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Southern Italy in December

Coming from USA. We live Minnesota which very cold in winter. Need a break from it. We can travel from NY to anywhere in Europe. We have 2 weeks and looking for some sunshine, culture, village, towns. Would like beach too but understand that’s not possible in winter.

Posted by
3287 posts

Having made a number of trips to Italy in December, I would describe the temperatures as temperate. You have to consider going from a deep-freeze to moderate temperatures (40’s - 60’s). It’s not beach or swimming weather. Plug in the names of some cities to see what the historical average temps are.

Posted by
5026 posts

Sicily would be great too, but on your other thread my ideas were Naples and Bari area.

Posted by
1062 posts

Definitely not Europe, but last Christmas we swam in the ocean in Costa Rica. It's warm-90s and humid in CR at that time with great beach weather, tropical forests, rainforests, animal life, great people, very reasonable prices, etc.

We've also been in Spain in January and were able to be outside in Barcelona, Seville and Granada in just short-sleeve tees, but it's not swimming weather.

Posted by
700 posts

All of Italy and Spain are probably reasonable. I don't think you can expect ocean swimming in January unless you are hearty. I would vote for Sicily or Sorrento.

Posted by
28157 posts

The northern coast of Spain would not be warm in December; if you go to Spain, I'd suggest you stick to the south (Seville, Cordoba, Granada, etc.) plus whatever time you need in Madrid for logistical reasons or to see the art museums if you're art lovers. Alternatively, you could do the south plus Barcelona, but you'd probably want to fly up to Barcelona.