Where in Europe for 10th Wedding Anniversary?

Morroco would be perfect in Feb/Mar.
Split your time between Marrakech and Fez.
It's romantic, a bit cheaper, and WARM.

You'll have to go way south to find those temperatures at that time of year. Morocco is a great idea. Crete, Israel, Andalusia, Malta would work too.

Andalucia - we went in March last year and the weather was fairly nice and spain was awesome!

Thank you for your replies.

I hadn't even considered Morocco, will start researching on it it later today.

With regards to Andalusia, what part of Spain would that be and how would one travel if I landed in Madrid? Is it a collection of small towns or would one be based in one area and go on day trips from there?

Andalucia is southern Spain. You can get their easily by fast train from Madrid to Sevilla. Rent a car there to see the white villages and maybe the coast ( Costa del Sol).

I hope your $3K budget doesn't include airfare, since RT to Europe may cost you $1000 pp.

Southern Europe is cheaper than Northern Europe. Switzerland is very expensive as well.

I liked Morocco, but it is not Europe. Still it is a good place to visit.

Spain and Portugal are great and I would start in Madrid, Toledo and move to Seville then Grenada. In Portugal, Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, Cascais and Porto are great. Stay in Bed and Breakfasts and use guidebooks for doing your own touring, you can stick to that budget.

Yeah, I am not sure if $3,000 is going to cut it for what you're wanting to do if that includes airfare.

Sorry did not mention it clearly but yeah Airfare is not part of the $3000. Either ways I am currently finding tickets that are closer to $500 pp.

Are 6 nights/7 days a good amount to stay if I choose Andalucia? How scenic is the train ride from Madrid to Seville? And where I should look for lodging options for the main part of the trip i.e would Seville form the base for entire trip?

If you want to go to Andalucia, you can fly (with a connection) to Malaga, Seville, or Granada. With only a week, you would probably want to fly into one and out of the other, to minimize backtracking. If you want to see Madrid, you could certainly end your trip there (easier to end rather than start there, so you don't miss your flight out).

Andalucia has three sizable cities with major sights: Seville, Cordoba and Granada. There are also a number of picturesque small (Ronda) and smaller (Arcos de la Frontera, etc.) towns, plus coastal towns (surely not warm enough to swim, though). The area is worth a lot longer than a week, but if you can't scrounge any extra time, you have the option of choosing two of the three cities so your trip won't be so terribly hectic. I suspect you'll find it a lot cheaper to fly into Madrid, so you'll be spending some time getting from Madrid to Seville and then back to Madrid at the end of the trip. Madrid's weather is unlikely to meet your temperature cut-off, so you'll probably want to spend just your last night there.

" I suspect you'll find it a lot cheaper to fly into Madrid"

It may or may not be - you should check all options for your dates before making any definitive plans. And sometimes, for no clear reason, it's cheaper in one direction. My last trip to Spain, it was $80 less to fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona than the reverse. Since it made no difference for that trip, that's what I did.

Ck out Sicily or amalfi coast of Italy very romantic, indeed. Realize u may encounter some rain on your trip in s. Europe. It will be off season, quieter and perhaps fewer sport activities but hiking, rafting weather dependant. Palaces, arch sights, volcanoes, etc.

As it's a wedding anniversary, I'd back those saying Andalucia. The Al-Hambra in Granada is one of the world's must see places in my humble opinion and suitably romantic for an anniversary. It can get very busy in peak season so going out of season is smart... BUT... Check it's open when you're there of course - I think it may only open to the public in mid-March. If you do hit that region then even if it's an anniversary, you might consider waiting until it's open. It would be such a shame to go all that way and miss out by a couple of weeks.

I've heard that Sicily is beautiful too. Your weather criteria do mean that those are the sorts of latitudes you're looking at though. Southern Italy (Amalfi coast, Rome, Ischia or Cinque Terra perhaps), Southern Spain as mentioned or further east maybe consider some choice Greek islands or Istanbul. There are some beautiful corners and both have their share of bucket-list places. Santorini or Kefalonia perhaps are two I know a little of but you're spoilt for choice.

Consider the Canarian Islands or Madeira. I am not sure if it is technically part of Europe, but it is part of Spain and Portugal - so the culture is European.

Spain is cheap, you can definitely travel on a budget there. It's also got great history and they treat visitors very well.

Whether it will be warm in Feb/Mar is another question? I was in Granada in April and there was fresh snow in the mountains and a cold wind blowing. I'd guess it was in the 30's with a wind chill down to the 20's. People appologized about the weather. It had been a cold winter all over Europe and they hadn't snapped out of it yet.

Even in a good year, it will be comfortable but probably not beach weather.

Anywhere north of Southern Spain, Southern Italy, or Med. Islands WILL be cold in Feb/Mar.

I think Spain is also an excellent idea. My 19 year old son and I went last summer to Sevilla and Cordoba. We loved it. And you will love this link as well. Round trip air from Boston to Madrid or Barcelona for less than $400!
https://thepointsguy.com/2017/05/us-to-spain-from-351/

Have you considered Athens. Weather fits your parameter of being 60ish. Definitely more accessible to water than Madrid or Paris, and plenty of historical places and scenic sights

Thank you all for providing fantastic information so far. Andalusia seems to be the choice of most of you based on the parameters that I had mentioned. I am inclining towards that as well. Given that we may have 6 nights/7 days, would you guys recommend only two of Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Ronda? If yes, which ones should I focus on?

@joe - I have not considered Athens because it seemed like it was about 10-12 hours by flight from Boston and given that we may have seven days only, traveling could end up taking a lot of time.

@stephen - Thanks for the info and link for the fares. I am also seeing under $500 fares on TAP Portugal Airline. Did you fly on TAP as well? Being a low cost carrier, did you have a good experience? ANy interesting tidbits to share about the flight? Also, if possible, can you share your itinerary for Sevilla and Cordoba at a high level?

We flew on Iberia and I have not flown on TAP before. They are a Star Alliance member and are the flagship carrier for Portugal. I recommend going to flyertalk.com and looking at the forum for TAP to get an idea about the airline. Take a look at this link as well

http://www.moretimetotravel.com/like-fly-tap-portugal-economy-class/

We based in Seville only for 3 nights. We went to the Alcazar, Cathedral and wandered the Santa Cruz neighborhood. We stopped at a couple of tapas bars in Santa Cruz but I don't recall which ones. We also went to Plaza Espana and the adjacent park. If you like horse drawn carriages, you can ride one at the cathedral or plaza Espana. We took a day trip to Córdoba and went to the Mezquita and walked around town and across the river.