winter months in europe

I would suggest starting in the more southern countries and working your way north. Italy, Greece, Spain or Portugal for January. Not only is it colder in more northern countries, remember you will have less daylight further north. I have been in Paris in March and found it wonderful. It was cold, but with a coat, hat and gloves it was fine.

First, if you are a US citizen, you can only spend 90 days out of every 180 days in Schengen countries, which both Portugal and Spain are. Here's a list - note that England and Ireland are EU but are not Schengen, while Switzerland and Norway are not EU, but are Schengen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area. What is "nice" in the winter depends on your definition. Some do prefer places like southern Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as these are warmer. Others, however, feel these places are not at their best in the colder weather (when locals hibernate to some extent), and prefer colder places that are not so outdoors-focused, with more indoor activities. With a month in each place, your needs will be different than shorter term visitors, so have a look at Slow Travel's website: http://www.slowtrav.com/

Where have you been? Will you have a car in each location? Do you want to do only day trips from your base or will you do overnighters? After spending 3 weeks in Andalusia in February, I think that could be a good base for 4 weeks, and you could spend part of your time sightseeing by bus and train and part of the time by car. I could be happy for a month in Paris or London any time of year.

We have spent time in Tuscany, Greece (the pelepponese, Crete, Rhodes, Chios, Lesvos, Samos, Patmos), France (Burgundy and the Dordogne regions), and a few days each in London, Paris and Rome. We will be renting a car where needed. In large cities, we will take public transportation or walk. We enjoy walking, museums, theatre, opera, really great food, and shopping at the local markets. Wine tasting is high on our list also. We would like to rent a place for several weeks at a time and would take day trips and some overnight trips from that location. Last year we rented apartments for a week each in the Dordogne, Florence, and Montepulciano and enjoyed having a place to cook breakfast and feel at home.

You should be fine for cultural activities - orchestras and opera houses are in full swing in winter. Ditto for many theater companies as well. You cannot stay more than 90 days out of 180 in Schengen countries though. What you should consider is latitude: most of Europe is far more up north than US, meaning winter daylight is in short supply.

We will retire next year and plan to spend 6 months each winter in Andalucía. We are in the midst of obtaining a long-term Spanish visa to stay beyond the 90 day mandatory Schengen limit. That's what you'll need to stay beyond the limit - and the visa is specific only to the country you plan to stay in. There are no multi-country visas for extended stays. You can find what you need to obtain such a visa on that country's counselor web site, and you can't get them by mail - we needed to fly down to San Francisco for an appointment. France is very difficult to obtain a longer visa due to the bureaucratic regulations. You may have to get a flight and rent an apartment before they will (or won't) grant the visa. Spain is much friendlier. You will need a copy of your marriage license, proof of income, proof of medical coverage (acceptable to them) that covers Europe, and lots of other information. Good luck and have a wonderful time together!

Winter! Go up to the mountains. Andorra in the Pyrenees is nice if you stay up from the valley floor. Or the French/Swiss Alps. Very unique experience.

Jane, lets over look the visa issue for the moment. There are at least two groups of thought on winter travel. There are those that head to the warmest places they can find and those that go where winter is more of a way of life. I tend to fall into the second group. Most of the more temperate regions of Europe are still miserable in the winter and there is no special reason to be in those places in the winter. Those are the places you go in the spring and come home with perfect memories of warm days and the Mediterranean. I've been in Rome in January and for the life of me I cannot understand what was going through my mind. I have also been in Moscow in January and it was perfect (perfectly below Zero, but absolutely perfect).
Then there are those places where half the year (or more) is cold and they have learned to make the best of it. Christmas markets in Central Europe, winter sports, opera and theater. I vote for this route. I would do Istanbul (a compromise on my theory but helps with the visa issue), and then in the next 90 days; Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin. The to keep you square on your 90 days Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, London and then on to Spain. I wonder how your Spanish visa works when it comes to the 180 day rule in other countries?