Michael

Morocco might be a good alternative. We did the three imperial cities using public transportation. We landed in Marrakech and took the train to Meknès and Fez and returned to Marrakech by first class bus. From Fez we took a couple of interesting day trips via local bus transportation.

bobthenavigator

Here are the facts :
http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...461&refer=

zeppole

Bob, those charts are for temperatures, not for wind conditions. Flights can get cancelled on sunny days in the 60s, especially out of Napoli.

Underhill

Nice, for Carnival.

travelgourmet

Argentina. February in Europe is just not that fun.

tcreath

Yikes....flights to Buenos Aires are over $1300 from Charlotte! That is way over our budget, and to be honest if I had that kind of airfare budget I would be heading to South East Asia.

We are looking at spending a maximum of $900-$950 pp for flights. From Charlotte this proves to be a difficult task, one that has us limited to Spain and Germany. However, we could use our flight credits (we will only have about $200 pp) to get us to NYC where flights are much more reasonable. I found a flight to Marrakesh for $750 ($1150 if from Charlotte). We are also still considering Spain.

I hate that flights are so expensive. I'm not a sit-on-the-beach kind of person but maybe we'll research some islands as well.

Thanks again everyone!
Tracy

mvor

Hi Tracy,

I was going to recommend Buenos Aires too (very inexpensive once you get there--about 1/3 of the price of Europe for food, sites, etc.) but since you're not city people and you only have a week I don't think that would work. (We were in BA for Thanksgiving last year and it was wonderful. We can't wait to go back and see the rest of Argentina.)

I think Andalucia would be a good choice for you since you like small villages vs. cities and are not looking for hot weather. We spent a week in Seville last October as a 70th birthday gift for my MIL.

I did not love Seville as much as I thought I would (although it certainly can fill 2-3 days happily) but really enjoyed our daytrips to Cordoba and the white villages (Grazelema,Zahara de la Sierra, etc. -- great info in Maribel's guides and on Slowtrav). We did not make it to Granada unfortunately.

Not sure if there are religious holidays during the time you'd like to visit but that's easy enough to check. I also think the orange trees will be in bloom in February and I think that would be wonderful to see/smell.

Best of luck. We often travel to Europe in the middle of February to coincide w/the Presidents' Day holiday (Rome, Paris, London, etc.) and have enjoyed it immensely.

Keds1

We were planning a very similar trip to Andalucia for that school vacation week but now are considering Mexico after viewing the crazy routes and times of the available flights to Malaga. Some beach and some colonial towns will be a welcome respite from winter snow. Hope you can find an easy way to get there-it looks like it would be a great trip even in February.

TexasAggie

Hi Tracy!
I just came across your post this morning. I believe our fellow Fodorite WillTravel (the sweet lady with the family blog - "soultravelers&quot has spent the past two winters in Andalucia. She always posts photos and great narratives on the blog so you might be able to glean some info on the recent February weather conditions from her?
Good luck deciding! We went to Germany (Romantic Road) in mid-February 2005. It was seriously cold, even coming from Denver where we do have a real winter. The real issue for us though, was that it got dark really early and all the museums and sights closed by 2 or 3pm (they didn't open until 10am either).

JulieVikmanis

Check out my report entitled If this is February it must be Barcelona. For two years in a row we've been in that city in Barcelona and found it delightful both times. Most recently we combined Barcelona with a few days on the Costa Brava just north of BCN and enjoyed that too. Of course, chances for great weather even further south in Spain may be even greater and I must say that I love Sevilla, but give serious consideration to BCN and Costa Brava. We found it delightful and wonderful for walking, and even for dining outdoors for lunch.

vetralla

University friends from Brooklyn had the same query a few years ago for a January get away: not into skiing, nor beach life they took up my offer to visit our special corner of Italy- Viterbo and Vetralla in central Lazio and had an interesting time soaking in the hot pools when the air temp. was 4° C. They visited Orvieto and enjoyed it even if snow flurries hassled their drive home to Vetralla where a dinner of wild boar stew and roasted potatoes with rosemary had them making a standing ovation to the cook/host. Perhaps the Renaissance gardens were frosted and the castles a bit chilly but the fireplace, music and good friends created for them the mystique of what Italian life was all about...the key is knowing someone in the area , not how much money you can spend.

Vttraveler

My husband took a one week trip to Mendoza Argentina last December and really loved it (had been there once before years ago and always wanted to go back) Although airfare is higher than airfare to Europe lodging and food was cheaper. Great vineyards

taconictraveler

Tracy: I think that the posters are giving Portugal short shrift. DH and I spent two weeks in Portugal a couple of years ago, in February. We stayed in two different time share resorts, and enjoyed nothing but sun. Yes, it was cold, and we wore jackets, but we drove each day to different little towns in the mountains, or along the ocean, had lovely lunches, (outside a couple of times.) We loved it cuz no tourists were there, just the locals, and Portugal is cheaper than a lot of European places. We found the highway from Lisbon down to the Algarve very modern wide and empty. It's a marvelous country. Give it a look.

dcd

Tracy, we didn't have Spain on our radar either until I started doing some reading here. Then we went on an organized tour in 2007 from Madrid to Toledo to Seville to Granada and finally to the Costa del Sol and really loved the trip and the country. Lots to see and do. I don't think you guys would be disappointed.

mlaffitte

I went to Sicily in February last year, and the weather was terrific ... not warm enough to swim of course, but I had to buy sunblock to avoid getting sunburned! And it was blissfully peaceful, no crowds anywhere.

annhig

hi tracey,

we went to Madrid in February 2007 and it was warn for us - though we come from Cornwall, so perhaps we have low expectations!

andalucia would fit your bill, i think, though it can be cold in the mountains - when we visited granada in november, we were struck by the nos of fur coats for sale in the shops.

I've never been to Portugal, but that would appeal too.

regards, ann

travelme

I was in Spain last February and unfortuntely, we hit a rainy week, It didn't spoil our plans but it wasn't as spectacular as it is when it is sunny. You will have a great time there but February isn't guaranteed beautiful weather. We were in both La Costa del sol and Madrid.

tcreath

Thank you all so much for your replies!! I am going to be researching the trip reports, as I have a lot to think about. Fodorites are always so helpful!

Best wishes,
Tracy