Inspiration

21 European Cities That Are Even More Charming in Winter

Summer temps can’t compete with mulled wine and snow-dusted canal houses.

September 21, 2023

Arctic Treehouse Hotel Rovaniemi Finland

There’s nothing quite like visiting Europe in winter. While most travelers start researching tropical beaches and faraway islands the second the temperatures start to drop at home, we find ourselves dreaming about snow-dusted cobblestones and charming Christmas markets more often than not.

Aside from the holiday rush, most major European cities are refreshingly crowd-free and inexpensive during the winter months—and they offer both outdoor adventures and cozy experiences well worth traveling for. (Seriously, how good does a warm mug of real hot chocolate in a riverside Belgian café sound?)

Whether you want to plan a vacation for the end of this year or are already looking ahead to 2024, these photos of Europe in winter will have you booking your next trip in no time. Read on for 21 European cities—and a few villages, if we’re getting technical—that will help you make the most of the coldest season.

This gallery has been updated since its original publish date. All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Bruges, Belgium
Europe’s best-preserved medieval city is also one of its most bewitching, especially during the holiday season. Let’s start with its light displays, when every tree and storefront seems ablaze with twinkle lights (just look up as you wander the cobbled streets). When your fingers start going numb, warm up with mugs of Belgian hot chocolate in the historic Craenenburg Cafe.
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Vienna, Austria
Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and that’s a fact no matter the season. But we’re particularly fond of the Austrian capital in the winter, when you can double down on hot chocolate and sachertorte, watch free outdoor simulcasts of the opera (loads of people attend, even when it’s freezing), listen to classical holiday concerts, and snap photos of Schönbrunn Palace and St. Charles Church covered in snow.

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Venice, Italy
Venice has become notoriously overrun during peak season—just see its frequent attempts to limit tourist numbers for proof. But come wintertime, the city actually lives up to its La Serenissima (“The Serene”) nickname. The canals are quiet and shrouded in mist, hotels give discounted rates, and you can actually visit St. Mark’s Basilica without a stranger’s selfie stick poking you in the eye.
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Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn practically overflows with charm, thanks to its turreted castles and a lovely location on the Baltic Sea. The city has one of the best-preserved historical centers in Europe, with many of its medieval churches and merchant houses falling under UNESCO protection. The views of the city center from Toompea Castle are beautiful no matter the season, but they pop even more under a layer of snow—in fact, they make those cold, Baltic winters downright bearable.

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Zagreb, Croatia
With its cobbled streets, old city quarter, and baroque architecture, Zagreb has everything you would expect from a Central European capital—plus a few extra-special perks come wintertime. The city erupts with yuletide cheer during its annual Advent in Zagreb festival, complete with 25 Christmas markets, ice skating rinks, and glittering lights galore. Fill up on homemade sausages and brandy, then schedule a day trip to nearby Plitvice Lakes National Park to see the 16 terraced lakes and waterfalls completely frozen over—an imagination-defying landscape that simply must be seen in person.
Courtesy Interlaken Tourismus
Interlaken, Switzerland
Interlaken is the unofficial adventure capital of Switzerland, and its winter activities are much more varied and unique than in other major cities. Sure, you can go skiing and snowshoeing here. But you can also go paragliding (or skydiving) down snowy mountains, book an hour at a curling rink, or take a winter kayaking tour on Lake Brienz.

Uwe Niklas/Nuremberg Convention and Tourist Office
Nuremberg, Germany
Germany is known around the world for its Christmas markets—but few compare to Nuremberg’s centuries-old Christkindlesmarkt, complete with gingerbread, handmade gifts, and horse-drawn carriage rides. But don’t think that Nuremberg’s wintry appeal starts and ends with the holidays. Travelers can enjoy grand-dame hotels and dozens of Michelin-starred restaurants well into the new year.
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Prague, Czech Republic
When a dusting of snow coats St. Charles Bridge and Old Town’s church spires, the whole of Prague transforms. But the city also has some of Europe’s best Christmas markets—outside of Germany, at least—where even the most jaded traveler will succumb to the trdelník (fried dough) and mulled wine sold in festive stalls.

Courtesy Arctic TreeHouse Hotel
Rovaniemi, Finland
Finnish Lapland is a winter wonderland like no other, perhaps best exemplified in the region’s capital city of Rovaniemi. Aside from being perhaps the best place to spend Christmas (the town claims to be the official hometown of Santa Claus, after all), Rovaniemi is packed with reindeer farms, husky sledding, ice skating rinks, and Northern Lights safaris that make it a must-visit for adventurous families. If you’d prefer something a little less festive and a little more pensive, book a few nights at the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel. Here you can sip glogg by the fire, eat cloudberry ice cream and smoked salmon, and take in views of the snow-blanketed forests from your warm bed.
Courtesy Janus van den Eijnden
Amsterdam
Every late November/early December through January, the Amsterdam Light Festival brings some illumination to the Dutch capital, courtesy of light installations from all over the world. The 12th edition of the festival will launch on November 30, with the theme “LOADING…Revealing Art, AI and Tech” promising more creative pieces of art than ever. While the city does draw considerable crowds during the holiday season, the tourist numbers tend to drop with the temperatures, so the later winter months are prime for enjoying snow-shrouded canal views and cozy restaurants in peace. And we swear: Dutch food, hearty with lots of bread and potatoes, is even more satisfying on cold days.

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Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Festival—a three-day bacchanal celebrating the New Year, with outdoor concerts, fireworks, and dancing Scots—is reason enough to book a trip to the city. Not much of a partier? Shop for some cashmere, then curl up with your new scarf and some whisky at the speakeasy-style Panda and Sons. You can also work up a sweat skiing in Pentland Hills Regional Park or walking among the winter-flowering plants at the Royal Botanic Garden.
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Ilulissat, Greenland
Greenland’s western town of Ilulissat draws tourists for several reasons: the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord, dog sledding, relative accessibility (you can fly there from Iceland or Denmark), and its proximity to iceberg-filled Disko Bay. The biggest crowds descend during summer—chasing that midnight sun, no doubt—but Visit Greenland strongly recommends coming in winter: “The stunning silence of a thick snowy terrain, speckled by a few howls of the Greenlandic dog, is an experience everyone should try at least once in their lives.” You’ll also avoid high hotel prices and swarms of mosquitoes, which are surprisingly populous in Greenland during the summer months.

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Budapest, Hungary
Winter is, hands down, the best time to visit Budapest. Seeing the Hungarian Parliament surrounded by ice drifts on the Danube could make even the strictest of beach bums embrace the cold. And you’re sure to find all of those grand cafés, museums, and thermal baths infinitely more welcoming after spending a few chilly hours exploring the city.
Celine Ylmz/Unsplash
Paris
Paris is always a good idea. During the winter, it's an even better idea—especially when you see how Parisians enjoy a snow day. The City of Light becomes especially dazzling with its twinkle lights on the Champs-Elysées and over-the-top Christmas displays at Galeries Lafayette. Most magical of all? The notorious lines to get into the Eiffel Tower and Louvre shrink to a fraction of their usual lengths. Just wear your chicest winter coat—it gets cold.

Tivoli/Lasse Salling
Copenhagen, Denmark
When you visit the birthplace of hygge (basically the Danish concept of “coziness”), you better believe your winter vacation is going to be inviting. That lovely feeling can be found throughout Copenhagen, from pastry shops to inviting hotels. Don’t feel like you have to stay indoors to enjoy the season, though. Those Michelin-starred restaurants, Tivoli Gardens, and canal views are certainly worth bundling up for. And is it just us, or do the buildings of Nyhavn look even more colorful against a snowy background?
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Ljubljana, Slovenia
Slovenia’s capital city is a real-life fairytale setting, come sunshine or snow flurries. Visit during December to see the Baroque architecture surrounded by Christmas lights; or dodge the crowds and book a trip after the holidays, when you’ll have tons of room to stroll the pedestrian-only Old Town and sip coffee by the riverside cafés. You can also add Lake Bled and the Julian Alps to your itinerary, as Ljubljana makes the perfect base for Slovenian day trips.

Courtesy Somerset House/Luke Dyson
London
Christmas in London has timeless appeal—chalk it up to the decorated Georgian townhouses, lively pubs, and a dash of Dickensian charm. But the winter months that bookend the holidays have their own charms, as well. Visitors can go ice skating at Somerset House, then warm up with some museum visits and afternoon teas. Be sure to slot out a couple of day trips to nearby cities like Cambridge and Bath, where you can admire the impossibly charming streets dusted in snow and hole up in even more cozy pubs.
Aiden Patrissi/Unsplash
Reykjavik, Iceland
Reykjavik is the northernmost country capital in the world—it doesn’t get much more wintry than that. A key souvenir, and the final reward of a must-do shopping experience, is a traditional wool Icelandic sweater (head to the Kolaportid Flea Market to snag one of your own). Other cold weather activities on offer include whale watching, bathing in geothermal pools (or traveling to the Instagrammable Blue Lagoon, a 40-minute drive away), and strolling by colorful houses and Viking sculptures, such as the notorious resemblance of Leif Erikson.

Bjorn Are With Andreassen/Unsplash
Tromsø, Norway
Located some 250 miles above the Arctic Circle, Tromsø is an idyllic home base for chasing the Northern Lights. (If you’re going to be freezing up in Scandinavia, you might as well get to cross an astronomical wonder off of your bucket list.) Even if you don’t get to peep the aurora, you can still enjoy the world’s northernmost botanical garden and the strikingly modern, glass-facade Arctic Cathedral.
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Salzburg, Austria
Classic Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, sits divided by the Salzach River: Its pedestrian Old City lines the left bank, and the (slightly) newer side is on the right. For a hotel stay involving gingerbread cookies, fluffy beds, and views of falling snow, look no further than Hotel Goldener Hirsch.

Jason Briscoe/Unsplash
Stockholm, Sweden
Northern Lights, check. Christmas markets in the heart of the Old Town, check. Cozy cafés and fika? Double check. Stockholm may get more travelers in the summer, but we'd argue it’s made to be experienced in the winter. Christmastime is the best time for a visit, when local restaurants offer traditional Christmas buffets called julbord—smorgasbords of cured fish, liver paté, sausage, cabbage, and more. If you’re looking to photograph the city frosted in snow, though, plan your trip for January or February.