It can be cold, sure – yet Europe in winter offers travelers countless choices for a perfect getaway.
You can embrace the frigid air by setting out to view the northern lights over the snowy landscapes of Lapland. Or you can escape it altogether by chasing the sun to the beaches of Fuerteventura. The winter low season also offers the chance to explore some of Europe’s most popular places without the heaving summer crowds – ideal for any traveler who relishes a bit more personal space.
Whatever your winter vacation dreams may be, our list of top travel destinations in Europe will surely satisfy them.
Come Christmas, the medieval core of Tallinn, Estonia twinkles. Subodh Agnihotri/Getty Images1. Tallinn, Estonia
Best for Christmas markets
While plenty of northern European cities host Christmas markets, few are blessed with such a perfect backdrop as Tallinn, which has one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval centers. Its walled Old Town and Toompea Castle are enchanting, especially in December, when a blanket of snow covers the city. Festive lights are strung along cobbled streets and the bonhomie of the annual Christmas market radiates from the craft stalls and enormous tree.
The days are short, the nights dark, yes – but the atmosphere is genuinely charming. And the traditional food and drink, from black pudding to gingerbread, is sure to warm you up. What’s more, various concert halls and churches echo with holiday music for most of the month: there are few things more atmospheric than listening to carols in a candle-flickered nave as snow flutters outside. Enjoy the city’s great-value boutique hotels, fine eateries and Christmas spirit without the bawdy disruption.
When to go, at a glance:
November to March – cold
April to May and September to October – cooler, quieter
Best for a winter beach getaway
The dramatic, volcanic, almost Mars-like landscapes of the second-largest Canary Island are extremely appealing in winter. While much of Europe shivers under gray skies, the sun shines in Fuerteventura. The island sees average highs of 21ºC (70ºF) even in January, making it one of the only spots on the continent (albeit well off the continent, in the Atlantic Ocean) where you can truly have a winter beach break. And what beaches! The biggest and best in the Canaries are here – try the lengthy Playa del Matorral, offbeat and isolated Cofete and the endless dunes of protected Parque Natural de Corralejo.
Fuerteventura is a good choice for wellness, too. Think alfresco yoga, tai chi, qigong or meditation all within in earshot of the ocean – as you breathe in lungfuls of negative-ion-charged sea breeze, which is conducive to better sleep.
When to go, at a glance:
September to November: still balmy, cooler evenings
December to February: mild, busy
March to June: lovely weather
Best for winter adventure sports
The clue’s in the name. Snowdonia, a varied national park in northern Wales consisting of a dramatic assemblage of mountains, glittering coastline, lakes, ancient woodland and roaring waterfalls, could well be covered in the white stuff in the winter. There will certainly be some weather. But that doesn’t need to stop thrill seekers who take the proper precautions. Some companies specialize in winter walking, and will teach you skills such as basic mountain safety, navigation and using crampons before leading you out on crisp, crowd-less hikes. And Snowdonia’s dam-controlled National White Water Centre is open to rafters year-round (wetsuits compulsory). This area used to be a mining hotspot; now, such abandoned industrial sites are providing opportunities for subterranean exploration, including abseiling, zip-lining, boating, climbing and trampolining underground.
When to go, at a glance:
September to October – warm, autumn colors.
November to March – cold
April to May – warming, wildflowers
Best for outdoor activities in warm weather
Madeira is an island without climatic extremes – but plenty of topographical ones. The island lies far in the Atlantic, closer to Morocco than to the Portuguese mainland, and the sun shines all year round here. Even in February, Madeira can bask in temperatures of up to 20°C (68°F); even if it rains, there are so many microclimates you don’t have to travel far to find better weather.
The mild winter is ideal for strolling the island’s network of levadas (old irrigation channels) or simply for relaxing with a poncha (sugarcane-spirit cocktail) at an ocean-view bar. Capital Funchal has plenty of diversions, too: the ornate Sé (cathedral); the art deco Mercado dos Lavradores; the cable car up to Monte, where the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens bloom year-round; or the elegant afternoon tea service at Reid’s Palace hotel. You might also base yourself in the pretty fishing village of Câmara de Lobos, a favored bolt-hole of Winston Churchill. Madeira promises numerous activities, too, from trail running to mountain biking and canyoning.
Planning tip: Madeira’s airport is a 25-minute drive east of Funchal. Driving can be nerve-wracking in this mountainous place; we recommend relying on buses and organized tours to make forays across the island.
When to go, at a glance:
October to April: mild, wetter
May to September: hotter, driest
Best for anyone who loves art and fresh food
Bilbao can be cool and rainy in winter – highs only reach around 12°C/54°F – but that hardly dampens this cosmopolitan city’s spirits. Bilbao’s combination of grit, glamour and gastronomy makes it shine even when the skies are gray. What’s more, and lower rates for off-season accommodation leave more spending money for pintxos (Basque finger food).
Excellent indoor entertainment options include Frank Gehry’s groundbreaking Guggenheim Museum, and the less showy but more varied Museo de Bellas Artes. An old wine warehouse transformed into an exhibition space by Philippe Starck, Azkuna Zentroa hosts all sorts of events (and people!), and its cool rooftop pool is open year-round. The most fun is an amble through the Casco Viejo (Old Town), from the cafes and produce stalls of the art-deco Mercado de la Ribera to the medieval Siete Calles (Seven Streets), which you can easily lose hours in. Nearby Plaza Nueva has the biggest pick of pintxos bars.
When to go, at a glance:
October and November – cooler, rainy.
December to March – mild, damp
April and May – warm
Best for off-season glamor
How times change. Hitting the glitzy Côte d’Azur in winter is now considered an off-season choice, a good time to avoid the summer crowds. Yet it was the winter visitors, largely British (including no less than Queen Victoria), who first made this Mediterranean stretch so fashionable in the 19th century. They came for the microclimate that gives the French Riviera – which stretches roughly from Menton to St-Tropez – such pleasantly mild winters. They also came for the oh-so-blue waters, scattered offshore islands and dramatic green hills; artists later flocked to the region for the special clarity of the light found here.
All these attractions remain, but the masses now prefer to wait for bikini weather. Let them keep it. Come in the cooler months for crowd-free coves, emptier coast roads and quieter explorations of the fine old town of Nice and Monaco’s moneyed harbor.
When to go, at a glance:
October – changeable weather
November to January – some businesses close
February to May – quiet, warm
Best for snow-covered fairy-tale castles
Winter doesn’t stop explorers in the beautiful Bavarian Alps region, just north of the Austrian border on the edge of the huge mountains. Here, snow-clad mountains, glittering lakes and a clutch of castles produce a place that looks like Disney’s Frozen made real – not least at Schloss Neuschwanstein, the architectural fairy tale created by eccentric King Ludwig II in the late 19th century, and the model for virtually every cartoon castle since. Seeing Neuschwanstein and the area’s other castles – Versailles-influenced Linderhof or Gothic-style Hohenschwangau – under a patina of ice adds an extra sprinkle of magic.
Medieval Füssen, one of Bavaria’s highest towns, makes for a good base. Explore its old center, visit St Mang’s Abbey and warm up with a drink in a Bavarian Bierstube (beer tavern). Then, head onto the network of gentle trails in boots or snowshoes (conditions dependent): if it’s cold enough, you can even skate on the lakes. The crowds are long gone, the air is pure, and the forests and foothills offer total tranquillity.
When to go, at a glance:
December to February – snow
March and April – warming
May, June, September and October – warm, uncrowded
Best for a Greek-island experience without the crowds
Santorini is a victim of its own beauty. This idyllic confection of whitewashed houses tumbling down the sides of the sea-sunken caldera has graced a gazillion postcards – and, come summer, practically drowns in tourists. But winter? That’s a different story, particularly in January and February. Fewer ferries arrive, no cruise ships come and occupancy is at about 10%. There’s a real chance it might be just you and the locals sharing the world’s best sunsets.
Of course, the weather’s not very good for the beach (January average maximums are around 14°C/57°F) – but the chance to stroll through narrow alleys without the throngs is a delight. Much remains open in the towns of Oia and especially Fira, making them the best bases; being located on the caldera edge, they also have the most dramatic views. While many hotels do close for winter, increasing numbers are staying open, often offering significant reductions on astronomical summer rates.
Planning tip: Ferries and high-speed catamarans link Santorini with Athens’ main port of Piraeus year-round, taking around 8 hours; there’s usually only one daily service in winter. Few international flights land at Santorini in winter, but there are flights to Athens year-round.
When to go, at a glance:
November to March – cool, sleepy
April and October – mild, quieter
May to June and September – hot, busy
Best for wine lovers
On a crisp, blue-sky winter’s day, there are few things finer than sipping a big, beefy, warming red amid the vines from which it sprang. The Alentejo is a deliciously under-touristed wine region at any time, but it’s particularly alluring in winter, when the skies are often clear, and the landscapes of rolling hills, cork forests, traditional quintas (wineries) and Moorish architecture gleams in the low sunlight.
Évora’s UNESCO-listed, walled Old Town makes a good base; as well as an impressive cathedral, a pretty town square, the Templo Romano (one of Iberia’s best-preserved Roman monuments) and a lively vibe, it’s home to the HQ of the Rota dos Vinhos do Alentejo (Wine Route of the Alentejo), along which you can tour wineries and taste a few tipples. In the northeast, the Serra de São Mamede region specializes in full-bodied, fruity reds; smoother reds and fruity whites can be tried nearer Évora, in the hilltop town of Estremoz and the medieval village of Monsaraz.
Planning tip: Évora is a 2-hour train ride from Lisbon; basing yourself in the town, you can make day trips to the surrounding wineries, many of which offer hearty Alentejan cuisine and tastings. Some of the vineyards offer characterful accommodation, too, with prices lower in winter.
When to go, at a glance
November to March – cooler, off-season
April, June, September and October – warm/hot
Best for foodies
France’s second city is the world’s first when it comes to food – there might be more restaurants per square foot in Lyon than anywhere else on the planet. These range from Michelin-starred spots creating nouvelle cuisine (a cooking style invented right here) to traditional Lyonnais bouchons (family bistros) serving calves’ feet and tripe sausage. Local markets overflow with Bresse chickens, St-Bonnet-le-Froid mushrooms, world-class cheeses and all sorts of offal. Traditional charcuteries, fromageries, chocolatiers and boulangeries abound, too.
In the winter months, seek out the protection of the city’s traboules (passages originally built to shelter silk weavers) and sit down at one of the many restaurants tucked within them. The cold won’t pose any issues if you stay inside eating, shopping at stylish boutiques or perhaps taking a class at one of Lyon’s many cooking schools.
Planning tip: Lyon can also be combined with a ski break, with slopes only a 2-hour drive away.
When to go, at a glance:
November to March – chilly
April and May – warming, blooming
September to October – cooling, harvest
Best for an iconic Italian experience without the crowds
We challenge anyone to find a more knock-your-socks-off set of villages than the Cinque Terre. The five medieval cliff-clinging fishing hamlets of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Manarola, Corniglia and Riomaggiore teeter on the Ligurian Riviera, tumbling to the water’s edge with pastel-hued picturesqueness. There’s a catch, though: they’re tiny – and they’re terribly popular. Every summer, the villages, and the 120km (74 miles) of hiking trails that wriggle between them, heave with visitors.
Yet if you visit in the winter, you’ll get a taste of what this coast was like before everyone else found it. True, much shuts down. But the hotels that are still open will be cheaper, and there is always at least one bar and restaurant open in each village, filled with locals. Inclement weather can close trails, but on average there are only eight rainy days a month in winter (compared to five in summer), so the odds are still in your favor. Relish the moody skies, dramatic waves and empty lanes.
Planning tip: Book accommodation where you can self-cater with goodies from local markets rather than relying on restaurants. Don’t stay in Corniglia – as the least-visited village, fewer facilities remain open in the off-season.
When to go, at a glance:
November to March – cool, path closures more likely
April, May and October – warm, less crowded
June to September – increasingly hot, increasingly heaving
Best for snow and subterranean exploration
In Cappadocia, the soft tuff rock has been carved into a dream-like confection of ravines, tablelands and turrets. And it all looks extra pretty under a sprinkle of Turkish snow, for a dusting of the white stuff adds an extra dimension to the landscape’s natural formations and to the ancient houses and churches that have been cut out of the rock.
As this is off-season, room rates drop and crowds are low, making for cheaper and more comfortable exploring around sites such as the monastery at Keşlik, the labyrinthine underground city of Kaymaklı and the fresco-covered cave churches of the Göreme Open-Air Museum. And because so many of the sites are subterranean or rock-hewn, escaping the cold and rain is easy – though on crisp days, wintry walks down the Ihlara Valley beckon, with a thaw-out afterward in a steamy hammam or around a hot stove with a bowl of rich lentil soup an extra treat. Retreat each night to the womb-like comfort of one of Cappadocia’s boutique cave hotels.
Planning tip: Flights aboard hot air balloons are massively popular in Cappadocia. They operate year-round, though cancellations are more likely in winter – stay longer to increase your chances of a successful takeoff.
When to go, at a glance:
November to March – cold, snow possible
April to June and September to October – warm, sunny
Best for hot springs and thermal baths
Elegant Budapest will never leave you with cold feet, even in the winter. The land on which the Hungarian capital built is peppered with more than 120 hot springs, many of which are open to the public as thermal baths – from the Turkish-style Rudas Baths to the art-nouveau gem at the Gellért and vast Széchenyi. All are perfect for winter warming. The city itself is glorious at any time, the medieval marvels of Buda’s Castle Hill contrasting with the 19th-century grandeur of Pest. And with buzzing nightlife ranging from grunge-chic ruin bars to performances at the magnificent neo-Renaissance State Opera House, there’s plenty to keep you entertained through the long, dark evenings.
Planning tip: Not all baths open every day, and a few are men- or women-only on some days; check details in advance. You’re usually allowed to stay for a maximum of 2 hours on weekdays, 90 minutes on weekends.
When to go, at a glance:
November to February – cold to chilly, snow possible
March to June – warming, blooming, spring festivals
Best for the northern lights
The Arctic Circle sparkles at this time of year, with the landscape buried under a duvet of snow and the lakes frozen solid, turning Lapland into a winter wonderland. The magical northern lights are quite likely to dance in the winter months; the premium times to seek out the aurora are February–April and September–October. In December, families flock to Rovaniemi to see Santa Claus’ village.
The winter is also a great time for everyone – young, old, families, couples – to get out in the great outdoors. It’s very cold, yes – but wilderness lodges offer full programs of activities that are guaranteed to warm you up: husky-sledding, snowmobiling, sleigh rides, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. If all else fails, a visit to a traditional Finnish sauna will restore you to warmth.
Planning tip: Airports at Rovaniemi (right on the Arctic Circle) and Ivalo (further north) offer access to Finland’s Lapland region. Spend four or more nights at a wilderness lodge to maximize chances of seeing the aurora, and to pack in plenty of snowy fun. Lodges away from settlements and light pollution will provide the best, darkest skies.
When to go, at a glance:
September to November – brief autumn, cooling
December to April – snow activities (aurora September to April)
This article was first published Sep 19, 2019 and updated Sep 15, 2024.
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Publish date : 2024-09-15 07:00:00
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