Traveling Europe for a year - general questions - suggestions for January-February in Non-Schengen

January/ February—Morocco or Cyprus.

What do you like to do and do you have any language skills that might be relevant? Do you prefer cities or small towns/countryside? Are you seeking a warm climate or is it OK if it is colder (not necessarily snow country)?

Turkey, Serbia.
Romania, Cyprus and Bulgaria are in the process of joining the zone.

A second vote for Morocco.

Unfortuantely, we don't speak other languages except for the attempt at tourist phrases . We are OK with colder climates. We love outdoors, but we also love exploring culture and history of the areas we visit. Although we enjoy large cities, we really enjoy smaller towns. We are open to all experiences.

I would opt for the U.K. I don’t care about warm weather and the U.K.is no colder (usually) than what’re I live. Sure, you need to have a warm coat to bundle up. (I take a long, puffy, down coat for winter-in-Europe trips and it has seen me through London, Paris, Turin, Rome, and more.) Tons of villages to visit, cities for culture, familiar language, excellent trains. You can see a lot of the U.K. as well as Ireland in two months.

Let me know if you want any information about the Camino Frances. Walked part of the CF this past Sept. until I broke my wrist and had to fly home and also a good portion of it 3.5 years ago. Are you on any of the Camino forums or Camino FB pages?

The weather in most of Europe is wet and miserable in January and February, with short daylight hours.

Cyprus has a decent climate and is easy as English is widely spoken.

I didn’t feel comfortable on my own in Turkey, but my husband was ok. Ditto Morocco.

You could take time and explore the various islands that comprise Cape Verde, a mix of Europe and Africa.

Many Brits head to The Gambia for some winter sun and this would certainly offer a different culture.

Head to South Africa - a month is an ideal length of trip to see wildlife and explore the wine regions.

If you don’t mind the cold, you could head back to the UK or Ireland, as you won’t have seen much of it in the month you are there.

A lot of Morocco is high mountains, so unless you want to ski, winter is low season. The coastal areas are probably very nice, but even two weeks is a long time for them. Also English is not widely spoken, though French is. I don't know how much there is to enjoy in Cyprus.

I'll put in a plug for Israel, especially if you get to Cyprus or Turkey. Both are short flights away. January/February is a great time to be here. It's low season, so rooms are cheaper and there are few crowds anywhere. Sights built by Canaanites, Romans, Byzantines, early Muslims, Crusaders, Ottomans, and of course many biblical places, both Christian and Jewish. Nature parks, tens of thousands of wintering birds, excellent museums, float in the Dead Sea, take a short trip to Jordan to see Petra and Jerash. Except for Jerusalem, winter here is warmer than anywhere in Europe. Even in Jerusalem, it rarely goes down to freezing and can often be in the 50s or more. Everyone speaks some English, it's hard to find a place where someone isn't fluent enough for good conversation. You could easily spend a month here and not run out of things to see and do.

I agree about Israel. And Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia, they will all join the Schengen area at some time I suspect, but that won't happen suddenly, and entry date will be set in advance.

There are some countries on the Balkans outside the EU that are also worth visiting, like Montenegro.

Other areas on the European mainland outside Schengen where you can spend at least a couple of days are Gibraltar and Andorra.

I would pick Israel over Morocco, especially if you love history. There is no place in the World like Jerusalem.
Actually, you could do Israel and take a side trip to Egypt, although there is a risk of terror attack in Egypt.

Going to Iberia, there are special places that I would call must see places:
Spain: Toledo, Seville (Madrid, Barcelona as well)
Portugal: Lisbon, Porto (do a river cruise on the Douro)

Britain is one of my favorites in Europe:
London, York, The Cotswolds, York, Winchester, Bath, Stratford Upon Avon, Edinburgh, Inverness

France,
Paris, Normandy (Bayeux Tapestry and D-day beaches), Strasbourg, Lyon and Provence down to Arles/Nice/Monaco/St. Paul de Venice.

Belgium
Bruges

Netherlands
Amsterdam

Germany
Berlin, Munich, Berchtesgaden (Salzburg, Austria), Garmisch/Fussen (Innsbruck, Austria), The Romantic Road from Wurzburg to Garmisch, including Rotenberg on the Tauber, Nurnberg, Augsburg, the Rhine Valley (Heidelberg, Weisbaden, Rudesheim, Cologne, Trier and on to Viaden and Luxembourg City.

Austria
Vienna

Italy
Rome, Florence and Venice for sure, also Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Siena, Orvieto, Perugia, Assisi, Pisa, Luca, Cinque Terre, Milan, Alpine Lakes region/Dolomites, Verona and Ravenna.

Haven't mentioned Scandanavia, but for Norway, a Fjord cruise is a great idea. Denmark and Sweden are great.

Thanks for all the suggestions. You gave us some ideas we haven't even considered. Croatia, UK & Ireland have been the non-schengen countries on our list so far. I'm definitely going to check out Cypress and Cape Verde and put Israel on our list of possibilities. I've heard mixed conversation about visiting Turkey at this particular time for political reasons -

You might want to consider both Gibraltar and Andorra since you seem to want to stay around Spain. I'd look at the Caribbean Islands too. The Med is cold and windy in the winter.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to visit Croatia in January/February due to the miserable weather. It’s a great place to be from late April through to mid October.

Andorra is ok for a day or 2 but not a place to spend a month.

Although I agree Turkey is not as risk-free as it was when we went in 2018, it is such a great place with so many worthwhile sights, I would consider it. The hospitable local people are not the problem in Turkey. (I am refraining from political comments, per the rules of this website.) Egypt is off my list for the foreseeable future because of assaults on women and the US State Dept website does warn about this.

Someone explained--I think on this forum--not too long ago that Andorra, though technically non-Schengen, is not actually a useful bolthole. I think the story is that there are no border controls with Spain or France, so there will be no record that you left whichever Schengen country was your previous stop.