A European City in December?

zagfles

B0bbyEwing said:

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.

As well as the other excellent suggestions in this thread the Baltic states are worth a visit, and you can get sightseeing tours between them ie transport with interesting stops on the way. They have loads of WW history as WW2 didn't end till 1991 for them.

Doshwaster

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?

Surely that's the same with any big city. You wouldn't expect good value in London around Leicester Square or Times Square in New York, it's just going to to be overpriced and low quality. Go back 2 or 3 streets, from the overcrowded squares and you will find better food at a price the locals pay.

mark_cycling00

I'd look into Innsbruck. It's beautiful, in the Alps, has Christmas markets and big enough to have good museums and galleries.

Heidelberg is smaller but really beautiful too. 

Trento. Bit of a undiscovered cultural gem in northern Italy. The centre is made from marble, yes the pavements and everything. Trains to bolzano, Merano and Verona. 

Venice is always good outside summer 

Ghent is a bigger and funkier version of Bruges (which itself is very nice)

Amsterdam is always good

Brussels - scary
Sweden - will rain all the time
Norway - will rain and be very expensive 
Most french cities - scary

B0bbyEwing

mark_cycling00 said:

I'd look into Innsbruck. It's beautiful, in the Alps, has Christmas markets and big enough to have good museums and galleries.

Heidelberg is smaller but really beautiful too. 

Trento. Bit of a undiscovered cultural gem in northern Italy. The centre is made from marble, yes the pavements and everything. Trains to bolzano, Merano and Verona. 

Venice is always good outside summer 

Ghent is a bigger and funkier version of Bruges (which itself is very nice)

Amsterdam is always good

Brussels - scary
Sweden - will rain all the time
Norway - will rain and be very expensive 
Most french cities - scary

Thanks, we were also considering these places. While I don't mind the cold I'd prefer to stay away from the rain - although granted, at that time of year it's a tough one to call in most places I guess.

Care to explain your assessment of Brussels and France?

LightFlare

B0bbyEwing said:

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.  

Shame you never revisited the thread you started about this as I could have given you some great ideas for things to do in the evenings (had you asked)

Doshwaster

mark_cycling00 said:

Ghent is a bigger and funkier version of Bruges (which itself is very nice)

Amsterdam is always good

Brussels - scary
Sweden - will rain all the time
Norway - will rain and be very expensive 
Most french cities - scary

Actually, I really like Brussels - beer, chocolate and waffles - what more could you want? Also close enough to a lot of other cities by train if you want to do a multi-centre trip. Ghent is certainly worth a day.

Sweden (Gothenburg and Stockholm) can be interesting but much more expensive.

madlyn

mark_cycling00 said:

I'd look into Innsbruck. It's beautiful, in the Alps, has Christmas markets and big enough to have good museums and galleries.

Heidelberg is smaller but really beautiful too. 

Trento. Bit of a undiscovered cultural gem in northern Italy. The centre is made from marble, yes the pavements and everything. Trains to bolzano, Merano and Verona. 

Venice is always good outside summer 

Ghent is a bigger and funkier version of Bruges (which itself is very nice)

Amsterdam is always good

Brussels - scary
Sweden - will rain all the time
Norway - will rain and be very expensive 
Most french cities - scary

I have just returned from Norway and yes it can be expensive, but so can the UK .
And it certainly didn't rain, I was in Tromso in the north which was knee deep in snow.

Most places in December will be have a christmas market on, which is not to everybodies liking, so Maybe look at Lisbon or Porto in Portugal. Or Valencia, Malaga or Seville in Spain.

B0bbyEwing

LightFlare said:

B0bbyEwing said:

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.  

Shame you never revisited the thread you started about this as I could have given you some great ideas for things to do in the evenings (had you asked)

If you'll take a look - I did revisit the thread. I gave thanks to the others who answered the question straight.

It's been & done now so we shall leave it at that.

madlyn said:

mark_cycling00 said:

I'd look into Innsbruck. It's beautiful, in the Alps, has Christmas markets and big enough to have good museums and galleries.

Heidelberg is smaller but really beautiful too. 

Trento. Bit of a undiscovered cultural gem in northern Italy. The centre is made from marble, yes the pavements and everything. Trains to bolzano, Merano and Verona. 

Venice is always good outside summer 

Ghent is a bigger and funkier version of Bruges (which itself is very nice)

Amsterdam is always good

Brussels - scary
Sweden - will rain all the time
Norway - will rain and be very expensive 
Most french cities - scary

I have just returned from Norway and yes it can be expensive, but so can the UK .
And it certainly didn't rain, I was in Tromso in the north which was knee deep in snow.

Most places in December will be have a christmas market on, which is not to everybodies liking, so Maybe look at Lisbon or Porto in Portugal. Or Valencia, Malaga or Seville in Spain.

What are the Christmas markets like abroad?

Since the ones I've been to seem to be tat & German sausages, are foreign ones tat & fish & chip stalls?

Or are they totally different?

mark_cycling00

Re: French cities:
I should explain that I have family living in France. I always find the cities and towns petrifying once you leave the main tourist centre. 
Really really sketchy.
Paris east of clignancourt(?) Omg. The flea market north of the peripherie? They were pooing in the streets long before San-Fran made it trendy.
Know a lot of Asian women who were surrounded by a large groups on the metro and robbed. There's a Japanese social phenomenon about young Japanese women who are traumatized after experiencing the reality of Paris. 
Even Annecy has a pretty scary side once you leave the main and extremely beautiful centre. Marseille eek. 

Villages and small towns though are lovely. Ille de Re looks adorable and eze is one of my favourite places. Carcassonne? Amazing.. honfleur? Most of Brittany is lovely too

Doshwaster

B0bbyEwing said:

What are the Christmas markets like abroad?

Since the ones I've been to seem to be tat & German sausages, are foreign ones tat & fish & chip stalls?

Or are they totally different?

Video series: 9 Christmas markets in 9 countries in 9 days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg3yUEcJweA