Your most Favorite cities\regions in Europe

What if the one place we'd pick to go back to IS one of those well-known cities?

Hmm, yes, I agree with Kathy that some of my return places are the big cities which is unusual since I don't really consider myself a city person.

However, on my one trip that included Switzerland (Rick's 21 day Best of Europe) I LOVED the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Really. I live near mountains and this place blew me away it is so gorgeous. I am doing Rick's GAS (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) tour this fall which I picked (among other reasons) because we have 3 nights there!

In England, in addition to London, I love Bath and Keswick. I am not sure what your definition of get away is because both of these places are busy, but I loved them.

thanks for the answers. by get-away i just mean to get away from home :)

Oh!! Yes, then those qualify for being away from home, lol!!

Well, four of my five visits to Europe included Venice, which is my absolute fav. But that's very popular anyways. We really enjoyed Ravello on the Amalfi coast (and the hike down to Atrani, where we stayed).

South of France we enjoyed St Paul de Vence and Rousillon. Both beautiful villages and very picturesque. But I love taking photos of old doors and alleyways and they were chock full of those.

My favorite place in France (other than Paris) was Annecy. It was just so beautiful, flowers everywhere, located on a lake surrounded by hills. Loved the boat ride around the lake and also walking around the lake shore, and enjoying some of the best ice cream I had in France. But then again, I loved all of Provence and particularly where I stayed in Roussillon - great gelato place there too.

My favorite place in Italy was Sicily - all of it, just loved it especially the area around Taormina and where we stayed on the beach in Giardini Naxos, and Agrigento with the ancient ruins. But then again, I loved the Tuscan hill town of Volterra too.

Loved the Rhine area of Germany, favorite towns were Boppard and St Goar.

In Switzerland my favorite place was Zermatt, but that was many years ago and I've heard it's a little too chi-chi now.

I loved the Wachau Valley of the Danube in Austria - Melk (the Abbey), Durnstein (the castle where King Richard was held prisoner), and the cruise on the Danube between them.

So many wonderful places to see, but like some of the others have noted most of the places I would return to are the cities - Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Florence, Venice.

So true...I never tire of going back to Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and London too.

In France it's too hard to choose a region as a get-away, just being in Paris is in itself a get-away. C'est ça Paris. Most likely all considered Alsace-Lorraine has to be one of them.

Italy - The Veneto not including Venice (Padova, Vicenza, Verona) because you don't have the crowds of Rome and Florence.
France - Provence for the food and country life.
Germany - Regensberg or Bamberg for their UNESCO listed medieval town centres.
England - Peak District for the gorgeous countryside and historic houses (eg. Chatsworth).
Scotland - Skye for the rugged wild beauty.
Switzerland - Luzern for mountains, lake, architecture.
Austria - Salzburg for Mozart and the von Trapps.

You're asking for very personal (subjective, not intrusive) opinions. The only place in Germany that I'd go back to is Berlin, for its museums. It's hard for me to choose a place in Italy, there are only one or two places that did not wow me. Venice is my second favorite city in Europe, after Paris. Recently I've spent some time in "village" France and it was wonderful. I think every region would be good, just avoiding the major cities, and renting a car. I find it hard to leave London even for a day trip, but I had a wonderful time on a bus tour of Devon and Cornwall.

Paris is my first love. Any where in the Alsace region.

Love the coziness of Florence - not to mention the art & architecture - oh and the food!

We love Ulm, Germany - the small center around the Cathedral is nice with a few very good restaurants - just not on Sunday as none are open!

After about two weeks of traveling we usually take a chill day - pick a smaller town or city and just chill - no agenda, no sightseeing, maybe do some laundry, have a nap - just chill - a vacation from your vacation!

Germany: Nurnberg.
Italy: choose a favorite child? Colli Euganei (prosecco country).
France: Vezelay.
Austria: Kitzbuhel (Franz Klammer's Olympic gold medal downhill).

Germany: Baltic coast and Upper Lusatia (both popular weekend trips for Berliners)
Italy: Liguria without Cinque Terre (tourist hell) and South Tyrol
France: Dordogne
Austria: Southern Styria
Switzerland: Glarus

My "most cherished get-aways".....gosh, I have several! Dinan, France; Volterra and Vieste, Italy; Keswick, England; Fort William, Scotland; Kinsale, Ireland; the Lauterbrunnen valley. I know Slovenia wasn't included on your list but Ljubljana quickly became one of my favorite cities in Europe when I spent a few days there a couple of years ago.

La Villa in the Dolomites. A great break between cities.

Sicily if you have the time to do it. We were there 10 days and could have stayed longer.

What I like may not be what you like. Travel and find what floats your boat.

thanks for all of the answers, will definitely research some of these

Italy - Venice, Stresa, Siena, Moena
France - Paris (had to mention it! : ) .....going to see more locations this year!)
Germany - Mittenwald, Bacharach
Switzerland - Wengen
Austria - Salzburg, St. Wolfgang, Vienna

Of those places, the ones that make me sigh & want to return the most: Venice, Stresa, Salzburg, St. Wolfgang, Wengen

I've spent a week or more in each of the countries you list except Switzerland and only a few days in Germany. While I have had good times in al,l and while I most enjoyed Austria, I cant say that any of them are in my top 10, but my interests and taste aren't exactly mainstream.

Italy - The Val Gardena in the Dolomites (spending a month there this summer to get away from the heat)

Switzerland - The Berner Oberland, especially the Lauterbrunnen Valley (endless opportunities for hiking and terrific transportation)

Austria - The Pillerseetal (we haven't seen a LOT of Austria, but this was sufficiently remote to be a getaway with great natural beauty)

England: I love Bath, Oxford and Cambridge
France: Amboise and Mont St. Michel on the coast
Germany: Dresden
Austria: the Wachau valley, Melk Abbey

Judy B

Belgium: Bruges, Gent and Antwerp. None of them fall into the less-visited category (for Belgium) but we enjoyed all three very much and will 'do' them again.

But I can't imagine Italy without yet another stay in Rome! There's so much beyond the Top 10 that it's pretty easy to escape the masses.

In England: Durham or Chester. EDIT -- And of course how could I have forgotten Hadrian's Wall?

In France: Bayeux, or a Dordogne village like Beynac, or Vezelay.

Any place in Germany, Austria, Switzerland outside of a big city. I really like southern Bavaria, along the Alps (Berchtesgaden, Oberallgäu), Hallstatt, Austria. Also the northern Black Forest, Middle Rhine, and the Harz.

France: Annecy - renting a sailboat on Lake Annecy was a highlight, Arles - loved the Roman ruins and the Bull Game we attended (not a bull fight but a bull game...much more fun), Carcassonne - but stay inside the walled city overnight and walk it when the beautiful lights are on, Sarlat - visit the caves and enjoy the market days, Colmar - enjoy escargot and bratwurst on this beautiful town near the German border, Mont St Michel - another place to stay in overnight after all the day tourists have left.

England: Portsmouth for the Navy yard - feels like you've stepped back in time to the 1800s - visit the Victory and the other famous ships there, Eyam - a medieval village in the Peak District that quarantined itself when it had an outbreak of the plague in the 1600s and is a stone's throw to Chatsworth House, - Jane Austen's idea for Pemberley, Ambleside in the Lake District, the little villages in the Cotswolds

My personal opinions and experiences:

Italy: I agree with the comment above - "choose a favorite child." Places that I remember as exceeding expectations include, but are not limited to, Palermo, Taormina, Padova, Ferrara, Varenna, and Naples. But that's just a short list - there's plenty more highlights. The main place that did not meet my expectations was Bologna, and I didn't like Bellagio either. Two of the very few "lowlights" of a wonderful country (I've been seven times).

France: Nancy is an undiscovered gem (between Alsace and Paris), particularly worthwhile for its glassware and Art Nouveau architecture. And I love Lyon (my favorite place in France after Paris). Much of the Cote d'Azur (French Riviera) did not meet my expectations. I wasn't as taken with Dijon, Colmar or Strasbourg as many are, but I loved the Museum of Alsatian Life in Strasbourg.

Germany: Berlin really is spectacular. Like New York or London or Paris, there are not only a lot of things to do, but also a great variety. I also liked Leipzig, Erfurt, and Görlitz; I liked all of these more than Dresden (nothing wrong with it, but not as impressive to me). If you like car museums, there's an interesting one in Zwickau (featuring the infamous Trabant). I liked Munich less than many do, but Nuremberg was very worthwhile. I was in Hamburg in 1999 and have no idea what's it's like now, but at least at the time it was only OK to me.

Scotland: I spent three days in Edinburgh and one day in Glasgow - my entire time in Scotland. Edinburgh was fine, but I really liked Glasgow (although, like Naples, it's a bit "rough" feeling for some tastes).

Switzerland: the Berner Oberland really lived up to all the superlatives lavished on it. Worth every penny (accommodations need not be expensive, but food will be).

Thanks Harold! I was very much looking for some "did not meet expectations" responses! Very grateful for them!