Costs
Expenses here (and getting across the Atlantic) follow the very traditional pattern of high season in summer, low in winter, with shoulder seasons in spring and fall. The exceptions, as always, involve winter sports, where, in the Alpine regions and their sister areas, there are two high seasons, winter being added on to summer. In those areas, there is no real low season, the shoulders of spring and fall remaining as is.
Weather
Americans tend to forget that most of Europe is north of the United States, the moderate weather there being due to the influence of the warm Gulf Stream (there are even palm trees in southwestern England!). Temperature extremes are less in Western Europe than in the continental US, and the Mediterranean area resemble the southeastern US in its range of highs and lows.
Northern Europe--Mid May through mid September is the best time to go, and the most expensive. In the British Isles, the absolute best months in terms of having little to no rainfall are July, August and September. On the continent, the average summer temperature is 67°F, the driest months February through May. Winter here sees average temperatures of about 40°F. Scandinavia in June is sheer heaven, with temperatures in the 50s even above the Arctic Circle, the 70s elsewhere.
Southern Europe--The warmest times are the best to visit here, from mid April in Greece (mid May elsewhere) to mid October (late October in Greece). Temperatures are likely to be in the 80s, especially in Spain, Italy and Greece. Portugal, always an exception, suffers from rainy weather almost year round, especially on the coasts, the temperature ranging in summer from 50°F to 75°F.
Eastern Europe--Throughout this region, the months of May and June can be rainy, but July through September is best. The good weather continues up through October along the Black Sea coast. From December through April, you can enjoy skiing at resorts in the Carpathian mountains and a few other spots.
Activities
Summarizing the myriad of outdoor activities in Europe is nearly impossible, but here are just a few: canal boating, bicycling, hiking, barge cruising, tours of gardens, canyoning, mountaineering, climbing, canoeing and kayaking, etc. Indoors and outdoors, there are the great sites to be seen, including Westminster Abbey, the Louvre, the Reichstag, the Uffizi Galleries, and many more. Indoors, there are hundreds of impressive cathedrals and dozens of important museums to be looked at, as well as thousands of art galleries on this culturally aware continent. You can't miss Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate, the Coliseum, the Prado Museum in Madrid, or the Parthenon, to mention just a few highlights. You could spend all your vacations for the rest of your life visiting Europe and you would still have touched only the surface, as pleasing as that might be, anyhow.
