Best countries/places to visit during winter in europe in/around france and italy

Depends on your interests. Do you like skiing?

Croatia is cheap, though the ?customer service? ethos is perhaps
slightly ?undeveloped?. Slovenia is good, skiing and things.

France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, unless you like urban life, the
non-touristy places are a joy at any time. South of Spain is usually
quite mild with skiing in *The* Sierra Nevada.

Greece and the islands are best off-season too.

Scotland is drich, but it?s the only place for Hogmanay.

Best

well it depends what you like...but i must say eastern europe is just
wonderful in winter, from prague to gdansk in poland, it s just
terrific, you could try sweden too , you can walk on the lakes or
island. italy spain and france are just grey (like today in paris)
those countries are way netter in summer :) east europe is extremly
cheap for now, northern europe is expensive.

There are some good places to travel in winter in Italy (where I
live). Depends on your interests:

Art/Culture:
Rome (http://www.comune.roma.it/), Florence (http://www.firenze.net)
and Venice http://www.comune.venezia.it), Verona
(http://www.gardayou.com/ are rather nice.

Winter Sport:
You have Dolomites in which you can sky, or do some winter sports and
have a lot of SPAs. (http://www.dolomiti.com)

Water sports:
If you windsurf, kitesurf all year round in Lake Garda
(http://www.gardayou.com/), you'll find hotels and equipment.
(http://www.gardayou.com/accoactiv/windsurf.htm).
Golf:
Lots of beatiful golf courses around for all year
round.(http://www.gardayou.com/accoactiv/golf.htm).
Enogastronomical tours:
Valpolicella: (http://www.gardayou.com/accoarea/valpolicella.htm)

Hope this helped!