You’ve probably heard that winter is not a good season for traveling, right? Here you will find the best 5 places to visit in the European winter. Well, this popular belief couldn’t be more wrong! Winter, despite causing intense cold and a huge desire to snuggle up at home, is a great time for travel. Some benefits we can cite are: cities with lower ticket prices, also leading to lower prices on sightseeing and activities; cities with fewer visitors, which results in less crowded environments and less lines; requested cities with less complications to schedule schedules, reducing the difficulty of finding vacancies. Of course there are some winter activities such as skiing, snowboarding and ice skating, which can make the tour more expensive, but you don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to these activities to have a good winter tour.
So, if you are interested in a trip with great value for money, different activities and more tranquility, or by chance you are already planning a trip during this season, but do not know where to go, we listed some excellent places to visit and walk during the winter to indicate and show you why travel in the coldest season of the year are also as good as the seasons with mild weather, and this in one of the best regions for such: Europe.
WHY CHOOSE EUROPE AS A WINTER DESTINATION?
Although the European winter is really quite harsh, the continent is well worth visiting at this time of year. Loaded with charm with its incredibly beautiful and romantic landscapes, with the white cover of snow along with city lights that give a beautiful and magical touch, Europe has unmissable places to visit during winter, so we’ve separated 5 locations to present to you!
5 MOST VISITED COUNTRIES IN EUROPE AND THEIR AMAZING SIGHTS
Saint Petersburg
Located in northern Russia, along the Neva River, the former capital of the Russian Empire, considered at the time as “the Venice of the North”, is the second largest city in the country. It is naturally cold, with temperatures below zero and the many canals that cross it completely frozen in winter, the snow season is undoubtedly the best time to visit the city.
Surrounded by ice and snow, the region’s architecture takes on another perspective that surprises visitors. Both the historical sites such as the monument symbolizing the victory of the Russians against Napoleon Bonaparte, the Palace Square, located in the heart of the city and also where the Winter Palace is, the Alexander’s Column, erected in honor of Alexander the Great, and the General Staff building, as well as the most famous sights like the Church of Spilled Blood, where you can see the exact spot where Tsar Alexander II was murdered, allow us to see a new face of the city and its buildings. And there are still many other places to visit, for example the beautiful frozen Neva River, and many others ranging from palaces, museums and avenues; the Mikhailovsky Palace, the Russian Museum and the main avenue of St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt are some of them.
Venice
The next and already mentioned in our list of 5 most visited countries in Europe and its incredible sights as one of the fascinating places to visit in Italy, is Venice. One of the advantages of visiting the city during the winter is to enjoy the beautiful scenery with the tranquility of the deserted streets and calmly visit the most frequented points of the city without having to face huge queues or crowds of people to go to museums, restaurants or to ride gondolas, this by the amount of visitors is lower compared to winter, mainly because it is the low season in Europe. In addition, because it is the period of less movement, the prices of accommodation are lower than normal, making it a great trip also in the economic sense.
Despite the rain and fog, the sceneries are not overshadowed by them, even more so since they don’t stay all the time. The beauties of the Basilica of San Marco with its mix of western and eastern styles, mosaics from different eras and the statues of San Marco, the square where the Basilica stands and other buildings like the Moseo Correr, the Campanario of San Marco and the Torre dei Mori, being also the main public square of Venice, Piazza de San Marco, or just la Piazza, the Palazzo Ducale connected to the famous Bridge of Sighs and the Venice Music Museum, which has a space that even reproduces an instrument-building workshop are some places to visit.
Amsterdam
Next up is the most exciting destination on this list. The capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam is rich in sightseeing, attractions, history and culture. Having the beauty of a real postcard and adorned by the most amazing outdoor skating rinks in Europe, Amsterdam in winter has similar advantages to Italy, being less crowded, with empty streets and without the need to wait in lines for hours on end as it happens in other seasons, besides cheaper tickets and accommodation.
Far beyond its famous museums like the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank’s House, Amsterdam has many places to enjoy like canals with riverside restaurants and amazing attractions, ranging from the capital’s largest park, the Vondelpark, the pop culture museum that is also a Hard Rock Café Amsterdam restaurant, the sign with a registered presence in most visitors’ photos “I Amsterdam” to the controversial Red Light District. And there is so much more! From November to January the lighting installations of the annual Amsterdam Live Festival adorn the city’s streets and canals with lights. On 5 December, in the heart of the city, you can also take part in the St. Nicholas festival and Christmas markets.
Abisko
As one of the most amazing destinations, the village Abisko, situated in the far north of Swedish Lapland in Sweden, is considered a haven of peace and ice. Surrounded by mountains, Abisko boasts enchanting, breathtaking winter landscapes as well as stunning nature and culture that allow you to experience wildlife and Nordic life. It is also known for its large national park of 77 square kilometers, the Abisko National Park, and the famous ski resort on the border between Sweden and Norway the Riksgränsen, which means the National Border, open from December to June, where people go to ski and snowboard.
Other activities to do in the town are dog-sledding, the ride on dog sleds or watching the Royal Way. And finally, there’s the village’s most incredible attraction and one of the greatest shows in the world: the Northern Lights, which take place from November to March. Abisko is the best place in the world to watch this phenomenon of nature that can be seen from anywhere in the region, but the real best place to enjoy it is at Aurora Sky Station, a special station that is only accessible by cable car and offers a fascinating dinner under the lights of the aurora borealis.
Andalusia
And who said that every visit in the European winter is necessarily in a harsh and intense cold? The following region is the complete opposite of the regions mentioned above. Andalusia, an autonomous community in the southwest of Spain, is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and has a unique flora and fauna that makes it one of the most visited regions in Spain, with the airport in its capital, Seville, being the sixth busiest in the country. Its main characteristic and most attractive is the fact that it has more than 300 days of sunshine per year, which causes a warm winter, with a very mild climate, and prolongs the winter days abroad, making winter the best time to visit, even because summer reaches temperatures of 50°C.
Because there are fewer tourists in winter, the tours and visits of the cities and towns registered as UNESCO Cultural Heritage can be done quietly, enjoying the beauties of the region without haste or the hassle of crowds. Captaining the region is a good example of a destination in Andalusia, having the navigation on the Guadalquivir River, Spain’s only navigable river by ships, the largest gothic style cathedral in the world, Seville Cathedral, and the Alcázar Royal Palace. Two other cities highly recommended for visits are Granada and Cordoba.
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DID THE EUROPEAN WINTER ALSO CHARM YOU?
After seeing these cities, winter programs and fascinating European landscapes were you convinced that winter is a good season for travel or do you need to use empirical practice to experiment and draw your own conclusions? With so many beautiful and inviting places and still being some of them places to visit with little money, they are very worth to know, no?
If you are enchanted by the beauties of the European winter, why not start planning your trip there and ensure a fun and unforgettable trip? We’re ready to answer some questions you might have, like whether you‘ll need a visa to Europe in 2023 and also what you need to travel to Europe in 2023 for your future trip. Or maybe you’re so excited that you want to travel in the winter of this year? See what Europe’s borders is going now!
GOING ON A TRIP IN EUROPE?
Don’t forget to check How are the Europe borders: what do you need to know and do to travel to Europe in the pandemic
