Europe - Winter Itenerary, Questions & Suggestions

[AdamIsGone]

Hello everybody. I'm 26 and will be backpacking Europe for the first time this winter all by my lonesome. I'll be spending 2 to 3 months over there, starting in late Nov.

I am trying to rush to get things in order to leave and needed some possible ideas and suggestions for my itinerary, and general questions about backpacking in the winter. So here goes.

I have a very basic idea of where I would like to go while I am over there. I believe I will be flying into Frankfurt cause its the cheapest flight I have found from LA, where I currently live. The one person I know in Europe lives semi close to Frankfurt, so I will probably spend time with him right off the bat. Other than that, I know I want to spend time where the climate would be milder, southern Spain, south France, Italy, possibly Greece...spend some time in the alps and snowboard at least a couple times. I would like to maybe spend xmas somewhere cool, and maybe someplace fun for new years. I will probably make time for Amsterdam, Prague, maybe Copenhagen. Also, I don't particularly have a ton of interest in the posh or cosmopolitan side of europe, if that makes any sense. Paris doesn't sound all that appealing to me.

Has anyone had any experience with seeing europe in winter? what they did, where they went, hostels they stayed at, hostels that would be good to stay at specifically for skiing/boarding, things they wouldn't miss, anything else i should know.

Or even if you didn't travel during winter, but have any suggestions for places to visit around those areas I listed or elsewhere, that would be appreciated.

Thanks again for the help, Its been a hustle to get everything set up and planned. Can't wait.