My two daughters (ages 19 & 22) and I will be making a trip the third week of November. Younger daughter has input as to where we go, and since we've been to Italy (other daughter's choice), she wants something completely different.
Here are my questions: she's leaning towards Germany/Austria/eastern France. Will it be ridiculously cold/wet/dreary that time of year? Where could we go as 3 females, that we would enjoy, the prices would be BUDGET (I would like clean lodging for under $100/day...I can do that in Italy!! Can you tell I'm whining?), food and getting around wouldn't be prohibitive, and it's got to be somewhere we can go through the AA world alliance with airmiles. Lots of caveats there, and I appreciate all the help you guys can give me

I haven't changed my profile I'm now in Oklahoma City - two of us would fly out from there; the other from Nashville.

To be quite frank, November is one of my least favourite times in Germany. It can be foggy, rainy, gets dark early ...

That said, if you want something different this is a great time to go. With fewer travelers around your experience will feel less "touristy" as it would be in the summer crowds. And it is definitly a great time if you're on a budget.

I'd explore places with great indoor sites to visit. Berlin comes to mind with the new Museum Island. And Berlin is one of the cheaper destinations in Europe.

I was lucky enough to get AA flights with miles for our cruise next June. We fly into Athens where the cruise begins and it ends in Rome. Unfortunately, I could not get our return flight out of Rome so spending some time in Italy was not an option. I was able to book Rome to Brussels and then Brussels back to LA with a three day layover because AA is partners with Belgium Airlines.

Brussels is a good alternative to Italy because there are a lot of options for day trips. I've been wanting to visit Brugge, which is the Venice of the North, and it's under an hour by train from Brussels. Also, you can take the train into London in under two hours and Paris in 1-1/2 hours and Amsterdam in 2-1/2 hours although a 2-1/2 hour train ride is a bit much for a day trip but there is always the option of spending the night.

Carole

Sorry, it's Brussels Airlines not Belgium Airlines.

Carole

I would say strictly from a weather perspective, the late November time frame is about the worst of the year, with the exception of maybe late January/early February. While the weather gods might smile brightly, the odds are rain and bone chilling cold -- with a nice wind thrown in for good measure ( I am talking about Germany and Eastern France here, you might have better luck in Austria depending how high you go).

The sun sets pretty early, making dusk fall around 4.30 in the afternoon at the latest.

So, well you wouldn't be going for weather . Other than that I agree with canadabärchen about city tours, especially Berlin (although the reality is the weather can be particularly hostile in Northern Germany). I would stay away from country destinations completely because of bleakness and that helpless isolated feeling. Stick with cities and you might be ok. If you pushed the trip out a bit, to the first week in December, you could do a tour of German, French and Austrian Christmas Markets-- they start the first week of Advent -- in cities like Nürnberg, Hamburg, Strasbourg, and Salzburg. That would be a lovely thing to do. I don't think the 100 euro a night price tag would be a problem -- at least in Germany there are plenty of small pension hotels that are spotless and have a good breakfast for that price point.

Thanks for the thoughts...we have travelled in Italy in November and had a good mix of sun and dreariness, but the thought of going farther north...made me think GRAY only I'll pass word on to my girls and see what we can come up with. Maybe they'd be amenable to going farther south in Italy...Rome's the farthest down we've gone.

Oh...and I would love to wait until the first week in December for the Christkindlmarkts (sp?)...but we're working with school breaks At least the ones in Vienna start around the middle of November!