Winter travel. 19-day Iberia and Morocco, or 14-day Central Europe?

shark,
Even though Iberia shares their Spanish language, Spain and Portugal are nothing like Central and South America. I would choose option 2, for the weather alone. Plus, the three countries on the tour are all great places to visit! I won't go into details, but we loved our Spain/Portugal/Morocco trip. It was self-organized, not a tour, but saw Madrid, Toledo (day trip), Sevilla, Granada, Ronda (day trip), Barcelona, Tarragona (day trip), Lisbon, Evora (day trip), Porto, Tarifa and Tangier (day trip). We were gone about 3 1/2 weeks , used a car part of the time and took the train sometimes, plus the ferry to Tangier. We even drove through Gibraltar and had a drink in an English pub.

Lots of fun, good food, beautiful cities and towns, variety (Spain and Portugal are not each other's clones!), wonderful art and architecture galore, and a history guaranteed not to be boring!

Good luck in deciding!
Buen viaje!

P.S. Took one flight, from Barcelona to Lisbon.

I can see how politics / weather in central Europe, especiall of Slovakia and Hungary could be deal killers for you, and a lot of people. The countries of Morocco, Spain and Portugal might give you more of the sociopolitical / weather comfort you are looking for. Although I would research the anti-tourism protests and housing issues in the cities that the tour visits, you might be surprised. You also might want to research human rights issues in Morrocco; again, you might be surprised.

Even though Iberia shares their Spanish language, Spain and Portugal ...

Spain and Portugal have their own languages. Portugal shares their one with Brazil. Important to mention that in Spain there are also regional languages in use. Catalan for example is no Spanish dialect.

Regarding Human Rights Spain and Portugal are much higher ranked in the international index compared to countries such as Hungary which showed a declining HR index in the last years: the president wanted to forbid CSD demo in Budapest but the city's police said they won't prosecute Pride participants. So the good news is that in Spain for example it is still allowed to protest against results of unregulated tourism. In nearly all cases these protests are not affecting travelers.

OP, I recommend that you check the foreign travel advice of UK for the countries you consider to travel to. Do not follow any social media or other news rubbish.

Even though Iberia shares their Spanish language, Spain and Portugal are nothing like Central and South America.

Spain and Portugal have different languages and cultures and have very different histories. Even if their languages might sound very similar, many Spaniards and Portuguese might take offense and get angry if we were to say this.

I can see how politics / weather in central Europe, especially of Slovakia and Hungary could be deal killers for you, and a lot of people.

You also might want to research human rights issues in Morocco; again, you might be surprised.

I am not concerned traveling to other countries that have crooked governments and human rights issues. There are several countries in Asia that all have serious human rights problems, but are highly praised for their safety and hospitality and are overall excellent places to visit. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, and the UAE to name some. Coming back to Europe, many travelers feel very safe traveling to countries like Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine (before the war). My only main traveling concern in Central Europe is mainly the weather in the winter months since walking outside and enjoying the city or nature is significantly easier to do in 15°C and sun versus -5°C and sun or +5°C and with rain and wind.

Mark, Oops! My bad. I do know that Portuguese is the correct language for Portugal. I was going too fast in forming my response and let that brain hiccup stand. I recall that many Portuguese are insulted when North Americans use their high school Spanish there to try to communicate. As one hotel manager told us, in so many words, that the Spanish have tried to take over Portugal often in the past, and letting Spanish get a foot in the door is another way to take the country over. I used my very, very limited Portuguese or English or Franch after that, but NO Spanish!

Do not follow any social media or other news rubbish.

Is this forum social media?

Thanks for your input everyone!

Hi Judy,
Spain and Portugal are pretty different countries with different languages, cultures and very different histories. Even though both countries have similar geographies that may have shaped how their languages can sound similar to each other, it's not correct to assume both countries are identical. Doing so could risk very much angering people in both countries.

Hi Mark and Mr. E,
I am not at all concerned about traveling to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Morocco even with their relatively poor HR rankings. Several Asian countries also have very poor HR scores but are highly praised for their safety and hospitality and remain highly popular with international tourists. Unlike most cities in my country, most major cities I have listed above have tons of interesting history, art, architecture, food, and are very walkable and safe. I love train travel which is something that can very much be enjoyed all over Europe, but only in a small part of the USA. Even if the weather is bad in the winter months, there are plenty of indoor attractions and cozy activities to do in the major cities.

Based on your US comments, I was throwing out some things you might be interested in. I just suggested "research" rather than comment on the subjects because trying to fair and factual in three sentenances is impossible; and its all subjective anyway.

I live in Budapest, and moving here was one of my best life decisions, so I will suggest based on personal bias that you do the Central European tour. It hits the best and most fascinating and unique cities of Europe. Paris, Vienna and Budapest are certainly the three most beautiful cities in Europe so the tour hits 2 of the three. The only stop on the trip that I would have little interest in is Berlin. But who knows ..... might change my mind.

The tour is an extraordinarily good Jewish Europe tour as well.

Favorite Tourism Video of Budapest https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared
Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX

Option 2 all the way. Morocco is a place that doesn't really interest me much, but it's one that I would do with an organized tour. Vs. the European countries mentioned, which I would feel confident touring on my own.

k,
See my comment above Oops!

G3rryCee, I completely agree with you on Morrocco. But a few of the Spanish stops turn me off.

I have been to all the places mentioned on both tours except for Warsaw, and many of these in winter months. For me, I would absolutely 100% choose the Spain/Portugal/Morocco option. The northern half of Europe is rather grim in January/February, and it's a great time to visit places like Morocco and southern Spain where the temperatures will be mild and you can do things like eat outdoors. I find in places like Germany in the winter you are just running between indoor activities because it's so cold (unless you were planning on doing skiing/winter sports as part of your trip). But, they are all nice places so I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you choose. But I wouldn't underestimate how much the weather will be a factor.

For me, I would absolutely 100% choose the Spain/Portugal/Morocco option. The northern half of Europe is rather grim in January/February, and it's a great time to visit places like Morocco and southern Spain where the temperatures will be mild and you can do things like eat outdoors.

Now that I think of it, I am leaning more towards the second option. I just hope Spain will not feel redundant after visiting Latin America and South America. Morocco will be a very exciting cultural change, even though it's outside of Europe.

I find in places like Germany in the winter you are just running between indoor activities because it's so cold (unless you were planning on doing skiing/winter sports as part of your trip).

From my friends' experience, winters in Frankfurt and Cologne (Koln) are not that bad and sometimes even just sweaters may suffice as you get some dry sunny days above 10°C. However in other cities like Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden, having a good jacket is definitely needed. Outside of Germany, I know that Warsaw and Prague can also experience harsh winters. Similar to Chicago or Boston in the USA. Budapest and Vienna are somewhat better, similar to Madrid but less sunny and more windy. My main concern about winter travel is not the cold itself, but any winter storm disruptions that can make bus travel dangerous and plane and train travel very chaotic.

The discussion about it being winter. It really depends on what you do and what you enjoy and if you detest the cold.

In the winter:
Krakow, I suspect, will be all that Krakow can be. It’s a historic site more than anything else. The horrors may seem a bit more real in the winter; the Jewish culture can shine through any weather. So, I think it’s an equal trip any season.

Budapest with the lights that come on early can be visually more beautiful. This isn’t an outside recreation city so that’s not an issue. The Winters are long, but not particularly hard; last year it snowed 3 times and all three I doubt added up to one foot of snow. Because the winters are long the locals don’t just survive them as is often the case in place with short winters … like parts of Spain I presume. The locals have made the Winter part of the culture. So, from that perspective it isn’t as much a negative as it might be in warmer locations. So, we have our lights, our museums, our social gathering houses, more theaters than you could imagine, jazz halls and classical music venues, opera, ballet. The streets day and night are as full as any time of the year, and no one is complaining about the weather.

Vienna and Prague very much the same as Budapest.

For me the question would be, will I find enough enjoyment in a warm weather destination when its cool to cold outside? I don’t have an answer. Never been to Spain in the Winter.