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European destinations around Christmas?


Iskaral Pust

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Some great suggestions in this thread.

 

I'm surprised no one mentioned Amsterdam. Or have I missed it?

 

Other than that, I'd mention Ljubljana, Slovenia. It's a beautiful town, small enough to feel cosy, and I've enjoyed it quite a bit when I was there in late October and early March.

It's situated on the outskirts of the Alps, so you can fit in a skiing/snowboarding trip, you can visit lake Bled which really is beautiful.

Also, Italy and Austria are relatively close, so you can make some field trips to Trieste, Graz, Venice, Milano, Zagreb etc. which are all a 2-3 hours drive away.

 

Any way, if for some reason you choose to come to Belgrade, I volunteer to show you around town. :D

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Thanks for great suggestions.  Some of the more easterly cities sound really intriguing to try.  Budapest, Prague and Salzburg are frontrunners and I want to take a look at Krakow. 

 

A few parameters to narrow things down:

 

- We arrive in Dublin on 12/21 and fly back to Chicago (from Dublin) on the morning of 1/1.  So I think this extra location will happen between Christmas and New Years, but return to Ireland before any New Year's part.  Are all the Christmas markets closed after Christmas?  I presume so.  I've heard good things about them.  If they are can't-miss, then we could go for the couple of days before Christmas, but it feels like a travel nightmare and my mom would probably have a meltdown if we headed off before staying with them.  She gets over-excited.

 

- We've no problem with cold or dark evenings.  We live in Chicago and I grew up in Ireland.  I've no expectations of temperate sunshine at Christmas.  Wrapping up warm to tramp around a festively light dusky afternoon is part of the Christmas charm -- so I want to find a location that does it well.

 

- We won't snowboard on this trip, and we'll probably end each day by 9pm (that's pretty late for our son) and alcohol is not a big attraction for us.

 

- Mountains would be kinda cool.  I miss the mountain views we had in Seattle.  River trips would be fun too.  Somehow we didn't take a trip on the Danube while in Vienna.

 

- Hotel quality is a big issue for my wife.  I tease her about being high maintenance but she will want US-levels of service and amenities, which is not always the case in Europe.

 

I was in Amsterdam many years ago.  I liked it at the time but after spending a few nights in the red light district with a bunch of guys all aged 21-25, it does not feel like a place to bring my family.  Perhaps I need to see the rest of the city. 

 

I should go and check which destinations have direct air routes from Ireland.  For a short trip I don't want to fuck around with flight connections. 

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Would a self-catered apartment be any good for your wife? There are a lot of those in the south west of England (hell, probably all over the coast). We found a great apartment in Plymouth for the Christmas weekend, right on the seafront, which we're hoping to book soon. We want to do our own Christmas dinner, hence the apartment, rather than a hotel. And they're very reasonably priced.

Oh, and in Cornwall, they do the Boxing Day swim for charity. A bunch of freezing Cornish men and women diving into the sea in December is definitely not to be missed! :lol:
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Would a self-catered apartment be any good for your wife? There are a lot of those in the south west of England (hell, probably all over the coast). We found a great apartment in Plymouth for the Christmas weekend, right on the seafront, which we're hoping to book soon. We want to do our own Christmas dinner, hence the apartment, rather than a hotel. And they're very reasonably priced.
Oh, and in Cornwall, they do the Boxing Day swim for charity. A bunch of freezing Cornish men and women diving into the sea in December is definitely not to be missed! :lol:

They also do the Boxing Day Dip up here (into the North Sea :wideeyed: ) It's always great to go down and watch
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On the Christmas markets, I've seen them in Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Salzburg and Munich. They also have them now along the Thames. They are definitely very nice, and I've obviously been back when I've been in the right places and the right times. But I wouldn't schedule a trip just to have them - they're a nice to have. Lots of cute little wooden huts, plenty of food, lots of knick knacks, but not a huge step up from many other markets. Just more Christmassy. I avoid the gluwine, and drink the hot cider!

When I visited Vienna the second time, which was between Christmas and New Years, they were still there, although some parts were closed. I think we flew in on the 27th or so, and left on the 30th. But I think a lot of them have websites now, or the tourist bureaus would have information on when they close.
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Can take a river cruise (mostly old people are on it though).  Why not go to Switzerland, supposed to be amazing.   Cairo could be cool if you haven't been to Egypt (for touristy things).  Moscow/St Petersburg seem like places you'd want to go when it is snowing as well.

 

I'd assume most of the normal places are packed during that x-mas week, so maybe some place off the beaten path would be cool. 

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Remember that Eastern Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar and their December 25th is actually Jan 7th for Western Europe which uses the Gregorian calendar. I'm not sure what Eastern Orthodox countries have Xmas markets, but if you're worried about missing any holiday celebrations, they will probably still be occurring in some Eastern European countries.

 

Switzerland or the French Alps could be a lot of fun. Even the Pyrenees which are less crowded. However, it sounds like you are more interested in larger cities with a lot of cultural attractions. After spending winters in the Pas de Calais and Brussels, I've learned my lesson and will never visit any area along the North Sea in winter. Cold and rainy is miserable.

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It sounds like the winter markets aren't that special. Not enough to be the center of a trip.

The Orthodox calendar did occur to me for the most easterly destinations. We could experience the pre-Christmas bustle twice.

Neither Cairo nor Russia feel safe at the moment for American tourists. Can I even get a tourist visa to Russia during the sanctions?

I was expecting most destinations to be quiet on 12/27-30 (say) but I should check to make sure they aren't largely shut down with widespread holiday time.
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Well, the Christmas markets at my place are also quite nice. Glühwein (spiced wine) is a must! Definitely.

 

If you should decide to hop over drop me a note. ;o)

Cool. And let me know too if you're in Berlin. You know I will inflict my A2 Deutsche on you, right? 

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It sounds like the winter markets aren't that special. Not enough to be the center of a trip.
The Orthodox calendar did occur to me for the most easterly destinations. We could experience the pre-Christmas bustle twice.
Neither Cairo nor Russia feel safe at the moment for American tourists. Can I even get a tourist visa to Russia during the sanctions?
I was expecting most destinations to be quiet on 12/27-30 (say) but I should check to make sure they aren't largely shut down with widespread holiday time.

I think in the UK at least the Christmas Attractions are open then. Like the Hyde Park stuff, I'm fairly sure it's open from November until at least New Year, maybe a couple of days after. That's free to get into, with fees if you want to do stuff like skating, the ice sculptures etc. There are usually websites where you can check these things beforehand once you know what you are looking for.

Eta: also, I wouldn't centre your entire trip around the Christmas markets. They"0're good for maybe a couple of hours nosing around but you'd probably need other stuff planned too
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Remember that Eastern Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar and their December 25th is actually Jan 7th for Western Europe which uses the Gregorian calendar. I'm not sure what Eastern Orthodox countries have Xmas markets, but if you're worried about missing any holiday celebrations, they will probably still be occurring in some Eastern European countries.

From what I've seen of Eastern Orthodox countries (and I do live in one ;) ) Christmas markets are not a big deal.

Sure, there are some, but they're nothing special and definitely not worth planning your trip around.

The Orthodox calendar did occur to me for the most easterly destinations. We could experience the pre-Christmas bustle twice.

Neither Cairo nor Russia feel safe at the moment for American tourists. Can I even get a tourist visa to Russia during the sanctions?

I was expecting most destinations to be quiet on 12/27-30 (say) but I should check to make sure they aren't largely shut down with widespread holiday time.

I can't say for sure about other Eastern Orthodox countries, but in Serbia Christmas is celebrated rather privately.

On the other hand, New Year's eve is this huge blowout party when everyone goes batshit crazy.

 

As for American going to Russia, I don't think you'd have a problem getting a visa. Sanctions are limited to some economic mumbo jumbo, relations between companies and such, they shouldn't limit citizens' freedom of movement (yet).

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Cool. And let me know too if you're in Berlin. You know I will inflict my A2 Deutsche on you, right? 

 

Yeah! Of course. =o)

 

Let's get friends over here.

 

I might actually drop you my mobile number to get in contact.

 

(No kidding.)

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It sounds like the winter markets aren't that special. Not enough to be the center of a trip.
 

 

I think they're quite awesome, but I mostly go for gluhwein and potato pancakes. We went to Cologne a few years ago and the atmosphere was great, although it was an extremely cold winter so we mostly looked for warm inside places.

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I did Christmas in Amsterdam with zero red light district stuff. It's lovely.

Cologne is also adorable.

LOL at the suggestions for London. I live here and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a special place to spend Christmas - because it isn't.
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I did Christmas in Amsterdam with zero red light district stuff. It's lovely.

Cologne is also adorable.

LOL at the suggestions for London. I live here and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a special place to spend Christmas - because it isn't.


It's special if you like a fuck load of people, no space to move, queues for *everything*, and the very real possibility of being mugged.

(Can you tell I'm working in London this week? Also, fuck you tube strike.)
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I don't want to derail this thread but London sucks balls. I wouldn;t go there is i had a free flight on Santa's sled.

 

Why is everything in that city more complicated than it needs to be? Fuck London. One of the few cities in the world (outside of the states) that i have been and don't care to ever visit again.  

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Mr. EB, who is from London, hates it during the holidays. It's crowded, it's expensive and the transport system breaks down regularly. If it can't handle the weekend crowds, what more the holiday crowds? Also, the beer is shite and expensive.  As a Berlin resident who can get good beer on tap for 2.4 €, I shudder at 4-quid-beers. The only thing I hate about Berlin is the winter. I am still traumatized by the 2012-13 winter, the darkest longest winter in Germany in recent memory.

 

 

I still haven't made contact with any Berlin boarders.

Actually, eyelessbarrow, I was gonna ask you to remind me about the Man United drinking table and if it's meeting for the opening game.

 

Oi! Yes we will be there. I will send you the link via PM.  

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Yah, I meant more specifically as a festive destination it can't really compete with a lot of other euro cities - because Christmas only maximises its problems, e.g. overcrowding, inadequate transport system.

 

And, absolutely, it does have loads of annoying things about it. I say that as someone who has worked in central London for 15 years and lived here for five years of that. But I honestly never tire of simple stuff like just walking around the city (and the city of London, especially). There is so much fascinating history and architecture here. You can just stare at streets and buildings all day long, if you're into that sort of thing. I can see how, on a short trip, people wouldn't appreciate that aspect of it. It'd be almost better to come here and just wander around, see where your feet take you, rather than make plans.

 

Anyway, sorry for the threadjack

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