Where to go in Europe in December with friend?

[GirlWithTheLionHeart]

Me and my friend want to go for a weekend away in December.

I'm thinking either Amsterdam or Prague?

Any ideas for a fun weekend? We like eating out, art and hopefully checking out some nice bars in the evening :)

I would choose anywhere Germanic. Anywhere with a good Christmas market is just fabulous, and if you choose your destination properly you might get a bit of snow. Berlin, Munich, Vienna all spring to mind. Further out than those, Prague and Budapest are fabulous too. All of those places will be properly Christmassy, with markets and ice rinks. They all have lovely coffee shops, plenty of museums, galleries and historic buildings. Amsterdam can be fun, but I reckon it would be a bit grey and dreary at that time of year, probably better experienced in the late spring or summer.

Another vote for Berlin and Munich. Potsdamer Platz in Berlin is good:

PotsdamerPlatz

IME, people are slightly friendlier in Munich, but the food's cheaper in Berlin.

Berlin sounds cool. Good nightlife too apparently :)

See I would disagree. Anywhere that celebrates Christmas on the 25th is a bloody nightmare. Commercialism and cold will await.
A nice Latin county like Spain for example will still have lots of Christmassy stuff up but celebrate on Jan 6th.

So...it will be a few degrees warmer so you can sightsee with less chance of frostbite. Won't be over run with Christmas tourists and there isn't panic "buy everything, Chistmas is here" vibe. Barcelona for example has amazing street lights, Christmas markets with free sweets thrown about and the very seasonal " pooing man" You couldn't make it up.

Will be doing Berlin but certainly not when everyone else is thinking of doing it.

"Anywhere that celebrates Christmas on the 25th is a bloody nightmare." Well that covers the UK and the English-speaking world, then. Christmas in Germany and much of the northern continent is celebrated on the evening of the 24th. 25th is a public holiday, but very much the 'day after Christmas'.

So when would you be doing Berlin, then, reveal?

The best Christmas markets are reputedly Nuremberg and Cologne. What Berlin can offer is some damn good art, fantastic nightlife (you could attempt to get into Berghain) and pubs that are allowed to stay open all night (but most don't), and about 20 or 30 separate Christmas markets - some of which are pathetic and others quite fun. And some extremely rude locals, but that's all part of the charm. Munich is more traditionally 'German'.

Re weather: December is obviously very very dark - that's the main reason so much artificial light is psychologically necessary - but it's not the coldest time of year and it's not always picture-book snowy. So during the daytime it can come across as rather grey and depressing, but things pick up a lot in the evenings.

We went to Tallinn In December a few years ago and it was really lovely. Medieval city, Christmas market, plenty of galleries and museums. Loved it.

Kraków, it's brilliant. Or for even more chance of snow, Zakopane.

Vienna is lovely and easy to navigate with the metro. Great art galleries - ideal if you are a Klimt fan - cafés, Sachar torte, crisp weather and probably have snow.
Prague also great with castle, bridge, some nice Art Deco buildings, cafés.

Salzburg?
Regensburg?

I'll be doing Beriln in the summer half term ( limited by school hols).

Lots of places in Europe don't do Christmas on the 25th! The main present giving time is the 6th Jan as per the the three Kings.

Op wanted to go somewhere in December. My point was that anywhere that celebrates the main event on the 25 th is liable to be a nightmare in the run up. Going anywhere everyone else thinks is a good idea is a disaster in this day and age. Expensive and commercialised and Northern Europe is bloody cold. I 'd go somewhere Christmasy and off season. Quite relieved I if everyone else wants to do the Chrismas markets though!

I live in Berlin and if you like going out and art, it's perfect. The food scene here is great (lots of hipster food markets and great cheap restaurants, amazing Vietnamese and Turkish food, the most adorable cafes and bakeries, a real foodie city basically), obviously the bar scene is incredible (and really cheap!), loads of galleries and museums. Very cosmopolitan and liberal. I didn't actually think it was overly Christmas-y last year -- unless you venture into the shopping districts and supermarkets, I don't think you would really notice that much.

Kreuzberg and Neukolln are the most trendy areas now but I'm partial to the old eastern districts, Mitte and Friedrichshain and Prenzlauerberg. You and your friend would definitely have a good time!

My vote goes to ... Vienna