A European City in December?

B0bbyEwing

Looking to go abroad for a change December '24 & am looking for recommendations because I don't really have a clue.

It'll be for 2 days minimum, 5 days maximum. I'm going to say perhaps 3 good days (get there in the morning maybe on day 1 with 2 full days following & then come back on the 4th). Whatever the exact number, it'll be in & about this. It'll be early-mid December.

Anywhere warm is an instant no. I'm not interested in 20c temperatures at all.

We've done Edinburgh frequently & really enjoy it. We're happy to walk places (we'd walk almost everywhere in Edinburgh & can cover 10 miles per day quite easily). We would prefer not to go anywhere that requires driving. I hate driving places I don't know as it is & that's locally driving on the 'right' side of the road. 

Things we've enjoyed in Edinburgh are obviously the zoo, historical things such as the museums (is the museum of childhood still closed by the way? It had been for so long) inc. the surgeons museum which we've been to a few times, castle - again, historic although I want to be careful as I don't want it to come across that this has to be a history trip. The Xmas markets were ok when we went but have been told that they used to be better. Botanical Gardens were superb and the light show at Xmas was amazing, partner likes the ghost tours whereas I can take or leave. 

We tried elsewhere this year - Chester & liked the place during the day but whether it was through poor planning (probably) or because we're so used to Edinburgh, we felt it was a little lacking for things to do at night. 
So night 1 we're in a coffee shop trying to find things to do at night & the search results just seem to funnel you towards getting bladdered. That's not really what we're looking for. By around 6:30-7:00pm we were in the hotel which was disappointing. In Edinburgh we're still out by that point, even if just walking around the city & don't generally get back to the hotel until 9pm at the earliest.


The first place that sprung to mind was Germany (but for no particular reason other than we've heard it's nice) but then if that was the destination the next question would be - where in Germany??

Doesn't have to be Germany though, could be elsewhere. So long as the days and nights are filled and we're lucky enough to have dry but cold weather then that's spot on. Would prefer to not get too close to the whole Russian scene though.  

Misslayed

Vienna is a lovely city, with excellent public transport on bus, tram, train and Ubahn (underground). A daily/weekly ticket covers any of these, and will take you right out of the city to the mountains. The cafés in the city centre are magnificent, regarded as listed monuments. There’s as much culture as you can manage - opera, orchestral, ballet, jazz, you name it! The Christmas markets vary from cheap tat to exquisite crafts, in different areas. I bought my beautiful butter dish on Christmas Day at a market in front of Schunbrun (not sure of spelling, it’s the Summer Palace), as Christmas Eve is the Big Event. The zoological gardens are there too. Right out of the city, but good public transport to get there (book online in advance!). I could go on! I can’t comment on accommodation as I stayed with my Aunt, but I really loved it. 

Forgot the Pleasure Garden (creaky old big wheel from film The Third Man is there, lots of not too scary rides). River trip is great. Restaurants fabulous. Yes I am biased!

p00hsticks

Relatives have just come back from a short break in Budapest and say it was wonderful. 

daveyjp

We visited Krakow in summer and really enjoyed the outdoors due to it being 25 degrees, but its a place I could go to in winter as there is plenty to see and do which is inside which we didn't see.

Castle, museums, Jagillonian university, Schindlers Factory, salt mines and Auschwitz.  Cheap to get to cheap to stay and eat etc, Excellent cheap transport, but it is very walkable.

Doshwaster

Over the past few years I've head good winter breaks in Berlin, Hamburg, Krakow, Tallin and Prague. 

You don't need to limit yourself to one city. If you play around with airline schedules and train timetables you can fly into one city, get the train to somewhere else and fly home from there.  The possible combinations are almost unlimited.

B0bbyEwing

Prague has come up a few times when speaking to others actually. 

Hadn't thought about going city to city actually. Not a bad shout but at the same time I'm wondering if it would all feel a little rushed. Something to consider anyway so thanks for the suggestion. 

Auschwitz is most definitely on our list to go visit. Think we'd prefer to do that earlier in the year though to be honest but yes would love to go there. Love WW history.

Have much reading to do over the coming days that's for sure.

AllNightDiner

I just did a business trip to Luxembourg which is unexpectedly pretty and has free, very good, public transport. Munich is so nice in December with Christmas markets and the English Garden in the middle of the city for romantic walks.

Eldi_Dos

Reading about what interests you in a city The Eternal City would be all that you could wish for,with bells on it.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide good place to start your planning.

michele-p

In December you're into Christmas market time all over Europe. Have a look at Cheap Holiday Expert on Instagram, she just did a week in a different place each night, with loads of info on each - it might help: https://www.instagram.com/cheapholidayexp/

Clive_Woody

Berlin is a fascinating city, I've been there many times, it's easy to get to and easy to get around either walking or public transport. I would definitely recommend a walking tour - we went on one and the guide was brilliant and pointed out so many things we would otherwise have walked past. It covered East and West Berlin with a lot of the history and finished at the Checkpoint Charlie museum (this was a good few years ago). Decent food and beer too.

Munich with the Christmas markets is nice and another city that's great to wander around at your leisure. Prague is equally as good to visit and possibly cheaper, avoid the main tourist areas for food and drink.

Nice is a great city and you are well positioned to get the train across to Monte Carlo and walk the F1 circuit and finish the day in the casino pretending you are James Bond. 

Italy - take your pick, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Milan, Venice - all have lots to see and do, great food and wine.

Copenhagen is another interesting city and you could go across the bridge to Malmo to add an extra city.

B0bbyEwing

Eldi_Dos said:

Reading about what interests you in a city The Eternal City would be all that you could wish for,with bells on it.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide good place to start your planning.

We were supposed to go there for our honeymoon but decided to put the honeymoon money in to the house deposit instead. 

Currently setting aside a small amount of cash each month (£35) to save up and have a (very) belated honeymoon. Think we're sitting at somewhere around £3000 at the moment. 

Clive_Woody said:

 avoid the main tourist areas for food and drink.

Thanks for your post overall but to highlight this bit - why do you say that?