Paris/Europe in late January?

[Hornin04 261]

I made the mistake of getting married in late January.

 

We're coming up on 15 years in 2025. Initially I thought we should go somewhere warm because we live in New England. My wife is now throwing out the idea of doing Paris because we've always talked about going (I've been a few times but she's never been).

 

I think Paris is best in warmer weather. The pros are that flights are very cheap, cheaper than the Caribbean, and hotels are much less expensive that time of year. My wife is envisioning cozy warm cafes and museums as well as enjoying a luxurious hotel, nice restaurants, and not worrying too much about the cold weather outside.

 

Anyone have firsthand experience in the winter in Paris? I've heard mixed reviews. Any other similar locales we should consider that might be a bit warmer and more easily explored at that time of year?

[52-80 19142]

Its actually fine in January, weather is very mild so not particularly cold nor wetter than the rest of the year. Only thing you really lose out on is daylight. 

Med coastal Spain is always a good escape for weather…but Paris wont be bad. 
 

We actually decided to get married during a late Dec trip to Paris and proposed a few months later in Spanish islands (Canaries)

Edited September 25 by 52-80

[creeper 98]

Paris is great in January... less crowded, relatively easy to make resos, cozy and romantic, and usually not too cold for exploring. If you're into food, it's a good time of the year as well... post-game season, but you can still find winter specialties like lievre a la royale or whole truffle in puff pastry.  If you're worried about the weather, we spent a week in southern Spain at the beginning of February this year, and it was glorious.

[Js1 85260]

I've done the winter months in Paris three times - I love Europe in the winter, it's so charming and romantic.  It really wasn't that cold in Paris, but the idea of cozy warm cafes and museums is real and awesome.  And the lack of crowds is even better. 

[52-80 19142]

In what may be a first for all of Surlys history: the wife is right. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

I have done late November/early December in Paris a couple of times, and it is totally fine. As mentioned earlier, daylight is short, but the lights or Paris are amazing. There are a lot less people crowding into places.

The last time I was there at that time of year (2017), it did get cold and snowed, which I thought was beautiful (I lived in Houston at the time). 

I have been meaning to get to Paris for my birthday (early January) for a few years, and am hopeful that I will be able to work around work deadlines at some point soon.

[3adays 454]

My wife has a work trip there in February and wants to drag me and our 7 yr old daughter along. I’ve been leaning “no”, but wanted to hear some surly opinions. 

[Mo Horn 8817]

27 minutes ago, 3adays said:

My wife has a work trip there in February and wants to drag me and our 7 yr old daughter along. I’ve been leaning “no”, but wanted to hear some surly opinions. 

You're an idiot if you don't take the opportunity to go to Paris, and allow your daughter to experience one of the great cities in the world, and understand what life is like outside the United States. But that's just my opinion. 

[3adays 454]

She will have plenty of opportunities to see Paris and has experienced life outside the US having already been to 8 different countries. It was more of a question about the time of year and things to do for a kid her age. 

[HellesBier 188]

Brush up on your Arabic! Pro tip, head to Eastern Europe.

Edited October 1 by HellesBier

[texasdago 7562]

I kind of like Paris in the wintertime... it is a very winter-friendly city to me.  Have been there during cold months before and I liked it.

My suggested itinerary...

Then buy a Chamonix Unlimited pass for 6 days and ski up and down the valley.  Done. 

[Hornin04 261]

So I'll need some tips now that I've booked.

We arrive on the morning of our anniversary, so I'm sure that day we'd like to chill and have a nice fancy dinner to celebrate. But we will have five full days including the first where we arrive at 7:00 a.m.

I've been before but it has been almost 20 years, and I've never been as an adult with money to spend to enjoy the finer things in life.

Will be looking for restaurants, hotels, and other recs now. A cooking class sounds cliché but fun.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

https://www.mlleshetravels.com/

The places I would like to go back to, or do go back to when I can are:

MoSuke

Restaurant AMALIA

Montee (Still)

Le Chateaubriand

I have writeups on MoSuke and Montee on that website I linked. 

[Shanee 2]

On 10/5/2024 at 4:23 AM, Hornin04 said:

So I'll need some tips now that I've booked.

We arrive on the morning of our anniversary, so I'm sure that day we'd like to chill and have a nice fancy dinner to celebrate. But we will have five full days including the first where we arrive at 7:00 a.m.

I've been before but it has been almost 20 years, and I've never been as an adult with money to spend to enjoy the finer things in life.

Will be looking for restaurants, hotels, and other recs now. A cooking class sounds cliché but fun.

 

On 10/5/2024 at 4:23 AM, Hornin04 said:

So I'll need some tips now that I've booked.

We arrive on the morning of our anniversary, so I'm sure that day we'd like to chill and have a nice fancy dinner to celebrate. But we will have five full days including the first where we arrive at 7:00 a.m.

I've been before but it has been almost 20 years, and I've never been as an adult with money to spend to enjoy the finer things in life.

Will be looking for restaurants, hotels, and other recs now. A cooking class sounds cliché but fun.

I noticed your post about Paris and I'm actually in the planning stages for my own trip, considering either Paris or Spain (been in touch with a guide for Spain from https://gowithguide.com/spain ). Since you've been to Paris before, I'd love to hear how your recent trip went.
Which area did you end up staying in?
Did you do that cooking class you mentioned? If so, which one?
What were your favorite "finer things" experiences that you'd recommend splurging on? I'm particularly interested in your restaurant recommendations since food is a big priority for my trip planning.

[L_P_ 0]

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1128343923858266386?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

Stayed here in October, great place and location was great for the spots we wanted to visit. I've found the Opinionated About Dining https://www.oadlists.com/ list to be a great starting point to help narrow the field of restaurants (still need to spend time researching though, imo).

[RDCanecutter 26377]

Paris/North-Central France are quite pleasant in winter compared to the NE US. Maybe a dusting of snow, except by saying that probably I've doomed you to freakish Arctic blasts.

Dress like you're going to a mildly cold San Francisco, multiple warm layers, waterproof shoes with soles that don't slip on wet surfaces, a windbreaker, and a thick wooly scarf. If you don't have a scarf on you might as well be wearing a bone in your nose. The climate rewards wearing scarves. Avoid berets with monogrammed names. I saw one beret in a year in France, and that was on a guy who ran a comic book store. But he was bald and the store was not warm. Maybe you can buy one of those tiny French baseball hats with tight-fitting skulls and long bills, giving the impression that one is a baby bird, or perhaps interested in trying Zima.

Enjoy!

[Chopper 17230]

8 hours ago, Shanee said:

Did you do that cooking class you mentioned? If so, which one?

You didn't ask me but I'll try to pass along some of the things I've learned from my wife about cooking classes.

Make sure everyone in your group is excited about it. More than anything it's a social occasion.

When picking which cooking school you want to go to look for one that focuses on teaching techniques important to the cuisine rather than those that just market themselves as about cooking and consuming a fabulous meal. For as much as you'll pay for the cooking class, you can get a better meal from a top restaurant. Therefore, learning something that you wouldn't necessarily understand from reading a book is important in how rewarding the class is. 

A bonus is if the school includes a preliminary tour through a local market of the sort that professional chefs would shop at - that way you can learn some of the things they look for. For Paris, that's primarily the Bastille market but there are others. 

[Shanee 2]

9 hours ago, Chopper said:

 

Make sure everyone in your group is excited about it. More than anything it's a social occasion.

 

Yeah, I will keep that in mind.