Compare 576 Travel Destinations

Colmar is the Alsace capital of half-timbered fairy-tale architecture — a town that survived both World Wars almost entirely intact, with the Petite Venise canal district, the Maison Pfister (1537, said to have inspired Howl's Moving Castle), and the Unterlinden Museum's Isenheim Altarpiece (Grünewald, 1515 — one of the great works of Northern Renaissance painting). It anchors the Alsace Wine Route (170 km of Riesling and Gewürztraminer producers between Strasbourg and Mulhouse), throws one of the four or five best Christmas markets in Europe across six themed plazas in December, and sits exactly on the German border zone — German and French street signs share equal billing in the old town.

Germany's fourth-largest city wraps around a 157-metre Gothic cathedral that took 632 years to finish and now anchors a UNESCO-listed Altstadt. Cross the Hohenzollernbrücke past its 500,000 love locks, drink Kölsch from skinny 200ml glasses in Brauhauses where moustachioed Köbes waiters keep refilling until you cap the glass with a beer mat, and time your visit for Karneval in February when the Rhineland's defining party shuts the city for a week. Roman Cologne, medieval Cologne, post-war reconstruction Cologne — all packed into 1,800 walkable years.

Copenhagen is Scandinavian cool distilled — colorful Nyhavn waterfront, world-leading restaurants (Noma, Geranium), cutting-edge design, and a cycling culture that puts everywhere else to shame. The city pioneered hygge and it shows: cozy cafes, canal-side hangouts, and a relaxed vibe despite being a serious foodie destination.

Córdoba was the largest city in Europe in the 10th century — a 500,000-person caliphate capital with paved streets, public lighting, and the largest library west of Baghdad. The Mezquita-Catedral is the surviving wonder: 856 red-and-white horseshoe arches in a forest under a cathedral nave that the Christians dropped into the centre after 1236. The Judería (Jewish Quarter) keeps one of three pre-expulsion synagogues left in Spain; the Roman bridge crosses the Guadalquivir under the Calahorra Tower; the Patios festival in early May opens private flower-stuffed courtyards across the old city. Twenty kilometres west, Medina Azahara — the lost caliphal palace-city — is a UNESCO archaeological site since 2018.

Ireland's second city sits on an island in the River Lee, with the covered English Market (open since 1788) at its centre and the steep Victorian streets of Shandon climbing the hill above. Cork is the gateway to the south-west — Blarney Castle (and its kissable stone) is 8 km north, the deep-water Titanic departure port of Cobh is 25 minutes by commuter rail, and the Wild Atlantic Way begins on the Beara and Mizen peninsulas an hour west. Murphy's and Beamish stouts are brewed here; Jameson's original distillery is 25 km east in Midleton.

Delft is a small canal town wedged between Rotterdam and The Hague, and it punches well above its size: this is Vermeer's birthplace, the home of Royal Delft pottery (still hand-painting blue-and-white ceramics in the same factory since 1653), and the resting place of William the Silent in the Nieuwe Kerk on the Markt. The leaning tower of the Oude Kerk shelters Vermeer's grave. The whole historic core is walkable in an afternoon, but the cafes around Beestenmarkt make you want to stay longer. Twenty-five minutes by train from Amsterdam-Zuid.

A scattered fishing village of 200 people in north County Clare with a global reputation for traditional Irish music — three pubs (Gus O'Connor's, McGann's, and McDermott's) host nightly trad sessions that musicians fly in from across Europe to attend. Doolin sits on the Wild Atlantic Way 6 km north of the Cliffs of Moher (reachable on foot via the cliff walk) and is the closest mainland departure point for the three Aran Islands — Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, and Inis Oírr — by ferry from Doolin Pier. The Burren limestone plateau begins at the village edge.

Saxony's Baroque jewel rebuilt itself from rubble — the February 1945 firebombing flattened the Altstadt and the Frauenkirche stood as a black mound for 49 years until reunification funded an 11-year, $200 million reconstruction completed in 2005. Today the sandstone dome glows again over the Neumarkt, the Zwinger's pavilions enclose orange trees behind sgraffito walls, and the Semperoper stages opera in the same hall Wagner once conducted. Cross the Augustus Bridge into Neustadt for tattoo parlours and craft beer bars that lean hard into the city's eastern, post-Wende identity.

Dublin punches well above its weight — a compact, walkable city with world-class pubs, a legendary literary heritage (Joyce, Beckett, Wilde), and some of the friendliest people you'll meet. The Guinness Storehouse, Temple Bar, and Trinity College's Book of Kells are must-sees, but the real magic is in the conversation at a local pub.

Dubrovnik's walled old town is one of Europe's most stunning medieval cities — limestone streets, terracotta rooftops, and the Adriatic glittering below. Walk the famous city walls, take the cable car to Mount Srd, and island-hop to Lokrum and the Elafiti Islands. Game of Thrones put it on the map, but the city has been captivating visitors for centuries.

Edinburgh is a city of two halves — the medieval Old Town cascading down from the Castle to Holyrood, and the elegant Georgian New Town below. The world's largest arts festival (the Fringe) takes over every August, Harry Potter was born in its cafes, and Arthur's Seat offers a proper hike without leaving the city limits.

A baroque town of 53,000 in northern Hungary that punches above its weight: Eger Castle, where Captain István Dobó and 2,000 defenders held off a 40,000-strong Ottoman army in 1552; a 40-metre minaret left from 91 years of later Turkish rule, the northernmost in Europe; and the Szépasszony-völgy (Valley of the Beautiful Women) just outside town, where a horseshoe of 50-plus rock-cut wine cellars pours Egri Bikávér (Bull's Blood) for the price of a coffee. Two hours east of Budapest by train, an easy weekend with cobbled streets, the country's second-largest basilica, and Habsburg-era thermal baths.

The walled UNESCO capital of the Alentejo, an hour and a half east of Lisbon by bus or train through cork-oak plains and olive groves. The Roman Temple of Diana from the 1st century stands almost intact in the upper square; the Cathedral of Evora, the Aqueduto da Agua de Prata, and the macabre Capela dos Ossos with its walls lined in 5,000 monk skeletons all sit within ten walking minutes of each other. The countryside around it holds more than 100 working wineries: Esporao, Cartuxa, and Mouchao among them, all open for tastings and lunch.

A Lycian harbour town of 170,000 wrapped around a sheltered bay, with the famous Blue Lagoon at Ölüdeniz 14 km south — the photo of paragliders launching off Mount Babadağ (1,969 m) toward the turquoise lagoon is one of Turkey's most-shared images. Fethiye itself anchors the western Lycian Way trail, the 12-island gulet cruise route, and access to Saklıkent Gorge, the rock-cut Tomb of Amyntas, and the abandoned Greek ghost village of Kayaköy. The eastern Mediterranean's most accomplished sailing base, with Göcek Bay's six 5-star marinas just 25 km west.

The birthplace of the Renaissance is an open-air museum — the Duomo, the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David, and the Ponte Vecchio are just the start. Florence rewards slow exploration of its neighborhoods, from the artisan workshops of the Oltrarno to the markets of San Lorenzo. The Tuscan food and Chianti wine are unforgettable.

Germany's only true skyline city — home to the European Central Bank and a financial district nicknamed Mainhattan that puts a dozen 200-metre-plus towers along the Main River. The flip side sits across the river in Sachsenhausen, where Apfelwein taverns serve cloudy fermented apple wine in ribbed Geripptes glasses with handkerchief-pattern Bembel jugs. Römerberg square holds the half-timbered city hall, the Goethe House recreates the writer's birthplace room by room, and FRA airport pushes 65 million passengers a year through Europe's third-busiest hub — most travellers' first or last German city.

Ireland's festival capital and gateway to the wild west — the Latin Quarter and Shop Street have been a trading hub since the 14th century. The Aran Islands (Inis Mór's Dún Aonghasa cliff fort is 3,500 years old) are 45 minutes by ferry. Connemara's mountains and Kylemore Abbey are an hour's drive. The Crane Bar has hosted traditional music every night for decades.

The great Hanseatic port at the mouth of the Vistula — narrow Dutch-gabled merchants' houses crowd the Long Market (Długi Targ) under Neptune's Fountain, and the brick crane (Żuraw) still squats on the Motława waterfront where ships once loaded amber and grain. Almost everything you see was rebuilt brick-by-brick after 1945 (the Old Town was 90% flattened). The European Solidarity Centre at the old Lenin Shipyard tells the story of how Poland's 1980 strikes brought down the Eastern Bloc; Westerplatte, where WWII began on 1 September 1939, is a tram ride away. Sopot's pier and Baltic beaches sit 20 minutes north on the SKM commuter train.

Switzerland's French-speaking diplomatic capital on the western tip of Lake Geneva, home to the UN's European headquarters, the Red Cross, the WHO, the WTO, and roughly 40 percent of Geneva's residents being foreign nationals. The 140 m Jet d'Eau plumes from the lake's edge as the city's signature image, the medieval Old Town climbs to St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached, and CERN sits 8 km west on the French border. Expensive even by Swiss standards, with a watch-and-chocolate shopping district that rivals Zurich's.

Belgium's best-kept secret — a medieval canal city with Gravensteen castle, the Ghent Altarpiece masterpiece, a thriving student scene, and all the beer and chocolate you'd expect, minus the Bruges crowds.

Sweden's second city and largest port, founded by Dutch engineers in 1621 and still organised around their canal grid — a working harbour with a softer, friendlier feel than Stockholm, plus the country's best concentration of fish-market food, the wooden-house quarter of Haga, and Liseberg, the largest amusement park in Scandinavia. The Volvo and SKF factories anchor a strong industrial economy, but the visitor draws are the Feskekorka fish-market church on the canal, fika in the wooden cafes of Haga, and a half-day's boat hop to the car-free islands of the southern archipelago. Direct SJ high-speed trains reach Stockholm in 3 hours and Copenhagen in 3 hours 30.

The Alhambra is the most visited monument in Spain — and justifiably so. The 14th-century Nasrid Palace complex, with its Generalife gardens cascading down the hillside above the whitewashed Albayzín quarter (both UNESCO), represents the pinnacle of Islamic art in the West. Granada was the last Moorish kingdom in Europe, falling to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, the same year Columbus sailed. One more gift: Granada is one of the last Spanish cities where tapas are still served free with every drink.

Hallstatt is the postcard — a single 800-person village clinging to a sliver of land between Lake Hallstatt and the vertical Salzberg, with pastel houses stacked five-deep and a Lutheran church spire rising over a wooden boathouse for the photograph everyone has already seen. The salt mine above the village has been operated continuously for 7,000 years (the oldest active mine in the world), the Iron Age Hallstatt culture is named after this exact valley, and the entire Salzkammergut region is UNESCO listed. The trick is that 10,000 day-trippers arrive between 11:00 and 15:00 and the village empties by 17:00 — so stay overnight, walk at dawn, and you have one of Europe's most beautiful places almost to yourself.

Germany's second-largest city and largest port — a Hanseatic League trading capital that has more bridges than Venice, Amsterdam, and London combined, with Europe's largest contiguous warehouse complex (the UNESCO Speicherstadt) and the wave-roofed €866M Elbphilharmonie concert hall on top of an old harbour warehouse. The Reeperbahn in St. Pauli is Europe's most famous red-light district where The Beatles played 281 nights 1960–1962, the Sunday Fischmarkt has been operating for 320 years (05:00–09:30, with a live band), and the Inner and Outer Alster lakes give central Hamburg a sailing-club energy unique among major European cities.