Europe this time of year!
I haven't been much around, but I really enjoyed being in Cadaques
off season couple of years ago. Mind you these places are off season now, so you will have the place mostly to yourself. The whole area is beautiful.
Cadaques:
Girona:
Might be a bit cold there now, but so will the rest of Europe.
Temps right now in F:
In the end It really depends what kind of journey you are looking for and what you expect. There is just so much to see. Every country has something to offer and you can't even cover 1 big city properly unless you have lots of time.
Besides, the weather will probably be atrocious!
Since it's this time of year I suggest you do a southern trip along the mediterranean. It would be horrible and very expensive in the tourist season, but now it should be very relaxed, and cheaper. You get better weather (still chilly though) and there are lots of non-summery attractions and history to see too. Besides you can get a mediterranean narrative/history from it!
I suggest starting in Valencia or Barcelona, traveling by bus and train along the coast, into France and Marseille, Nice, Genoa, either Milan or Turin until you get to Rome. You can end there, and stay forever, but if you have lots of time and money, fly to Athens, and check out Istanbul as well. Take a boat to Corsica or Sardinia.. Use the tripadvisor app aggressively when choosing restaurants and hotels! You will have great food, museums, history, great nature, and not freeze your ass off in ice-cold rain and snow like the rest of Europe is right now. It's not fun to travel in such conditions.
Take a northern hike next time, in the summer! Right now the European plain is just flat and rainy. If you love wintersports and snow, I guess the alps and northern countries can offer you extremely expensive skiing.. nice, but expensive as fuck.
(Then again, maybe I'm biased because I could really go somewhere warmer right now!)
Edit:
Read your first post again. Looks like you might be in for something cheaper than my proposed epic adventure!
It would arguably supply the best food possible though. Well Eastern Europe is cheap! The only Polish cities worth visiting are in order: Wroclaw, Krakow, and maybe Warsaw, but I don't like Warsaw.. Vilnius is also a beautiful town. Skip Slovakia. Prague is great, so is Vienna, and I heard, Budapest. If you feel daring, and want the hardcore Eastern Europe, as in not nice, but hardcore: Maybe Minsk?
(And since you are in the area, Berlin is an awesome city. )
hmm looking at the map here: Also.. the Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest axis is not bad. And perhaps more variation like that, in stead of scurrying around in a cold and dark Eastern Europe, or travelling along the mediterranean. Athens + Istanbul should also be good. Maybe mix in some Balkans.
