| Spring
is popping up all over and Middle Europe starts to take on some
colour and feel more comfortable. The weather is still unpredictable
and it's chilly up north, so, if you have a choice, travel south
of Belgium - except for those who want to get ripped who should
head for Amsterdam for April 30th, or sooner.
n.b. major tourist locations are likely to be overcrowded/ overpriced/
overbooked around Easter.
Map
of Europe | European
Walking Tours | Europe
Tours | Travel Directory
Europe
Festivities: see European
Festivals or Arts
Festivals for more suggestions, information and some precise
dates.
Italy:
Sicily, Taranto have extravagant pre-Easter parades. And on Easter
Sunday it's Florence's turn.
Spain:
Seville. Feria de Abril, a
week long party, traditional dress, parades, dancing and wild parties.
Also Holy Week [Semana Santa], hundreds of parades, singing. The
date depends on Easter, of course.
Netherlands:
Amsterdam. The totally mad
'Orange day' [Queen's Birthday] is on April 30th. And it's daffodil
season too, but may still be chilly.
Russia:
St Petersburg. Music
Spring, International classical music festival.
For
sightseeing/culture in reasonably comfortable weather conditions:
Spain
: with the exception of the North, Spain is generally warm and
pleasant in April. Visit the magical Moorish cities of Seville
[esp. for Feria de Abril 7 day party at the end of April], Cordoba
and Granada before they get uncomfortably hot. Barcelona
too is a lively, interesting city, though it can be a little chilly
in April. Swimming in the Mediterranean in winter is not on yet,
nor is the sad, overbuilt coast that is now dedicated to sod-the-culture,
we want sun, sea and sangria tour groups.
Italy:
Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum and
Sicily [n.b pre-Easter parades] are excellent cultural targets,
while Amalfi takes good care of those who need a scenic uplift.
Venice is getting warm and
Florence has an especially
colourful Easter procession.
Greece:
April is fine for Athens
and the south; it's getting warm and crowds are acceptable. Greece
is loaded with sights, ruins and landscapes [e.g. Meteora].
The islands are gorgeous, though the north is chilly and the
Med's still too cold for swimming.
And,
with a bit of luck these interesting places will also see warmth
and some sunshine:
Austria
[Vienna]
Portugal
[Lisbon,
Sintra,
Evora]
Turkey [Istanbul]
France
[Paris, Ile-de-France, Loire
Valley, Burgandy, Avignon, Arles, Riviera]
UK
[esp. London, Windsor, Stonehenge,
Dorset,
Stratford,
Oxford,
York,
Lake
District, Edinburgh].
Ireland
[Dublin, Kilkenny, Wexford]
Belgium
[Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp,
Bruges, the Ardennes]
Czech
Rep. [especially Prague,
Bohemia province, Karlovy Vary, Karlstejn castle]
European
Country Pictures:
Austria | Croatia | Czech Republic | England | Finland | Germany | Greece | Iceland | Italy | Monaco | Netherlands
[Holland] | Norway | Portugal | Russia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey
European
City Pictures:
Amsterdam
| Athens
| Budapest
| Edinburgh
| Florence | Genoa
| Lisbon
| London
| Madrid
| Paris
| Prague
| Rome
| Venice
| Vienna
|
