Med Cruise in January?

[jc522]

We are considering Viking "Mediterranean Odyssey" in January, 2025. It goes from Venice to Barcelona. Looking at temperatures at that time, we are questioning if it will be too cold. Has anybody done a similar cruise at that time of year? Is it uncomfortably cold? Are a lot of the attractions, especially in the smaller cities, closed for the winter season?

[CruiserBruce]

"Too cold" and "uncomfortably cold" are very subjective situations. Some love the cold, grew up in cold climates, and aren't affected by the cold. Others, like me, HATE the cold.

[jc522]

Very true, but I was hoping for some pros and cons from people who had cruised there in the winter. The average January high temperature for the cities on the itinerary is 53F with Barcelona being the warmest at 58 and Venice the coldest at 47. I'd expect that there won't be the usual crowds of tourists, but I've cruised the Med during the shoulder season and many of the shops in the smaller towns were closed. What will it look like in the dead of winter? Other things to consider?

Edited June 20 by jc522

[alserrod]

12 hours ago, jc522 said:

We are considering Viking "Mediterranean Odyssey" in January, 2025. It goes from Venice to Barcelona. Looking at temperatures at that time, we are questioning if it will be too cold. Has anybody done a similar cruise at that time of year? Is it uncomfortably cold? Are a lot of the attractions, especially in the smaller cities, closed for the winter season?

 

I am sailing this week in Mediterranean. Weather is going to drop and, early summer, it will rain and temperatures will be low.

 

This is... hard to know.

 

I can remember this year early January was really cold in Barcelona, later (middle January and the rest of winter) it was really fine providing it was winter

 

[CCJack]

We have taken 3 Med cruises, 2 in Spring/Summer and 1 at the end of December.   Looking back, I think I enjoyed the December cruise the most.   Some days we had to wear fall / or light winter jackets, but some days not.   Everything was much less crowded.  A few things were closed (Portofino shops and restaurants as an example...  but we still went there and enjoyed the views with practically no one there.)    Most places were fully open, however.  Of course in the larger cities everything is open.

 

This is a personal preference, however, but I enjoyed the cooler temps and fewer crowds.

Edited June 20 by CCJack

[John Bull]

We wouldn't cruise the Med in January - it's chilly (even for a Brit), dull & often rainy.

One January we were in Andalucia, Spain. Unusual for that corner of Europe there was snow on the beaches.

And that's by far the most reliable part of Europe for weather

 

One October we sailed the eastern Med out of Istanbul. Weather was glorious for most of the cruise but turned cold & wet late in the cruise - on day one the Pool Deck was crowded, on the last day it was deserted.

Another October we sailed a gulet in the Adriatic, the owner's last cruise of the season. Glorious weather, then it turned stormy on the last day.

 

Many facilities for tourists (bars, restaurant, tourist shops etc) are closed for the winter and even more are closed in January in particular when owners take a break.

The January we were there we went on bar-crawls - with bar owners !! They took it in turns to host other bar owners and the few visitors.

Because of the ex-pat population and northern Europeans over-wintering there will be some places open in the very centre of some resorts

. .

The one saving grace is that city sight-seeing continues year round, much is indoors, and won't be crowded.

 

For Europeans wanting a pleasant winter weather the nearest places are the Canary Islands & the Red Sea. The Red Sea is currently a no-no because of the political situation.

 

Europe is ideal in the Spring (April/May) and the Fall (September into October)

 

JB 🙂

[Hlitner]

We have been on dozens of cruises in the Med, but never in the middle of winter.  The weather would obviously be "iffy" but the idea is fine for folks who love to cruise and do not put a lot of emphasis on warm weather.  Keep in mind that it has been known to snow in Rome, and one also might have an issue with the so-called Mistral winds, which can make a visit to parts of Europe (like the south of France) quite miserable.  

 

The only Viking cruise I found goes from Barcelona to Venice, and I do not see "closures" being a big problem on that itinerary.  It is the kind of thing DW and I would do, and would simply pack clothes for chilly/rainy weather.  One could probably get a decent air fare that time of the year.

 

Hank

[edinburgher]

20 hours ago, jc522 said:

Looking at temperatures at that time, we are questioning if it will be too cold.

Another consideration which nobody has so far mentioned are the number of daylight hours in January

 

Do check average sunrise and sunset times for all your ports as your daylight hours will probably be shorter than you may be used to.

 

And January is quite a dreary month as all the Christmas decorations and sparkly lights have been removed by then.

[marazul]

January = rainy and short days. 

[alserrod]

3 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Another consideration which nobody has so far mentioned are the number of daylight hours in January

 

Do check average sunrise and sunset times for all your ports as your daylight hours will probably be shorter than you may be used to.

 

And January is quite a dreary month as all the Christmas decorations and sparkly lights have been removed by then.

 

 

Yeah, but most of daylight hours are whilst you are in the port. 

It gets on night when arriving to the ship so it doesn't matter

[carolinetodd]

We cruised with Viking from Istanbul to Barcelona this past January/February.  For the most part, the weather was dry and mild, sometimes overcast, sometimes gorgeously sunny.  We had one blustery, windy, rain-mixed-with-snow day at Mycenae and Epidaurus, a rainy day in Ville-Franche-sur-Mer, and the mistral threatened to cancel a boat trip from Cassis.  For my taste, much preferable to fighting through crowds in the blazing heat to visit Pompeii or Troy in summer.