Where to Take a Winter Vacation in Europe
The skyline of Florence, Italy, including its magnificent Duomo. October 16, 2019.
Europe in winter is—across most of the content and for most of the season—wet, cold, and dark.
Unless you’re traveling to see friends or family, travel in Europe during the winter months can demotivate the most avid voyager.
But if Europe—and not, say, the Caribbean or Belize or some other locale warm and sunny in winter—is in your sights for a vacation between, say, mid-November and mid-March, you’ll find plenty of places to delight you.
Here are a few ideas from my own travels, to get your brain storming.
Winter Vacation Ideas in France
France’s major cities have different treasures for travelers in every season. In winter, the holiday decorations and store windows in Paris, with the early nights doing right by the lights on the Eiffel Tower and along the Seine, the glimmering rain-wet streets, and the need for scarves and coats, Paris is a city to absolutely enjoy December through February.
And though often overlooked in every season, if you want a city trip in France and want to try something other than Paris, give a look to these major metropolitan areas:
Lyon will feature all the downsides of a European winter, but the city’s famed fare—hearty and warming and plentiful—and its world-class museums and edgy and historically interesting neighborhoods make it worth a visit even in the colder months.
Marseille will have a little more winter warmth than the rest of France—but don’t expect beachy temperatures, even here in the south! Nevertheless, the gorgeous coastline, the museums, and the culture in Marseille, combined with the city’s renowned hospitality, makes it wonderful in winter.
If you’d prefer a visit to a smaller town or even a region of France, you’ll find many wonderful winter options:
A portion of the holiday market in Aix-en-Provence, France, featuring the region’s famed santon nativity figures. December 4, 2021.
A cute holiday market pops up in winter to accompany the year-round crafts and food markets in Aix-en-Provence (and the city’s fabulous museums stay open all year)!
Avignon in late February and March has far fewer crowds but all the wonderful attractions that draw summer-months visitors, from food to theater.
We visited Dijon in the last week of December, in the height of the holiday season, and the light-bedecked, cobblestone streets filled with great food and shopping, along with the town’s fantastic museums, wowed us more than we expected.
If you’re open to driving in France, consider a trip through Alsace and the Haute-Savoie regions. The wineries may not be open for tours, but the towns in these regions will wear full holiday regalia—and impressively, too, as this part of France over the course of history has a lot of German history (and often was part of Germany). The Germans love classic, traditional holiday decorations!
If classic holiday markets and holiday wonderlands are what you seek, you need look no further than Strasbourg. The holiday market in Strasbourg is world-renowned as a holiday-season destination—so book well in advance if that’s where you decide to go.
Switzerland Destinations in Winter
If you dream of skiing in the Swiss Alps, you may want to lean away from December and instead into January and February, when you’ll find better and deeper snow.
Though December often brings snow, the official ski season does not start until December 26—and in the last couple of years, even then the ski stations had only skimpy snow cover. Of course, if you want to go into the highest altitudes, you’ll almost always find snow. Just check the weather before you get on the plane and prepare to cancel or redirect your plans.
For snowy adventures in Swiss winter wonderlands, we loved these two towns and snow-sport stations:
A view from the exit of a ski lift atop a ski slope in Verbier, Switzerland. December 15, 2018.
Verbier attracts throngs of downhill skiiers every year for its access to several ski stations and downhill trails, though its steep gradients may not make it the easiest locale for early-stage skiiers (in my opinion).
You’ll find Villars-sur-Ollon a delight for downhill skiiers from the earliest skill levels through to the most advanced—and will have access to great paths for snowshoeing and for cross-country skiing and ski-hiking as well.
If you’d prefer a more urban experience in Switzerland, want to spend part of your trip in the mountains and part in a city, or simply want to have a backup plan in case you don’t have enough snow cover when your ski vacation arrives, consider a trip to the German-speaking part of the country, where holiday markets and chalets dedicated to fondue appear in early December and you can mix high culture and history with great food and shopping:
Basel has world-class art museums and fantastic food and shopping. We went without expectations and left planning to return as soon as we could.
Lucerne has incredible museums—really, a few on my list have never met their match for wow—and more than one holiday market.
Where to Winter Vacation in Italy
Though you can linger in the Italian Alps (as you could in France and in Switzerland), Italian cities—though still dark, cold, and rainy—delight no matter the season. And in the winter months, you’ll have far less competition with tourists than you do in almost any other time of the year.
If you have an eye on a winter trip to Italy, do keep in mind that the weeks right around Christmas for all Italian cities will be gorgeous with seasonal decorations and celebrations—but that the benefit of avoiding tourists and crowds will diminish considerably.
That said, here are my recommended winter Italian destinations:
I consider Florence a treat no matter the season, though tourists have overwhelmed it a bit in the last decade or so, bleeding away a lot of the magic. You’ll find this less true in winter—take advantage!
Though Milan leading up to Christmas will have its shopping districts thronged with gift-buyers, the city is gorgeous in all months of winter.
Bundle up for all the outdoor Roman ruins and the sometimes-lengthy walks between important historical sites, but Rome in winter will have far fewer crowds!
Even in winter, your eyes will feast on the view of the endless spires of the Duomo in Milan, Italy—here seen at sunset. November 24, 2022.
A Growing List of Ideas!
My European travel adventures—in winter, as in all seasons—only continue to expand. As they do, I’ll add to this list of ideas to help you craft the perfect winter European vacation.
And if you have ideas for winter European travel to consider, please share!