# Winter Getaway in Europe



## Jwerking (Jun 12, 2016)

Any recommended warm beach getaways in Europe from January to March?  We enjoy snorkeling, chilling on the beach, as well as easy to moderate hiking to enjoy beautiful natural sites.

My daughter is moving to the area around Frankfurt Germany to work for 3 yrs - so plan to visit Europe often while she is there.  We typically do an extended winter getaway in timeshares.  My research discloses lots of timeshares in the Canary Islands - where winter temps are about 60 to 70s - so not beach weather except on warm day.

If we do Canary Islands, should we island hop?  What are your favorite islands and is it easy to travel between the islands?

Any other locations with timeshares that may be relatively warm?

Thanks for any help.

Joyce


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## Jimster (Jun 12, 2016)

*Europe*

You are not going to find beach locations in Europe in January and Feb.   The Canary Islands are nice but in Feb it is still not beach weather except on rare days.  Spain (who owns the Canary Islands) is the same.


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## Pompey Family (Jun 12, 2016)

Jwerking said:


> Any recommended warm beach getaways in Europe from January to March?



There are none. Nowhere in Europe is warm enough for a beach holiday during those months. Even in June the Med is still too cold to swim in. 

Some of the more southern areas may be reasonably warm in March but not warm enough for the beach.


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## Pompey Family (Jun 12, 2016)

Jwerking said:


> Any recommended warm beach getaways in Europe from January to March?



There are none. Nowhere in Europe is warm enough for a beach holiday during those months. Even in June the Med is still too cold to swim in. 

Some of the more southern areas may be reasonably warm in March but not warm enough for the beach.

The Canary Islands are also not really a short hop from Germany, they're off the western coast of Africa with a flight time of 4 hr 45 min. Average fares for that period are around €550 with typical layovers of around 9 hours.


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## Passepartout (Jun 12, 2016)

We have been in Morocco in January, and while it may get above jacket weather in the afternoons, you would feel more comfortable in item earlier/later, and on the desert, when the sun goes down the temp drops fast.

You might find some acceptable beach activities in Greece, but the beaches are gravel, not sand. 

I would scrap the beach activities and go to Spain's Costa del Sol or Portugal's Algarve. Cheap, accessible, relatively safe.

Jim


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## Laurie (Jun 12, 2016)

For warmth in mid-winter, I'd choose Canary Islands. We've been 2x, and Lanzarote as well as Tenerife (northern, Puerto de la Cruz, albeit a bit cooler) were my personal favorites of the 4 we visited - as with Hawaii expect different opinions from everyone you ask. I'd island-hop, it's cheap.  Check monthly high & low averages, I think these are the warmest you'll find for "Europe".  There's some great hiking on both, dramatic landscapes, and some pretty beaches too. 

Love love love southern Portugal, and the entire country - in fact we just returned from a month-long trip to Portugal mid-April to mid-May, including 2 weeks in the Algarve.  For 2 of the 4 weeks it was not warm, in fact downright chilly - hats, gloves, rainy, windy, jackets, high's in the low to mid-50's at best. 

Liked southern Spain too as well as Mallorca and visited in May - but it happened to be chilly, daytime highs in the 50's.  Maybe it was our bad luck that year, but that's 2x on the Iberian peninsula in late spring.


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## Jwerking (Jun 13, 2016)

Thank you everyone for your comments - just as I expected that there is no where particularly warm in Europe.  Actually, we wintered in Florida this year and it was cool and windy.  We spent the entire month of January in an oceanfront timeshare in Jensen Beach (about 50 miles of West Palm) and did NOT have one good day during the entire month to sit on the beach itself. 

We are going back to Hawaii this year on the Big Island for Jan-Feb.  We enjoyed our winter there a few yrs ago - dependably warm.  I booked the Paniolo Greens for 8 wks thru RCI - it is a bit inland and up north, but what the heck, few BI timeshares are on the beach anyway - so what the heck, no moving required. 

Laurie, is the Canary Islands anyway similar to Hawaii?

Where did you stay in Portugal - any awesome hiking in Algarve area or other areas where there are timeshares?

We have been to Malaga - it was fine.  Loved the Alhambra in Granada.

I remember reading that you rented a car - because you mentioned the hot spot device.  What are the best bargains for LT car rentals there - yikes, lots of $$ for rentals. 

Thanks for any advice. 

Joyce


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## Laurie (Jun 14, 2016)

Jwerking said:


> We are going back to Hawaii this year on the Big Island for Jan-Feb.  We enjoyed our winter there a few yrs ago - dependably warm.  I booked the Paniolo Greens for 8 wks thru RCI - it is a bit inland and up north, but what the heck, few BI timeshares are on the beach anyway - so what the heck, no moving required.
> 
> Laurie, is the Canary Islands anyway similar to Hawaii?
> 
> ...


Lots of questions, as many answers.

Yes, IMO certain parts of Canary Islands are very similar to Hawaii - yet different. I love Hawaii, have been to Big Island 4x which I love (didn't enjoy Paniolo Greens as much though, but always loved staying in Kona and east coast warm ponds area, but yes you have quick access to A-Bay etc), and loved Maui. It's the volcanic color - black lava and sand, with the palm trees and flowers and beautiful skies. (I didn't like Kauai as much b/c no black lava.) 

So Lanzarote and Tenerife have volcanic landscape, black sand beaches and color and the amazing architecture and natural ecosites created by Cesar Manrique- google for some images. Stay away from south coast of Tenerife unless you want concrete developments, but it's sunny. Most of Lanzarote is beautiful, it's small, and you can ferry over to Fuerteventura along with the camels for fabulous dunes, sun, desert. Gran Canaria also has some beautiful areas but in the north, too far away & too much driving from the timeshares IMO.

Portugal: thru RCI we booked 2 timeshares in the Algarve - Monte Carvoeiro and Jardim do Vau - then spent a week (+ 2 days) w/private rentals driving north thru central Portugal up to the Douro Valley, Porto (one of the prettiest most interesting cities we have seen, ranks up there w/Prague), and Foz Coa for pre-reserved tours to paleolithic rock etchings that are 25,000 years old - then final week in timeshare in lovely seaside Cascais near Lisbon. So 3 timeshares in all.

Best hiking was cliffs and beaches along Algarve coast - 2 weeks wasn't too many and we didn't cover it all - but also beautiful walks in Douro region high above the river, and there was so much more we could have done in that month. Algarve is like the Utah national parks on and in the ocean: red, orange, yellow, white rock formations plunging down into blue and turquoise and green water, topped with beautiful foliage, flowers, shrubs, trees. When I scan thru my 2000+ photos I am still in awe. So much color and variety and history and dramatic scenery, and friendly people, and interesting discussions with both residents and other travelers. We don't speak Portuguese and found it easy to get around.

The rental car in Portugal was inexpensive too, only $400-something base rate for the entire 28 days. Our credit card covered insurance. We rented a 4-door economy (not the smallest, next one up) at EuropCar thru AutoEurope. First I booked at AutoEurope, then found something cheaper so reserved that. When I called AutoEurope to cancel, they agreed to beat the other rate by a dollar upon seeing my other reservation, so I did that b/c they have great customer service. Other charges & fees were about $100, plus the wifi for $75. Tolls ran a little over $100 for the month because it was so much faster to use the toll roads, they were almost empty b/c locals don't use them.  Car came with a gizmo for a minor rental fee allowing us drive thru tolls w/o stopping, then they charge your c.c. later - worth it. We did a *lot* of driving.

Other items were inexpensive compared to most everywhere else in Europe we have been, really really nice private rentals were in the $50-$75 night for 4-star waterfront hotels and 1-BR apartments and a 3-BR 4-BA whole house with kitchens (I used booking.com), restaurant meals and grocery costs were low too. Restaurants serve huge portions, 2 of us could often split a big meal for under $10 at dinner, and lunch even less.

Hope that helps. I booked Portugal because it was so available, and we'd already been most everywhere else on my timeshare go-to list, never expecting it to be that fabulous - I had overlooked and underestimated it all that time.  

Edited to add: One big diff between Canaries and Hawaii is we always enjoyed snorkeling in Hawaii, and Canaries don't offer that as far as I know.


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## Jimster (Jun 14, 2016)

*Canary Islands*

One thing you will find is that there is a wide variety of accommodations in the Canary Islands.  Some are very nice and others not so much.  Thus, I would be very careful in deciding what to book.  It is generally an easy trade for a TS as is most of Spain.  I think one of the nicer ones is the Anfi timeshares- they have several there.
Unlike Hawaii, the weather in the winter is not as warm or tropical.  However, these days with weather patterns which run the full gamut of temperatures, you never really Know what you will get.
I was in Rome several years ago during the first week of January and it was quite warm.  So you never really know.
For me one of the factors I consider when traveling to Europe is the price of the Euro.  When I went to Budapest in 2001, a Euro was going for $.89 but subsequently rose to over $1.60.  So I stayed out of Europe and instead went to Thailand four times.  The Baht is 35 to the dollar.  The Euro is now back down in price so I felt comfortable going to Oktoberfest last year.


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## Jwerking (Jun 14, 2016)

*Thank You*



Laurie said:


> The rental car in Portugal was inexpensive too, only $400-something base rate for the entire 28 days. Our credit card covered insurance. We rented a 4-door economy (not the smallest, next one up) at EuropCar thru AutoEurope...
> 
> Other items were inexpensive compared to most everywhere else in Europe we have been, really really nice private rentals were in the $50-$75 night for 4-star waterfront hotels and 1-BR apartments and a 3-BR 4-BA whole house with kitchens (I used booking.com), restaurant meals and grocery costs were low too. Restaurants serve huge portions, 2 of us could often split a big meal for under $10 at dinner, and lunch even less.
> 
> ...



Thank you so much for all the great info, Laurie, you are the best!  I am really excited about Portugal as it sounds like breathtaking scenery for hiking - one our favorite vacation past times in retirement.  We visited Banff and Jasper NPs in Canada for the second time this fall and finally challenged ourselves with all day hikes to the top of mountain peaks - a first for us.  We decided at the age of 65 that it may be now or never - LOL - we just took our time and took lots of rest breaks.  We did the hike up to the Teahouse at Lake Louise and it was truly awesome!

BTW, lots of cheap RCI getaways to that area in September - which is a great time to visit - just don't wait too late as it does snow.  Snowed at the mountain tops when we were there and had to be careful on the trail up to the Teahouse.  We booked a really nice 2 br getaway week in Canmore (about 45 min south of Banff/Lake Louise) for like $500 - much cheaper than an exchange.  Did a private VRBO rental to visit Jasper NP - but a must see if you are visiting that area.  

Wow, with regards to the rental car in Portugal, $400 for 28 days is unbelievable- did this include liability insurance coverage? I do understand that credit cards will provide collision coverage on rental cars, but not liability.  Unfortunately, our USAA car insurance does NOT provide coverage for rental cars outside the US - a bummer!  Does your car insurance provide coverage for overseas rental cars, if so, what company do you use?

Also, was your rental car a stick shift - we will need an automatic esp in a mountainous environment and auto can be pricey in Europe. 

We too are running out of places for timeshare vacations - as have visited most areas of interest.  So glad that you pointed out how awesome Portugal is - who would have known?  And even better that it is so REASONABLE -  it is a definite go.   Will research POrtugal more after I finish researching things to do on our planned European vacation this fall for 6 wks.  Leaving in mid-Sept for 2 wks in Paris, week in Venice, week in Rome, 4 days in Naples, week in Athens, and week in Istanbul - all private VRBO or AirBnb rental apts - no timeshares.   We will go from Istanbul to Germany to visit my daughter thru Thanksgiving and then return home for about a month before we go the the Big Island for Jan -Feb.  BTW, when we were there 3 winters ago, we got to snorkel with a pod of 50-70 dolphins at Three Steps - it was truly magical.  They are just hanging out in that bay and we snorkeled with them for hours - sometimes they actually got as close as 10 ft - wow, what a treat and it was FREE!

We are visiting Maui for about 10 days in early March after leaving the Big Island.  Booked us into an oceanfront 1 br unit at the Marriott Napili Towers for a week - yikes, it took a Mega amount of Destination Points to do so.  Used deposited Destination Points from two Gold 2 BR Marriott Barony weeks - the worst use of our Marriott timeshares ever.  So I better be able to sit on that balcony and see whales!

Hey, Laurie, I see you live in NC - we are neighbors - what city!  We moved to Va Beach about 1.5 yrs ago after working for the Feds for 35+ yrs in the Metro DC area.  So glad to be in Va Beach - where traffic is so much better.  We actually purchased a townhouse directly on the Chesapeake Bay - nice beach directly in front of the house.  But we are only here about half the year since we have been traveling about 6 months each year. 

Thanks again for all your help. 

Joyce


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## Jwerking (Jun 14, 2016)

Jimster said:


> When I went to Budapest in 2001, a Euro was going for $.89 but subsequently rose to over $1.60.  So I stayed out of Europe and instead went to Thailand four times.  The Baht is 35 to the dollar.  The Euro is now back down in price so I felt comfortable going to Oktoberfest last year.



Oh my gosh, at some point, a Euro was really only going for 89 cents.  We went to a family wedding in France about 10 yrs ago - maybe 8 or 9 yrs - and it costs $2+, maybe like $2.20 to purchase a Euro.  Worst time ever to go to Europe and cost mega bucks.  

We went to Thailand for the month of November during our 5 month retirement trip about 4 yrs ago.  Spent a week at the Marriott timeshare in Bangkok,  2 weeks at the Marriott Phuket TS, and then a week in Chiang Mai.  It was really hot in Bangkok - don't do well in that kind of heat and hot and sticky on the beaches of Phuket.  Really enjoyed seeing the historical sites in Bangkok as well as riding the elephants and petting the tigers in Chiang Mai.  But don't know if I would ever return. 

As part of this trip, we continued on to New Zealand for two months and absolutely loved it.  Was able to spend about a month in various timeshare resorts both on the North and South Islands and then did a 3 wk road trip of the South Island.  What magnificent scenary - it was absolutely amazing!  WOuld love to return one day - to both NZ and Australia - love the great outdoors.  Talk about the best snorkeling - the Great Barrier Reef was absolutely the best.  But such a long trip - hmm, is it closer to Europe?


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## Laurie (Jun 15, 2016)

Joyce, the rental car in Portugal did include liability, and our AA Citi AmEx covered collision etc. as should most US cc's. The rate was originally $570 but adjusted down to $457 after I found the same car for that much less. It was a manual so automatics may be more but Portugal isn't really mountainous, tho quite hilly. (We always get manuals when possible even in mountains -except when we have to drive on the left.  )

We love easy to moderate hiking too, similar ages to you. Actually you might also consider Madeira to go with some Portugal time, cheap flights right out of Lisbon - we went over New Years one year, weather was warm. Great hiking, some stunning scenery, and mostly easy because you are walking along the levadas i.e. irrigation ditches which have such a gentle grade, it's almost imperceptible, but you are looking at dramatic, steep mountain drop-offs. We did this mostly on our own, plus one guided walk. Very nice and readily available timeshares in the interesting and pretty little city of Funchal, mostly run by Pestana who now operate the national pousadas in Portugal. Funchal also may have the best fireworks in Europe on NYE.

And btw there are some great guided hikes on Tenerife, we did one with a British guide, many british ex-pats on the island.

We loved Banff too, exchanged into Banff Rocky Mt Resort in the park one July. We didn't get to the tea house, it was pouring at Lake Louise. We had snow on the way up to Jasper which we did only as a day trip to ride the snowcat on the glacier and got as far as Athabasca Falls - not all the way up. We did one hike in Canmore up to Grassi Lakes and a bit beyond. I would love to go back and will keep September in mind for the future.

New Zealand has been on my wish list too, both islands - but always hesitate because of the flight time which gets harder and harder. Then there's Asia, and Africa... same issue. And one of my dreams is Patagonia.

Next summer: we go back to Switzerland for the second time, hiker's paradise. I'm having sticker shock b/c accommodation rates are 4x as high as Portugal. We have 2 TS weeks, + need 1.5 weeks private rentals.

Don't overlook the Italian Alps for hiking, we have been 2x and again - stunning. Actually Merano was pretty warm last week of October w/beautiful fall colors, it's a micro-climate of some sort. Also we've loved hiking in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Lake District.

It sounds like you have done great travels - a 5-month trip, and six months travel every year now oh my, how wonderful - with more to come.

Oh, one more thing - we are in the triangle area of NC, Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill. And we go to HHI a fair bit, I see you have a TS there. Do you use yours or trade?


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## Jwerking (Jun 15, 2016)

Laurie said:


> Oh, one more thing - we are in the triangle area of NC, Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill. And we go to HHI a fair bit, I see you have a TS there. Do you use yours or trade?



Hi Laurie:

Once again, thank you so much for all the hiking info - I am copying it into my Europe folder for reference and timeshare planning - wow, the Alps for hiking, can't wait!  It will be like the Canadian Rockies - truly breathtaking.  It is hardly worth wasting our time in the Appalachians close to home - LOL!  

Triangle area - my daughter graduated from Carolina with a Journalism major - great program there and she got great summer internships with major newspapers.  She worked for the Washington Post (we lived in DC Metro), the LA Times, and the Boston Globe.  Ended up getting a job with the Milwaukee newspaper - where she worked for about two yrs then got an offer for her dream job with the LA Times.  But she had met her hubby by then in Milwaukee and passed on the dream job in favor of love!  Of course, newspapers are no more - so she now works for an online investigative publication out of CA - full time telecommuter.  Anyway, we visited Chapel Hill frequently when she was at Carolina and enjoyed the area. 

You only own 2 timeshares?  We own 6 weeks of which 3 wks are Marriott weeks with huge maintenance fees.  Since 4 of the 6 weeks are 2 br lockoffs, we actually deposit 10 weeks  - 6 wks with RCI and 4 wks with II. 

Four of our 6 timeshare weeks are in HHI - as we loved to go there when the kids were younger.  But we mostly have just traded them over the years when the kids reached about 10 yr old.  Those summer HHI weeks use to trade like gold in the days before TPUs with RCI  - I could get anything I wanted.  We even traded into the Allen House one time in the summer - that was indeed a wonderful resort right in London.  Also, traded the following week for the Royal Regency in Paris - but it was on the outskirts of the city. 

I should not be greedy, but our RCI trades now are no where like they were in the good old days.  We lock off and get 32 TPUs for the 1 br side and 27 TPUs for the studio side.  Still a good bang for our maintenence fee of about $900.  THe problem is that 32 and 27 TPUs is not always enough to get a really high demand week.  Paniolo Greens only required about 27-30 TPUs - thus that is why I booked 2 months from Jan to Feb.   Last time, we had the month of January at the Wyndham Mauna Loa in Kona - convenient  location but no beach - so still had to hope in a car. 

We have been returning to HHI in the spring after retirement - do love the island and we really enjoy the bike riding along the beach and the paths within the Planatations - esp Sea Pines.  We have traded our lockoff Marriott weeks for the Marriot Monarch in Sea Pines several times in the SPring and it is the best resort.  We get a 2 br and it is directly on the beach - great trades!  

Often times, the RCI Getaways are cheaper than trading our weeks and they are often plentiful during shoulder season and surprisingly even during prime weeks.  As part of our trip West last yr, we rented Getaways in August at the Pacific Shores Resort at Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island  - great resort and lots of natural beauty to enjoy on the area - it was under $500 for a 1 br.  We had visited this resort previously also on a Getaway - go figure why they are renting weeks for $500 in late August?

So here was the itinerary for that trip:  Flew to Seattle - headed south to Oregon and visited the coast for a few days, then south west for 2 days in Crater Lake NP, and back up North for a few days visiting Columbia River Gorge area.  We then returned to Seattle and met up with my cousin and his wife (our timeshare traveling partners).  Took the car ferry over to Vancouver Island for a week at the Pacific Shores timeshare.  Returned to Port Angeles WA via ferry and visited Olympic NP for a few days and then east for a few days at Mt Rainier NP ( all VRBO rentals).  All these areas had magnificent hiking opportunities with views to die for - wish we had time to spend a week at each NP!

We then drove east for a timeshare week in Idaho - close to Couer d'elane.  While the lake is beautiful, would not return to this area.  Then north to Banff and Jasper for 2 weeks.  We then drove back to Seattle to drop off the car and fly home.  It was a full day's drive - like 12 to 13 hrs but doable to save a huge dropoff fee in Canada for the rental car.  We Loved this trip and would highly recommend it - very doable.


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## isisdave (Aug 18, 2016)

Don't forget that winter is peak season in southern Europe and the Canary Islands. Even if YOU don't think it's warm, people who live in northern Europe think it's a lot better than shoveling snow, so there'll be a few hundred thousand Finns, Norwegians, or Brits, depending on you chosen sun-spot, sharing the space with you.

Plan and reserve ahead!


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