Your Favorite European places to visit? And why?

Paris. Paris. Paris. This is a weird choice as I am definitely not a city gal but Paris, it’s museums, parks and churches has captured me.

Runners up are Orkney and Shetland. I am an outdoor kind of person and I love these islands for that plus the jaw-dropping Neolithic sites. Amazing!

My recommendation is to do the “hard” destinations first!

Sorry I missed the Dordogne region of France. Unfortunately traveling days are over due to health issues. Never made it to the area around Turin and Bari area looks interesting, dang still got itchy feet! Oh and northern Greece would be nice and more Greek islands and so on….

Anywhere that has Romanesque and Baroque churches, museums with paintings, and Sicily. Small stone and brick villages, and did I mention Sicily?

Like you, I am still a few years from retirement. Thus, I haven't yet had the opportunity to travel too widely, but I have been to a few places. One place that I would really recommend is Norway, specifically Bergen and the "Norway in a Nutshell" route through the fjords. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

England and the Netherlands focused mainly on late-16th & early-17th century history, history museums and iron tech.

Vienna, York-But we need to know what you want to see-art? history? scenery?
EDITED: I had been to 13 times before I went to Vienna the first time and was surprised at how much I loved it. The Music Museum and Kunsthistoriches Museum are really good and the music in the morning church service at the Augustiner Church(in the Hofburg Complex) was sublime.

Everywhere in Bavaria for the beer.

I would tend to say Italy since I’ve stayed in 49 cities there. But I think each country has so much to offer that I encourage you to enjoy dreaming of some trips that spark your interests. I usually have a couple of options running through my mind; sometimes one appeals more than another for that year because of something undefined.

What I do like regardless of country are the cities that aren’t on the main tourist route. Why? They seem more authentic & locals tend to be friendlier. And less crowds are refreshing plus usually less expensive.

While you’re in Spain, try to stop in Cordoba, too.

Of course: https://youtu.be/D7x6RCWuZHQ?si=KG4kvKEQniaQYpiz

It’s always a dilemma deciding between returning to a place that you loved or trying someplace new. So many places, so little time. That being said, Vienna has become one of our favorite cities. We have really enjoyed our driving trips in Ireland and Scotland. We went to New Zealand last year and it’s one of our favorite trips. We loved our trip to Finland in January with 5 nights above the Arctic Circle. Our next trips are 5 days in London where we’ve been several times followed by a driving trip in the south of England. Fall plans are for a 2 week tour of Romania followed by the RS Prague/Budapest tour. We buy annual travel insurance policies.

One of the joys of retirement is the ability to travel in the off or shoulder seasons. I like to avoid crowds and heat so we don’t travel in the summer.

Kim, Prague and Budapest? I didn't think of those. But I will stick with the city in the link above.

We have been lucky to travel many places in Europe over 26 years, no place that we hate or would not go back.

However, we resonate more with Spain and Italy, and in Italy, maybe Sicily more than the mainland and the North. We enjoy the cultures of both, certainly the food, the relatively affordable cost, the pace of life, now that we too have slowed down.

The Netherlands is close to those two, but for more activity.

To me the where is only a part of the answer for a favorite place. The when often makes a great difference. Sometimes the when is a season, sometimes a special day or only a special time of a day - or a mix.

The high North, not of Europe only, is a great example: Midnight Sun and Northern Lights are not only a special location and season, it is also a special daytime and a certain weather condition needed.

A larger town // small city (around 50-150k in pop) not overrun with mass-tourism, with historic charm, bucolic landscape, and excellent nearby day trips.

I'm not sure I could narrow down my answer. I have so many favorite places. And how do I compare favorite scenery (anywhere with mountains and water, which covers much of Europe), favorite cityscapes (too many to pick), favorite nightlife (I'm not a nightlife kind of person), favorite cultural activities, best hiking (OK, here I can narrow it down: Scotland), best adventure activities, favorite place to just relax and enjoy being there, favorite place to return to over and over again, etc., etc., etc.?

I'm also unsure how anyone's answer helps anyone else.

@bobkastl, you already have a long list. I'm curious what you're trying to accomplish by asking your question. And I definitely don't mean this as a criticism. I'm sincerely curious to know how you think the answers you get will help you narrow down your options. I'd expect the opposite to happen: you get additional ideas for awesome places to go that weren't already on your list, making it even harder to decide.

In any case, I thank you for the post, because I'm enjoying reading about people's favorite places, so even if it doesn't provide a practical benefit, it's fun!

Since my wife has this rule that we cannot go anywhere we've been before, I try to set up our trips so we stay somewhere as looong as possible. Like a couple or three weeks. So far, we've been to London, Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Rome, Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Seville, Madrid, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. We love art, architecture, history, and wandering around aimlessly. And we like sitting on a bench and watching the locals and the other tourists.

From all those places, my favorite was Florence, Italy. So walkable and so packed with great things to see.

And I would say my second favorite was Venice. Yes, it is crowded with tourists, but they all seem to sleep late, so if you get up at the crack of dawn, you have the city to yourself.

And I think my third favorite is Madrid. What a magnificent city that is. I had no idea how beautiful that city is until we went there.

This year I'd like to visit Valencia, Spain. And in the near future, Sicily.

The best food I've ever had (total food, all the places we ate at from elegant places to street food) was in Taiwan.

Thanks everyone :) Great thread, i think...

When we travel, we love all the things, we love history/hiking/scenic views/appreciating and learning others' cultures/architecture/art/ruins/new buildings, all the things that make that place unique. Sometimes we are go/go/go around the big famous attractions, sometimes it's spending an afternoon in Trastevere drinking wine on some steps while watching a guitarist sing and play.

We tend to find our favorite places to visit and set a spell (as they say here in North Cackalacky) are not always the biggest cities. We REALLY loved Lucca this past summer, and Siena a few years before was so charming. We fell in love with old town Chania... But, boy do we also love Rome and we found Athens to be so very wonderful...

so, in short, we got a travelin jones and being huge RS fans, i figured this forum was the best place to:

1. get some insights on places to consider for future trips
2. reignite thoughts of past trips in your collective heads, and we can all spread some joy around (cuz man...do we need it now or what!)

Thanks again y'all...

The North!

Netherlands, Northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, UK, the Faroes. I love being on the water, a cool breeze, and nature, so . . . .

Still high on our list to explore are Poland (done Warsaw and Krakow, but want to do the north), the Baltics, Norway, and Finland (and northern Sweden).

These are often not as high on people's lists--they go to Amsterdam, but miss places like Hindeloopen or or the Frisian lslands. They go to Stockholm but not Öland or the vast wilderness north of there. They go to Berlin but not Wismar or Heligoland. They go to Paris, but not Brittany. That doesn't mean the cities aren't great. I just love driving through rural areas, looking at the old farm homes, the nature, the way people in the country live. I love seeing the sea birds and feeling the wind on my face and being on the water and learning about the native seal population. Don't get me wrong; I very much enjoyed Athens and Rome and Paris and Amsterdam. But I don't like crowds and don't care for heat, and since I live in Europe we try to do those places during shoulder season or winter. (Yes, I live in the north)