Europe in winter.... best place to go for a couple of weeks?

Question

Where would be a good place to vacation in Europe in late December? I'm usually not into touristy things (museums, tours, learning the history of every building, etc). I mostly like walking the streets, enjoying local eateries, seeing present-day life, taking some nice pics, etc. And, all of this on a shoe-string budget.

Answer 1

Switzerland! Beautiful Snow Capped Mountains!

Go to the Lake Geneva Area

Visit the cities of Lausanne, the San Fransisco of Switzerland with its up and down streets, Montraux, Vevey, Geneva

And also i am not into the museum thing and Switzerland is perfect for people who just like to explore the people and streets!

Answer 2

I would say switzerland would be an expensive way to go...its renowed for being expensive.

When living in England for a year or so, a friend and I went to spain for christmas ( a week) and while we had a few cloudy days, but there were great sunny...albeit a bit cool...days ( which was better than in England!!!)..we were just south of barcelona, but i guess if you go further south it will be a bit warmer,BUT lots of brits and tourists,

I went to Croatia in April and found it lovely, lest touristy and its cheaper than some other places...the coast is wonderful and stunning. I am not sure what the weather will be that time of year, but its worth a look....dubrovnik, split and zadar are all great and they are pretty towns.

Answer 3

I agree with Chloe as far as Suisse's beauty goes (somewhat biased as my roots are in the French Jura) but things are very expencive there especially with the weak USD

Croatia is very nice (went there among many other places while travelling throughout Europe in June / July 1988 - and no we weren't like the Griswolds, we're multilingual) nice scenery, good food, and affordable. I didn't see the capital city of Zagreb but the coastal areas are really nice, Dubrovnik and Split especially. Do'vidanya!

Answer 4

Most of Europe is too cold to do a lot of walking outside in late December.  If that's the kind of trip you want, you pretty much need to stick to the Mediterranean coast - southern Portugal, southern Spain, southern France, or southern Italy.  You might like Lisbon in Portugal or Andalusia in southern Spain.