If anyone knows how dreary it can truly get in Europe in winter, it’s all of us sitting here in Ireland. Though the temperatures are relatively mild, from December to February, we’re lucky to catch a glimpse of blue sky and sun. The other chunk of Europe gets treated with snow for a few weeks, which also slowly loses its charm after you need to shovel it for the fourth time in the winter…
Luckily, if you’re in serious need of warmer places, there are quite a few places you can easily get to close by without necessarily breaking the bank.
Sure, you can head over to the Canary Islands or Madeira or the Azores, but it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg, especially around the Christmas holidays.
Luckily, if you’re in serious need of warmer places, there are quite a few places you can easily get to close by without necessarily breaking the bank. You can get your Vitamin D fix, and an interesting destination to boot, by heading to any of the following places…
Andalusia, Spain
We headed to Andalusia in December 2022, after barely surviving our first three months getting defeated by Ireland’s rain. Apparently, the region is an absolute furnace in the summer, which makes it delightful as a winter holiday destination. As an added bonus, this corner of Spain incredibly rich with picturesque sites and countless UNESCO monuments worth visiting, so you when you get bored of sun-bathing you can check out Moorish architecture.
You can visit for a brief weekend by flying into Seville or Granada, or spend a week or two by visiting other notable areas including Cordoba and the Caminito del Rey.
Morocco (anywhere really)
Technically, Morocco is not in Europe, but given the numerous budget airlines serving the country, flying there won’t cost more than flying elsewhere in Europe. If you’ve never been before, a great place to start off is Marrakech. From here you can easily visit the coastal village, Essaouira, the Atlas Mountains to the east, and spend a night or two in the Sahara desert.
Rome, Italy
If you’ve ever been to Rome in peak summer, you’ll know it is a horrible time to visit – it’s blazingly hot and the entire world is there too. Rome in the winter, on the other hand, is fantastic. The weather is quite mild, it’s more likely sunny than not but without the heat that makes you sweat, the hotel prices are low, and the crowds are blissfully absent. If you’re a history junkie or a pizza addict, December and January are great months to visit.
You’ll want at least 3 days in Rome, but if you find yourself getting itchy feet, take the train down to Naples to visit Pompeii.
Malta
Somewhere in the Mediterranean, lies a small island nation called Malta. Spending a week there hiking around Gozo will forever be one of my favourite memories. You can easily fly into the capital city (Valletta) and take buses to any one of the many sites around the main island. Or, if you want to get away to a more quiet part of the country, you can catch a ferry to Gozo.
Gozo is quite a small farming island – you can hike around the entire island comfortably in 4 days. The famous caves of Calypso are there, as well as a number of gorgeous beaches and film locations from the Game of Thrones television series.
I’d recommend at minimum 5 days to visit the main island and Gozo.
Algarve, Portugal
The Algarve Coast along the south of Portugal is renowned for having some of the most stunning beaches in Europe. Tourists descend into the area from June to September to swim in the photogenically blue water. But what a lot of people don’t know is that you can still visit during the winter months and enjoy the beaches. When we visited in late December, the water was still warm enough to swim in (proof being there were people swimming) and it can be warm enough during the day to sit out in the sun with just a t-shirt.
The only flip side of visiting the Algarve during the off-peak season is that some of the shops and restaurants are closed, but the establishments the locals frequent will still be open.
If you plan to visit, you can fly into Faro. Alternatively you can take a train from Lisbon, roughly 3 to 5 hours depending on your final destination. I’d recommend staying in Lagos if you want to see the famous rock formations, surf or visit the Benagil cave. Alternatively, Santa Luzia and Tavira are home to very calm sand beaches. Plus from there you can easily cross the border and pay a visit to Andalusia, Spain.
