up is a message from the Webmaster about free travel advice on the Azores that you can download. Carl is the person generously donating his mini guidebook about the Azores, and he's the one who said not to go there in winter!

Amazing Janet! Thank you!

I located my copy of Carl's book. He says summer is the best time to visit, followed by fall and spring. He does not recommend visiting between December and March because the weather is generally rainy and cold (mid 50s F) and it is common for flights to be cancelled because of the rain, fog, and wind. He does says you might possibly get lucky with mild weather in winter and that tourism has become a year-round option.

Thank you very much Janet! That’s very kind of you to look it up and tell me! Will definitely put the Azores down for non winter.
Incidentally I am looking at potentially flying into Lisbon for a few days to break up our hopeful flight to Athens this winter. (Husband has been there so not as keen, so also considering Dublin en route to Athens. I imagine the weather may not be great then in Dublin, but looks like some interesting things to do indoors there if that’s the case).
Thanks again.