Two weeks in Europe in early December (need suggestions)

where are you flying from? What are your best choices of arrival airport? Do you want to do a round trip to one airport or do you want open jaw?

You say you are planning but open to everything.... What's been planned so far?

Since you are so open - can we reasonably assume that money is no issue?

Hi, thanks for the reply and good questions.

We are flying from WAS (DC area airports).

Budget is about $3k, excluding tickets. I'm using miles for the tickets. So far, there is good availability to several destinations I've checked - Budapest, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw.

When I say we are planning, I meant we are looking at hotel and AirBnB options in different cities to get an idea. We are still completely open on itinerary. We're both between jobs that start in early January so this is a spontaneous trip. We are looking at open jaw but really open to anything that makes sense.

and you've checked the drudgery stuff like you'll both have passports valid until at least June 2019, and if you will be driving you have made arrangements for your IDPs?

Passports are valid for several years. We are fairly seasoned travelers and travel internationally at least once every year. We won't be driving - only using public transportation.

I hope you like cold weather. Be sure to take warm clothing, including gloves, scarfs and hats. Two weeks in those five cities is doable, but I would cut your cities down to 3 or 4. Since you have been to Krakow, you could eliminate that city and spend a night in Dresden.

Or if you want explore another beautiful Polish city, in lieu of Kraków, you could go to:

Toruń - a charming, medieval walled city in Western Poland, situated on the Vistula River. Its medieval architecture managed to escape bombing in WWII, and has thus been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Toruń is also the birthplace of the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

Wrocław - the largest city in the south-western historical region of Silesia. At various times, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire, and finally back to Poland after WWII. The architecture around the old center was quite unique, as it incorporates a little of every country that has ruled the city - from Silesian Gothic to Austrian Baroque and German Modernist. In 2016, the city was named a European Capital of Culture.

Przemyśl - has a long and rich history due to its advantageous geographic location and is the second-oldest city in southern Poland (after Kraków). Because of its layers of history, the town has plenty of architectural eye candy, especially in the baroque style old center. Przemyśl also has one of Poland's only surviving pre-WWII Jewish Synagogues (built in 1910). It was not destroyed by the Germans during WWII, as it was used as a stable by the German army during their occupation. The Synagogue's original Art Nouveau architecture is now preserved as a library.

No need to cut Poland out of the picture, there are still plenty of cities in Poland you can explore outside of Kraków, if you choose to :)

I had a 6 night break in Berlin in early December a couple of years ago and we didn’t get to see everything in that time and we didn’t get to Potsdam. The Christmas markets gave us something to see in the evenings. It was cold and we had a little snow, but it didn’t stick.

Budapest - I had a 5 night December stay here and again didn’t run out of things to see. A couple of days were very foggy and we couldn’t see across the river! The Christmas markets weren’t as good as those in Berlin.

I haven’t been to your other options in December.

I have looked into a last minute break to Prague early December and much of the better accommodation has been let, so I am leaving it until next year and I will plan more ahead.