Winter Vacation in Europe

Hi Jonny. I might reverse the very beginning of the trip and stay in London for 6 nights, then Bath for 3. It sounds like at least half your time in London will consist of day trips, so you'd be spending a lot of money on a room in London, plus almost daily train trips. You could consider cutting out the day trips, or just taking one. The middle part of your trip sounds fine, with a good number of days in each place. But at the end, you could save Spain and Portugal for another trip since they are far away from everything else. You could use that time to visit more places in Italy, the Netherlands, or Belgium.

Hi Sarah. Thanks for the insight. I am actually beginning to rethink the whole Lisbon/Spain trip. Yes, I agree with you on doing 1 day trip instead of 4. It's more economical plus, it'll give me more time to hang out in London.

Yes, exactly. There's so much to see in London, too.

Personally I don't think it makes a lot of sense but you may have reasons doing what you are doing. First, neither Bath or Brugge is not worth three days especially at that time of year. At that time of year you days in northern Europe are very short, sun is weak, and you could have a fair amount of rain. London to Italy and back to Amsterdam and then Spain doesn't make a lot of sense from an efficient travel stand point. You might give a better idea of what it is you are trying to do with your schedule. Obviously you have looked at map and recognize the distances involved. My tendency at that time of year would be a focus on Italy and Spain especially southern Spain like Sevilla, Granada, Malaga and Portugal in general.

Just to reinforce: Northern Europe (Amsterdam, London, Bath...) have very short days in late December. 8AM is dark, 5PM is dark. They are at mid-Quèbec latitudes, despite being warmer.

London: The days are short (probably 9-4) but there is so much to do during the day. If you visit the cathedrals and museums you dont need daylight, the theater is in high season in Winter, there are Christmas decorations, shops are bustling, the streets and scenic areas are still there, you can still walk to all the sights. I am often in London on business in December, we do at least two day trips, either by organized tours or by train. You could easily spend a week. Unless you have plans for Bath and that area- one night should be enough. Weather in all of Europe could be horrible but most years its OK. Seldom have worse weather in London than Europe. And of course Germany and Austria have the Christmas markets. Cardiff is too far for a day trip from London- keep it about an hour or so. (Return trip in the dark is no problem). You can easily do Salisbury, Canterbury, Winchester, Oxford, Cambridge as day trips. My neice did Stonehenge in December and called it "awesome".

Your plan would make a little more sense if it followed a more logical geographic progression, like going to Amsterdam, then Brugge, then Spain and Portugal, then Italy (or reversing the order of the Iberian peninsula and Italy). I also would cut down on the daytrips in Britain. As others have mentioned, daylight hours are very short and at least in the north, you can expect heavy fog during the morning. All the more reason to concentrate on urban destinations, which it looks like that´s your plan anyway.

You'll get a ton of great suggestions from this forum. Christmas is a very special time in Europe in particular Germany, Austria etc... From the end of November each town has its own Christmas tradition/ market. Consider making time there as well.

Personally, I love the UK in Nov/Dec. I'd skip the time in Bath. Stay in London the whole time and do lots of day trips. We usually got a BritRail pass because we liked the flexibility. They are not quite the travel bargan they used to be though. With this much advance notice, you should be able to get discounted fares to many places. I'd suggest trips to Cardiff (not too far, IMH and they have a good Christmas Market), Bath- also good market, Windsor, possibly Canterburry (good market on certain days), Stratford-upon-Avon, York- good shopping. Check to see which fares are good. All these places can be reached within about 2 hours or less on the train. We often would pair London with one other destination for our winter trips. Often Vienna or Salzburg- great markets!!!! If you want to make it just a UK holiday, spend New Years in Edinburgh (they call it Hogmany) as they have spectacular celebrations!!!!

Just want to clear up a small misperception- Germany and Austria are not the only countries that have a Christmas market tradition. France, Belgium and the Netherlands also have them (and possibly others I don´t know about). The largest and most elaborate I have seen were in Leuven and Hasselt, both in Belgium.

Hi everyone!! Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. I am definitely going to fine tune my itinerary to make it more feasible geographically. The Christmas markets sound like a great idea, too. Happy travels!