Winter in Europe? Good or bad?

[Rexticles]

Hi all,
very young and inexperienced myself, i plan to backpack europe (particularly western) for the winter months this year (ie december-feb) but am wondering whether i should be discouraged by the winter chill. it is my best and soonest opportunity to go but dont want it to be dampened by the idea of a european winter (especially considering im used to australian ones). any light and advice on the matter would be much appreciated, and a few selling points of a european winter are welcomed .
thanks all

[ajb3000]

Well the bad points are obviously that it'll be cold and wet most of the time, so make sure you take a rain jacket and plenty of warm clothes. On the plus side though, there will be far fewer tourists which means it'll be easier and cheaper to stay in hostels and tourist sights will be quieter. It will probably also be easier to meet locals outside the main tourist season and you can be more relaxed without having to worry about booking things in advance.

[Esterina]

Andrew summed it up perfectly ! I would only add that in some countries, winter can get unpredictably cold during January and February. For instance, I was in southeast Germany in January 2000, where the temperature felt as low as -20 celsius, during the day !

This cold in Europe is a rare phenomenon, but still better be prepared. Or have a Plan B in mind, sticking to the South (Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc.) In this time of the year, you shouldn't need to book in advance your bed. One downside that wasn't said is that the Tourist bureau will probably be closed down. But if you stay in hostels, the staff is pretty helpful in helping getting around.

Have a look at this thread : Climate info per continent

[MeTurk]

Don't worry Europe won't be empty during the off season, Europeans travel all year round especially to the main cities you'll just have allot more space. The likes of Spain and Italy will be cooler but they'll still have good weather by my standards anyway. Ireland and the UK don't get any extremes of weather it'll just rain constantly, the countryside is still going to look great in Ireland you'll get light mists that make scenes look amazing but really if you don't like the idea of rain you might want to give it a miss.

Inland on the continent you'll get snow seeing as your coming from Australia it might be nice to go to places that are guaranteed a good snow fall just so you can see it. From Germany east gets very cold.

[aliz]

travelling in winter is great! I have actually never been to europe in summer before (although this will all change on saturday!)
my advice would be to start north and travel south, so that you're not in some cold northern country in the middle of january - cause that would be cold. But there are virtually no lines, you can enjoy christmas markets, don't have to book hostels, and LOTS of other australians travel in this time (obviously) so while you might get sick of meeting aussies everywhere sometimes it's nice when you're feeling homesick.