Crisp, fresh air that makes you feel more alive with each mouthful. Ducking into cosy cafes to warm your hands around a mug of coffee while you figure out where to go next. Smaller crowds, cheaper prices, and best of all, no feeling as though you’re going to drown in your own sweat while you lug your overstuffed backpack around a city’s bustling streets, swearing that next time you’ll pack lighter.
In January 2020, right before lockdown started in the UK, I flew to Venice with one of my best friends. This was a new experience for me in several ways: first time visiting Italy, and first time going abroad without adult supervision. This was an adventure in itself (particularly when we realised how cheap boxed white wine is in Italy), but the most magical part of all was the fact that we flew in the dead of winter.
The canals were partially obscured by the fog that descended from the gloomy grey skies, creating an atmosphere so at odds with what I knew of Venice. Every picture I’d seen boasted the city’s dazzling turquoise waters and buzzing streets, filled with tourists snacking on ice cream and pastries. Our trip was quiet, peaceful, and made us feel like the city was ours for a few days. I went back to Venice in September 2023, and was still just as in love with it as the first time around, but navigating packed alleyways and standing in huge queues in soaring temperatures was a very different experience. The warm weather allowed us to do things that wouldn’t have been the same in colder conditions, like a gondola ride through the canals, so it’s not as though travelling in the summer is all bad.
Lockdown hit and I didn’t really travel again until I went interrailing around Europe in the summer of 2022. Then, in January 2023, my boyfriend and I boarded a very early morning flight from Birmingham International to Stockholm, the trip that solidified my love for winter travelling. We stayed in a hostel in Norrmalm for four nights, each morning bundling up in at least five layers and walking 20,000 steps around the city, marvelling at its beauty in the freezing cold. Our highlights were a boat tour around the archipelago that delved into Stockholm’s human and geographical history, and a trip to Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum, where we were amongst only a handful of other visitors. The city felt so quiet and peaceful, similar to how Venice had felt to me almost exactly two years ago, as though we had unlocked a secret side of it that not many people get to see. It was icy cold and we were exhausted by the end of the trip, but I felt more refreshed and excited to travel again than I do after a summer holiday. We were lucky to have relatively blue skies throughout our trip, offering us beautiful sunsets and some respite from the merciless English winter rain.
In January 2024, I flew to New York for the first time. I had never been to the United States before this trip, and I spent the weeks leading up to our departure watching every available vlog and TikTok on the Internet, feeling like a little kid on Christmas Eve. Stepping out of the subway station and into Times Square is a feeling that I will never ever forget; the rush of being in a place I’d only ever seen in films and TV, the buzz of being around so many people, and the bright lights from all of the advertisements all combined in that moment to bring me out of my fuzzy long haul flight-induced sleepiness.
Strolling around Manhattan in winter in our hats and scarves, sipping oat lattes and munching on cookies from Levain Bakery, brought me a feeling of joy and contentment that only comes once in a while. New York was still busy and buzzing with life, but the city felt more like it was ours for the week to explore at our own pace.
Travelling in winter can often be dreary and freezing cold, but watching snowflakes fall on the Upper West Side of Manhattan from a hostel dorm or exploring the winding canals of Venice in utter silence are the kind of moments that make it unbeatable.