Travelling Europe in wintertime

Last weekend I visited Gemünd, in the German Eifel region. While I was walking around town with my friend Shira, we noticed that it was so quiet there. Ofcourse, we added, nobody travels in winter around here. Everybody seems to want fun in the sun and doesn’t consider winter chills. And that’s a pitty. Because a wintertrip has a lot of bonusses as well!

When I got home, I read this blogpost of Europe Travel Net, summing it up quite correctly. They gave 5 reasons why it’s a good idea to travel off-season: you can easily find bargains, the climate is often really good in the southern part or you could just dress up warmly in North or Central Europe, you have fewer crowds, the locals have more time to spend with you and there are often stunning views to be seen. You can read the full article here. I might add a sixth one right now: it gets dark early in the night, often providing stunning city scenery. And if you are really lucky, the whole area gets covered in a thick blanket of white snow.

So, the whole week I’ve been thinking about all the beautiful trips I made in wintertime. Trips to Paris, Liverpool, Bretagne, Normandy, Venice, Austria, … I’ve never had the feeling that the cold was unbearable, though I did have to dress up quite warm (layers ftw!). I’ve never experienced trouble finding a place to sleep (in France we would often drive around, looking for a Chambre d’Hôte without making advanced reservation and we never got into trouble finding a spot) and it was always sooooo great to get into a warm restaurant or café for a local meal or a hot drink. And best of all: you almost have the whole of Europe to yourself.

Enough talking about it though. Let’s take you guys on a short trip around Europe, to show you what I mean. If you still have doubts after this… you can’t say I didn’t try my best 😉

-A-

Austria - december

Austria – December. An area where you can be certain of finding snow…

Austria - december

Austria – December sunrise

Austria - december

Austria – covered in December snow

Liverpool - january

Liverpool – on a cold January day

Liverpool - january

Liverpool – on a cold January day

Liverpool - january

Liverpool – on a cold January day

Belgium - november

Belgium – Tombeaux du Geants in November

Belgium - november

Belgium – Bouillon in November

Belgium - december

Belgium – typical December landscape

France - february

France – on our way to Bretagne in February

France - february

France –  Bretagne in February. Notice the flowers. It was 2°C!

France - february

France – a rough sea in February

France - february

France – aereal view in February

France - february

France – one of the many castles of Bretagne, bathing in a February sun

France - february

France – one of the many castles of Bretagne, bathing in a February sun

France - february

France -one of the many castles of Bretagne, bathing in a February sun

Belgium - february

Belgium – Gent covered in snow – February

Belgium - february

Belgium – Gent covered in snow – February

Belgium - february

Belgium – Gent covered in snow – February

Eurodisney - november

Eurodisney – you can avoid all the crowds in November

Paris - december

Paris – around Christmas in December. Avoidable if you dislike crowds… Christmas shopping attracts masses in Paris!

Belgium - january

Belgium – Gent at the light festival last January

Belgium - january

Belgium – Gent- an evening in January

Belgium - january

Belgium – Gent- an evening in January

France - february

France – visiting Normandy in February

France - february

France – as you can see, dressing up is needed in February

France - february

France – but, then again, February gives you stunning, foggy views of the Seine

France - february

France – a town in Normandy, almost deserted in February

France - february

France – abbey surrounded by February trees

France - february

France – February shows you loads of mistletoe in the trees

France - february

France – february

Belgium - octobre

Belgium – Brussels on an October morning

Venice -  novembre

Venice – skip the masses in summer and visit the city in November

Venice -  november

Venice – San Marco Cathedral bathing in November sunlight

Venice -  november

Venice – the lagoon in November

Venice -  november

Venice – the Jewish quarter under a November moon

Belgium - january

Belgium – a January sunset

France - empty dunes in early March

France – empty dunes in early March

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