Christmas 2012, I will be living in Switzerland. I want to travel somewhere over the holidays, and I know that's a crazy time in travel. Which European cities are WORTH the lines, traffic, and increased population during the Christmas season?
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
Paris. Definitely. The City of Lights goes all out with amazing light displays, fancy decorations, in-city skating rinks, a grand Christmas market along the Champs Elysses, and more. It is magical. We go every year and have never tired of strolling along drinking mulled wine and watching the Eiffel Tower light up, taking a carousel ride, watching the kids screech and scream on the roller coasters, shopping for incredible dainties at Au Printemps, checking out the windows at les Galeries Lafayettes.... I have also loved my holiday time in London and Strasbourg, and of course Tivoli (a fave of mine, although it gets little love from others on this board) is open over Christmas, giving Copenhagen a major boost of magic and cheer during the holiday season. I'll bet there are places in Germany that are awesome for Christmas, too, but I've never been in Germany for Christmas.
Posted by
Jericho, Vermont, USA
143 posts
Hi - I have been in Munich and Salzburg at Xmas time and both were beautiful, especially Salzburg. Both have Xmas markets ongoing and you can buy gluhwein on the street and sip while watching the people and sights. Also there were numerous concerts. Have not been other places at that time. Julia
Posted by
Jericho, Vermont, USA
143 posts
PS to my earlier posting. I forgot - many years ago I spent Xmas in a tiny Alpine village in Austria and that was wonderful. Don't know what they're like now, but Wagrain, Bad Hofgastein in Austria and Reit im Winkl in the German Alps were beatiful in winter. Julia, again
Posted by
southwest, Missouri, U.S.A.
1717 posts
Salzburg is pleasant in the winter. It could have snow (big fluffy white snow flakes gently falling down on Salzburg), but the air is not likely to be extremely cold.
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
One year we did the XMass markets in Germany, and hopped on a lo-cost Ryan air flight to Portugal (Faro) . We did bith "cold" and "warm" One day we were wading in the surf on the Algarve coast, the next we explored the fun city of Lisbon in our shirtsleeves, and we ended our trip with a drive to the rainy city of Porto and kept warm by visiting the Port wine cellars. The southern coast of Spain can also be nice that time of year. There were no lines anywhere in Portugal. Driving was easy on the new expressways, and the prices there were about the best you could find in the Euro Zone.
Posted by
XXX
1170 posts
How about Amsterdam? Too rainy?
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2804 posts
London....it has a Charles Dicken era feel to it.