My favorite part of traveling is wandering up and down cute streets! Think colorful houses, cute restaurants and people to watch, and little details to see around every corner. My favorite places have been: Old Town Edinburgh, The Marais and Montmartre in Paris, Amsterdam wandering in and out of the less touristy canal streets, and the cutest Mews in London where our Airbnb was.
Where else should I go if I like these things?!
Cordoba, Toledo, Venice?
Bruges, Barcelona
hey hey
lake annecy
bardolino and peschara de garda and other small villages on lake garda
venice and burano
frascati, countryside village 30 minutes by train from rome
aloha
Tkalčićeva Street in Zagreb.
Seven Dials in London, especially around Christmas!
If you like Jugendstil/art nouveau architecture: Riga, Latvia
Some favorites: Burano, Cesky Krumlov, Ljubljana, Amsterdam, Venice, Budapest, Old Town Prague, Vernazza, Vienna, Barcelona, Le Marais, Montmartre, Ortigia, Ragusa & Modica.
Spittelberggasse and Kurrentgasse in Vienna.
Well, for the old town interesting, though of course moderately tourist-known, there are places like
Bruges
Bremen
Lübeck
Prague
And so many more!
Here in Hamburg there is not much old town, but plenty of colourful and interesting--particularly in the Sternschanze and Karoviertel neighbourhoods (more like the aforementioned Seven Dials in London). If neat graffiti or leftist squatters count, that is! These areas are only minimally touristy and very interesting. The Deichstraße in Hamburg is also neat--especially if you duck between the buildings and see it from the canal.
And of course countless small towns. Around here there are places like Stade, Jork, and Glückstadt. Further afield here are the towns like Wismar and Warnemünde. I am sure others here can name any number of places that might fit your needs.
Places like Trounce and Fan Tan Alleys in Chinatown in Victoria BC. In fact the Chinatown area generally in Victoria.
Ahrweiler in Germany after the flood damage repairs are complete 2 or 3 years from now.
Gengenbach in the Black Forest.
Braunfels near Frankfurt. Idstein nearby there. Many villages and towns on the half timbered route (Fachwerkstraße).
Erice, Sicily
Mazara del Vallo (the kasbah neighborhood), Sicily
Orvieto, Umbria
Not in Europe, but you can't go wrong on any street in Lower Town Quebec City. One of my favourite views is from Rue du Cul-de-Sac as you stand below a canopy of colourful umbrellas and look up to the Chateau Frontenac. Acorn Street in Boston comes to mind as well with its cobblestone street. 7 Dials in London was mentioned previously, now I'm intrigued how it looks at Christmas.
I think you will find them wherever you visit in Europe! A few come to mind: Italy: Spello, Montefalco, Bevagna in Umbria, The Netherlands:Leiden, Delft, Spain: Cudillero in Asturias, Guimares in Portugal, Hondarribia in Basque region,
France: Senlis, Chablis, Ramateulle, .
There are lists of charming towns and books focusing on your quest. Google “Charming towns of France”( replace with other countries names) that will give you what you are looking for.
Lüneburg, Germany (near Hamburg).
Mazara del Vallo, Sicily
Kinsale, Ireland
Any sestiere in Venice
The historical center of Treviso (almost due north of Venice): painted and decorated buildings, covered walkways, Gothic arches, canals & bridges, some interesting modern street art, canal-side restaurants, flowers in containers, an island market, small shops that are not selling tourist stuff, old city walls, and several churches and museums.
Potsdam, Lüneburg, Weimar to be sure, and obviously, Paris
Antwerp and Gent have good medieval streets as well as Bruges. Antwerp has a hidden, very old courtyard that is exceptional and often overlooked: https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/vlaeykensgang-alley.html . There a quite a lot of medieval traces in Belgium and the Netherlands, even in mostly modernized small cities - I mean like Lier, Belgium and Amersfoort, Netherlands.
Perouges
Obidos
Monemvasia
Our top ten favorite areas with cute streets:
* Villefranche sur Mer, France - the Old Town area and Quai de l'Amiral Courbet and Rue l'Eglise
* Nice, France - Vieux Nice on Cours Saleya
* Eze, France
* Sorrento, Italy - the Centro Storico area, Via Reginald Giuliani
* Positano, Italy - Viale Positea, Via Cristoforo Columbo, Via dei Mulini
* Oia, Santorini, Greece - the Promenade
* Salzburg, Austria
* Venice
* Bacharach, Germany
* Amsterdam
Venice! Cute and quaint lanes, alleyways and canals of all shapes and sizes beckon. Enjoy!
The Cotswolds, still wonderful! Just mentioning Broadway and nearby Snowshill (Bridget Jones Diary) Many more to explore.
Timely question. I learned a new word today; Snickelways. I haven't been to York yet but this is what they call a series of small streets and narrow entryways that "lead somewhere to somewhere else." Perfect for exploring.
Gral. Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid, La Boca neighborhood, Buenos Aires for its colorful buildings
Balcarce street , Buenos Aires with its cartoon character sculptures.
Werregarenstraat, (Graffiti alley), Ghent
The storefronts along Camden High Street, London
Here's several more I don't think have been mentioned: Colmar France, Dresden Germany, Luzern Switzerland, Ronda Spain, Rovinj Croatia, and Varenna Italy.
The ancient stone villages of the Pyrenees mountains, centred around millennia old Romanesque churches surely fit the bill. Rupit is my particular favourite especially this street, followed closely by the village of Queralbs with its intact Romanesque Church from the 900s AD.
York, England (esp. The Shambles)
Canterbury, England
Rye, England
Anyplace in the Cotswolds
Conwy, Wales
Caernarfon, Wales
Vicors Close in Wells across from.the Cathedral I can't remember the exact history but is supposed to.be one of the oldest inhabited streets in the UK. Regardless of the history it is wonderful.
Limburg an der Lahn, Germany
Sounds like we need a photo contest.
Towns with cute streets in Germany and all just an hour or less from Frankfurt:
Limburg
Marburg
Eltville
Idstein
Seligenstadt
Büdingen
Gelnhausen
Towns in Spain:
Tarragona
Barcelona old quarter
Saint Jean Pied de Port
(almost every town on the Camino Frances
Towns in Portugal:
Porto in the old quarter is fabulous
There are luckely so many, but Beaulieu in the New Forrest in the UK where Palace Lane crosses the river is certainly one of them. I stil can remember, even it's more than a few decates ago how overwhelming it was seeing it for the first time. In Middelburg, the Netherlands streets like carfree Spanjaardstraat and alley Kuiperstraat. Remove a few signs and you are straight back in the 17th or 18th century.
Eutin/Holstein In Germany.
Sounds like we need a photo contest.
Seems like a great idea! But unfortunately the forum software doesn't offer an easy way to attach photos.
But I found some online:
I love the streets in downtown Reykjavik. The street art is beautiful and there are numerous murals.
Austria and Germany! Absolutely. Salzburg, Hallstatt, Berchtesgaden, Mittenwald. Not only are there tons of cute cobblestone streets, charming metal signs on the storefronts, and wall murals, but you also get stunning views of the alps at the same time. Throw in some chalets with colorful flower boxes and you’ll be in heaven. You definitely don’t have to go out of your way to find cute streets in those places- they are the rule, not the exception, as they are in some bigger cities.
I especially enjoyed wandering around Stockholm, especially but not limited to the Gamla Stan area. When you get tired walking, stop at a bakery by the water and watch the boats!
Timeout just published their 49 coolest neighbourhoods in the world.
some European picks:
1. Nørrebro, Copenhagen
4. Leith, Edinburgh
5. Station District, Vilnius
7. XI District, Budapest
11. Neukölln, Berlin
Dinan in Brittany.
Just spent the day in Spoleto, in Umbria, Italy. It’s just one cute street after another. The town was a prosperous Ancient Roman city, leveled by the then-Holy Roman Emperor in the 1000’s, and rebuilt shortly thereafter. Then through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and subsequent centuries, the town continued to develop more and more nooks and crannies, seemingly all uphill. Passing up each narrow lane reveals more atmospheric lanes to the side, or up and around a corner. Buildings of all colors and architectural details. Occasional small piazzas historical fountains, and people watching opportunities galore. Cute, but somewhat of a workout. It’s helpful to have a map, and use direction signs when available.
Getting back down is easier, via much less cute, but faster underground escalators and moving sidewalks.
i’m still in Umbria, and over the past 2 days have visited more towns with cute streets, among their other charms. As mentioned above, Bevagna and Montefalco have nooks and crannies with evocative houses and streets. Bevagna is in the valley, rather than perched on a hilltop. It seems almost locked in the Middle Ages, and while the city has developed since Roman times, it still mostly has buildings that display a Medieval essence. The atmosphere is welcoming, where the town could’ve easily made themselves into a tourist trap instead, with such a magical and cute setting. As a bonus, parking is free, and there are lots of cats, which adds to the cuteness.
Montefalco has a rougher edge, and frankly, modern streets running between the old buildings detract from the potential cuteness factor. Many buildings have pastel colors as well as ancient stones - nice, but it’s not as cute as Bevagna, or as stony Spoleto.
But another town, an “11” on the cuteness meter, is Spello. Its Roman arch entry gate, modified in the Middle ages with homes built up against it, is a wonderful start. The 3-story high, rocky buildings lining every passageway, show it’s an old town in the middle of a big wine, olive oil, and black truffle/white truffle region. What sets Spello apart is the flowers and plants adorning most of the town, even in October. On the walls outside of homes are displayed tiles they’ve been awarded to announce the places they earned in the annual competition for the most attractive flower displays, gardens (very small gardens in a walled hilltown!), and window plant displays. The contest must be really competitive.
So, had first time in Assisi today. Like Spello, it turns out there’s a competition for prettiest flower displays, with winners awarded a tile hand-labeled with the prize place, and tiles get attached to the houses. Some residents still had flowers out in October, and many narrow passageways and closed-in paths were picturesque. The large amount of car traffic, on very narrow streets with pedestrians and not much room for both, was disturbing and unnerving to this pedestrian. If it’s that bad in mid-October, I can only imagine what it must be like in summer, with more people. Cute? Perhaps, but nearly getting run over several times, even when sticking way to the edge of a street, makes it very hard to appreciate any scenic cuteness. Very pedestrian-unfriendly. The wind chill today made it even more unpleasant.
