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We’ve intentionally kept these Europe travel tips fairly high-level, and while they will help guide your general expectations for traveling on the continent–especially if you’re going on a multi-country trip–you’ll definitely want to follow up with additional research into your specific destinations. If you’re planning a multi-country European road trip, be sure to disclose exactly where you’re going when renting your car to make sure you have all the right permissions in your contract. In western and central Europe, train routes are plentiful: if you’re perusing these travel tips for Europe while planning a trip to places like Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and the UK, you’ll have endless choices for trains. When traveling via fast train in Europe, buying a first class ticket generally comes with slightly larger seats, sometimes the ability to reserve your exact seats when you can’t in second class (both of those facts vary based on the company you travel with, though) and possibly a small snack like a water bottle and a pack of cookies

I feel a little bit like I’m cheating by listing this entire region together, as it includes both Provence and the French Riviera, but I can’t help it: our south of France road trip was an absolutely phenomenal trip, and every single aspect of it deserves to be included here. Our entire trip to Ireland easily goes down as one of our top trips of 2019–every single thing about it was absolutely magical, and we managed to spend almost a month road tripping the island and still walk away feeling like we desperately needed to go back. The island of Sicily has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, and it somehow managed to live up to expectations while also veering wildly off of what I expected–and yet, we came away with counting Sicily as one of our favorite new destinations of 2019. We loved the dramatically shifting landscape across the island, the incredible history and architecture, the food, the low prices, and the Meditteranean views… we almost certainly would have loved the beaches, too, but sadly a very unseasonably cold late spring meant that we basically only looked at them (they were gorgeous, though).

Colmar is an incredibly easy and rewarding trip from Strasbourg by train (and like Strasbourg, it’s packed with incredible Christmas markets in December). If you’re looking for the oldest Christmas market in France, the one that started way back in 1570, head to Place de la Cathédrale For a full list of Christmas markets in Strasbourg with updated hours and dates, check here. Where to Stay in Strasbourg in Winter When deciding where to stay in Strasbourg in December, the biggest thing to consider is simply location: as long as you’re within an easy walk of the Strasbourg Cathedral, La Petite France, and several Christmas markets, you’re sure to have a great trip! If you’re not going to be traveling anywhere else in Alsace as part of your December trip, we recommend taking at least one day trip from Strasbourg to a gorgeous village (or two or three) to get a taste of the region outside of the capital city.

Best Things to Do in Colmar in Winter Visit Colmar in December or even late November, and you’ll be greeted with some of the best Christmas markets on the planet seemingly around every corner. Plenty of Alsatian food is up for grabs at the Colmar Christmas markets, including classic foods like sausages and crepes as well as trendier options like churros (seriously, every churro line we passed on our recent trip to Colmar in winter was the longest one around–they’re insanely popular at the Christmas markets right now!). The best chance to see snow in Colmar is later in winter, well after the Christmas markets close–for the best chance of a snowy trip, consider visiting Colmar in January or February. While you can check off the biggest things to do in Colmar in a day or so, by traveling slowly, savoring the Christmas markets in Colmar, and spending plenty of time soaking up the atmosphere, it’s easy to pass several days in town and still not be ready to leave (we sure weren’t on our most recent visit).