Thinking of taking my wife away for 3 or 4 nights for her Birthday at the end of this month. We’ve come up with a shortlist of places but I’ve been left to sort it out which is fair enough I suppose as it’s for her 30th.
Rome is the current favourite but probably the most expensive. Also on the list are Lisbon, Prague, Seville, Vienna and Budapest.

Where’s worth a visit in January? Are Prague/Vienna too cold?
We just want somewhere to wander about, take in some sights/culture and have some decent food and drink.
Any advice on where to stay would be greatly appreciated too.

Berlin

Ditto Berlin. Fantastic place.

Always fancied Berlin.

I used to work in and can recommend Budapest if you like thermal baths and the occasional castle – very picturesque in parts esp. in the snow.

Anywhere Eastern Europe will be “chilly”.

Went to Seville in the summer a couple of years ago. Not sure what it would be like in the winter.

Berlin, closely followed by Prague.

Both chilly but dry continental cold. Both amazing cities.

Barcelona is great in the winter – went there mid November this year, and late January 6 years ago.

Me and ‘er indoors went to Venice at this sort of time of year and I think it really added to the experience. Far less crowded and pongy than it is reputed to be in the summer. Also, I guess you can’t guarantee the same weather but we were treated to spectacular sunsets and marvellously atmospheric evenings with mist settling over the city and the lagoon every night.

Loads to see, it’s a real treasure trove of a place. Quite small, too – it’s a great city to explore on foot. Quite a tapas-y style of food culture there as well so you can graze away in loads of different places.

OP
Used a mixture of Lonely Planet and In your Pocket before we went.

As others have said,fantastic city and great mix of architecture.

Liked Berlin this time last year, but it was windy wet and cold.
Venice in Winter is lovely.

What about Marrakech? Loved that in February last year.

Me and ‘er indoors went to Venice at this sort of time of year and I think it really added to the experience. Far less crowded and pongy than it is reputed to be in the summer. Also, I guess you can’t guarantee the same weather but we were treated to spectacular sunsets and marvellously atmospheric evenings with mist settling over the city and the lagoon every night.

I’d echo that – went just before christmas a few years back and really enjoyed it, pretty chilly but that just encourages you to walk more. 3 to 4 days about the right amount of time to go there for too. Depends on what you want from a city though galleries and museum architecture and sight seeing are all great, but Venice lacks a bit of life, very few people actually live there so its a bit of a living museum, also not much of a shopping destination if thats your thing, and cuisine is a bit hit and miss all though better places are easier to spot in low season.

Marrakech and Budapest are good calls although I prefer Budapest in the summer. How about Reykjavik? 3-4 nights is not really enough but will give you a good taster and you’ll want to go back anyway. Berlin is on our list as is Tallinn.

Seville and Lisbon both fantastic cities, Seville probably a bit more romantic. Budapest is nice too, but not quite as nice and probably colder and defo with less good grub.

Berlin is great. Will be chilly but still great.

If you are going for four nights and want to do and see a lot of attractions, then Rome would be top of my list.
Seville is great but a lot smaller. I would find the other cities too cold at this time of year but each to their own.
Lisbon is massively overrated IMO.

Berlin is a really good place to visit, I spent New Year there last year.
It might be worth having a look at Reykjavik as you can get 3-4 nights stays there quick cheaply.