A while ago, I turned 26. To be honest, I was so not looking forward being 26 because a lot of things in traveling get more expensive when you are 26, starting from train tickets to flight tickets, hostels to entrance fees, and so on. They do not consider you as “youth” anymore. I feel it’s not really fair coz prices go up for me yet I don’t get an increase in my salary :p
Anyway, I have been in Europe for 4.5 years. I am going to list almost all the European cities and towns that I have been before I turned 26 and I will give them a rating from * (worst) to ***** (best) when compared to the cities/towns in the same category. I divided them to five different categories based on population:
XL [>700,000]
Vienna, Austria *****
Paris, France *****
Rome, Italy *****
Prague, Czech ****
Budapest, Hungary ****
Barcelona, Spain ****
Stockholm, Sweden ****
Brussels, Belgium ***
Berlin, Germany ***
Munich, Germany ***
Marseille, France **
Cologne, Germany **
Riga, Latvia **
Amsterdam, Netherlands **
Milan, Italy *
Naples, Italy * (Absolute crap! do not go there, I repeat, do not go there!!)
L [350,000 – 700,000]
Copenhagen, Denmark *****
Lisbon, Portugal *****
Palma, Spain *****
Tallinn, Estonia ****
Helsinki, Finland ****
Dresden, Germany ****
Zurich, Switzerland ****
Lyon, France ***
Florence, Italy ***
Bremen, Germany ***
Stuttgart, Germany ***
The Hague, Netherlands ***
Gdansk, Poland ***
Antwerp, Belgium **
Toulouse, France **
Frankfurt, Germany **
Nuremberg, Germany **
Bologna, Italy **
Vilnius, Lithuania **
Rotterdam, Netherlands **
Oslo, Norway **
Dortmund, Germany *
Bratislava, Slovakia *
Gothenburg, Sweden *
M [100,000 – 350,000]
Nice, France *****
Heidelberg, Germany *****
Venice, Italy *****
Bern, Switzerland *****
Bruges, Belgium ****
Ghent, Belgium ****
Mulhouse, France ****
Strasbourg, France ****
Potsdam, Germany ****
Parma, Italy ****
Geneva, Switzerland ****
Amiens, France ***
Caen, France ***
Dijon, France ***
Lille, France ***
Nimes, France ***
Ulm, Germany ***
Ferrara, Italy ***
Rimini, Italy ***
Verona, Italy ***
Leiden, Netherlands ***
Bergen, Norway ***
Porto, Portugal ***
Ljubljana, Slovenia ***
Uppsala, Sweden ***
Basel, Switzerland ***
Lausanne, Switzerland ***
Graz, Austria **
Salzburg, Austria **
Besancon, France **
Karlsruhe, Germany **
Mannheim, Germany **
Wurzburg, Germany **
Ravenna, Italy **
Salerno, Italy **
Groningen, Netherlands **
Utrecht, Netherlands **
Gdynia, Poland **
Orebro, Sweden **
Liege, Belgium *
Tampere, Finland *
Ludwigshafen, Germany *
Oldenburg, Germany *
Saarbrucken, Germany *
Enschede, Netherlands *
Tilburg, Netherlands *
S [10,000 – 100,000]
Avignon, France *****
Carcasonne, France *****
Colmar, France *****
Capri, Italy *****
Sintra, Portugal *****
Lucerne, Switzerland *****
Kutna Hora, Czech ****
Hillerod, Denmark ****
Rothenburg, Germany ****
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg ****
Sopot, Poland ****
Cascais, Portugal ****
Segovia, Spain ****
Soller, Spain ****
Toledo, Spain ****
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland ****
Andorra la Vella, Andorra ***
Bayeux, France ***
Lourdes, France ***
Baden-Baden, Germany ***
Bamberg, Germany ***
Constance, Germany ***
Pisa, Italy ***
Siena, Italy ***
Delft, Netherlands ***
Aveiro, Portugal ***
Coimbra, Portugal ***
Neuchatel, Switzerland ***
Vevey, Switzerland ***
Carlsbad, Czech **
Beaune, France **
Como, Italy **
Lucca, Italy **
Maastricht, Netherlands **
Malbork, Poland **
Montreux, Switzerland **
Arles, Italy *
Leeuwarden, Netherlands *
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland *
XS [<10,000]
Hohenschwangau, Germany *****
Monte Carlo, Monaco *****
Flåm, Norway *****
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland *****
Meiringen, Switzerland *****
Eze, France ****
Positano, Italy ****
Ravello, Italy ****
Vernazza, Italy ****
Giethoorn, Netherlands ****
Divaca, Slovenia ****
Valldemossa, Spain ****
Sankt Moritz, Switzerland ****
Vatican City, Vatican ****
Chenonceaux, France ***
Mont Saint Michel, France ***
Amalfi, Italy ***
Monterosso al Mare, Italy ***
Riomaggiore, Italy ***
Trakai, Lithuania ***
Hindeloopen, Netherlands ***
Batalha, Portugal ***
San Marino, San Marino ***
Interlaken, Switzerland ***
Melk, Austria **
Manarola, Italy **
Vaduz, Liechtenstein **
Sloten, Netherlands **
Buchs, Switzerland *
This rating is based on both objectivity and subjectivity. I did not include the cities that I have spent too little time to judge them better. Enjoy and hopefully this can be useful in planning your next trip in this magical continent of Europe.
in the train from Groningen – Utrecht
15 April 2010
Kontributor
Mackenzie Hadi