European cities at Christmas time

[Anonymous]

Agree Vienna would be great, and there are other Austrian cities that are easy to travel to by train (Salzburg, Innsbruck).

[Anonymous]

Sorry to jump in, but I am also trying to decide on a trip for our family the week of Dec. 26. We're driving from Brussels, and ideally would do a few nights in a city plus a day or two of skiing. Vienna is an option, as is Munich (the latter preferable since it's two hours closer to Brussels). We have always planned to do Vienna, but were thinking of doing it in the summer. Kids are 6, 4 and 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would avoid the UK unless you would be staying with family/friends and sharing their Christmas experience. It's not just London but all of Britain is flat out dead on the 25th/26th (Boxing Day). Just about everything is closed, the number of restaurants open is minimal and most people are with their families/friends. I've had wonderful Christmases in the UK but it was always because of the family I was with. So if you go to Britain you will effectively lose two entire days from your trip where there's not much to do but go for a walk. Also note that public transit on those two days are also severely limited.

The continental cities have a lot more going on on the 25th and most places are back to business on the 26th. I'd go for Rome of all the cities on your list, followed with Prague. I don't know how long you intend to be away, but Italy is lovely at Christmas and odds of getting several "warmish" days is not bad, and you can easily divide your time between Rome and Florence/Naples/Venice. Prague will be colder but it's a magical city and you can divide your time between Prague and Vienna, or Prague and Berlin.

I'm the PP who said London is dead on Christmas Day (I'm from London). The above from the PP is true for 25 Dec but Boxing Day (26 Dec) lots of things are open - it's famous for being the start of all the sales (though increasingly shops start their sales now before Christmas, but still!) On Christmas Day, if you do decide to go to London, you will just need to plan carefully to make sure you have somewhere to eat and things to do. It's doable but requires planning in advance - happy to make suggestions of where to go if you like.