This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase or sign up through any of the links on this website, at no extra cost to you. View disclaimer for more information.
Looking for the top places to visit in Europe? You’re in the right place. Here are 22 of the best european cities to visit on vacation, ranked from the icons everyone already knows to a few that deserve more attention than they typically get. All of them are genuinely worth your time and your flight abroad.
I did a semester studying abroad in Rome when I was in college and have spent years traveling in and out of Europe since (my partner is British), so this list leans on what’s actually worth the hype versus what’s just famous for being famous.
Quick note before the list: summer, June through August, is peak tourist season across nearly all of Europe, that’s when kids are out of school and when prices, crowds, and lines all hit their highest point of the year. July and August specifically are the busiest of the busy. If you’d rather skip the worst of it, aim for shoulder season instead, April to May or September to October, you’ll get milder weather, thinner crowds, and noticeably better prices at most of the places on this list!
This post is all about the top places to visit in Europe.
Rome was the city I lived in during my study abroad semester in college and it earns every cliché thrown at it. The Colosseum is just there, at the end of a street. The Pantheon sits in the middle of a neighbourhood. You don’t visit Rome so much as move through it, and you’ll stumble into things you didn’t know to look for.
Paris is the most aspirational city on this list for a reason, the art, the food, the architecture, the sense that you’re living inside something significant. It’s crowded and it’s expensive, but the reputation is largely earned.
Santorini’s white-and-blue cliffside towns are shorthand for a Greek island vacation at this point, and the sunsets over the caldera are as good as the internet promises. Go in shoulder season (May or late September) if you want the views without the peak-summer crowds.
Amsterdam’s canal houses, bikes, and museums arranged along the water make it one of the most visually distinctive cities in Europe. The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are worth planning a full day around, not a rushed hour.
Gaudi’s architecture gives Barcelona a surreal quality that doesn’t wear off, and the combination of beach, Gothic Quarter, and food markets makes it hard to have a bad few days here. Go slightly outside the most touristy stretches for the real food scene.
Venice is genuinely unlike anywhere else on earth, no cars, canals instead of streets, and a skyline that hasn’t changed much in centuries. Go early morning or in the off-season, midday in high summer is when the crowds peak hardest.
Prague’s medieval old town, castle district, and riverside setting make it one of the most beautiful, and most affordable, capital cities in Europe. The astronomical clock and Charles Bridge are the postcard shots, but the side streets are where the city actually lives.
I’ve spent time in Reykjavik, and it’s the base for genuinely otherworldly scenery within a couple hours: glaciers, waterfalls, black sand beaches. The city itself is small and walkable, which makes it an easy base even for a first Iceland trip.
Five cliffside villages connected by hiking trails and a coastal train, and every one of them is more colorful than the last. I’ve spent real time here and it’s one of the few places that’s genuinely as good as the photos suggest, full day trip guide here.
Lisbon’s hills, trams, and azulejo tile facades give it a visual identity unlike any other European capital. It’s also one of the more affordable Western European cities, with a nightlife scene that runs late without the aggression of some other capitals.
A medieval Old Town built around a volcanic rock with a castle on top, and a Georgian New Town laid out below it. The weather is famously brutal, but the Festival season in August briefly makes it the most exciting city on the continent.
My partner is from the UK, and I’ve spent summers and Christmas in the UK. London does big-city energy better than almost anywhere else in Europe including access to a bunch of free world-class museums, an extraordinary theatre scene, and neighborhoods that could each fill a trip on their own.
Budapest’s thermal baths, grand architecture, and the Danube splitting the city in two give it a scale most European capitals don’t have. It’s also one of the more budget-friendly major cities on this list.
Vienna takes its coffee house culture, concert halls, and museums seriously in a way that’s lived-in rather than stuffy. The public transport is some of the best in Europe, which makes it an easy city to actually explore.
Berlin resists tidy descriptions, the history is physically present in the city in a way that goes beyond museums, and the creative culture that grew in the spaces left behind is still very much alive. Cheap by European capital standards, too.
Dubrovnik’s walled old town and Adriatic coastline earned it a very specific kind of fame in the last decade, and it’s still worth the visit despite the crowds. Walk the city walls early morning to get the views without the peak crush.
Interlaken sits between two lakes at the base of the Swiss Alps, and it’s the easiest jumping-off point for genuinely dramatic mountain scenery without a serious hiking background required. Not cheap, but worth budgeting for.
Copenhagen consistently ranks among the most livable cities in the world, bike culture as the default way to move, Danish design everywhere you look, and Nyhavn’s colorful harbor houses as the postcard shot.
The Acropolis rising over the city is one of the most recognizable views in the world, and Athens has genuinely improved as a destination in the last decade, better restaurants, a more walkable center, and easy ferry access to the islands.
Bruges’ canals and medieval architecture make it one of the most photogenic small cities in Europe, and it’s compact enough to see properly in a day or two. The chocolate and beer reputation is entirely earned.
Salzburg’s baroque old town and Alpine backdrop give it a fairy tale quality that doesn’t need The Sound of Music to sell it, though the connection doesn’t hurt. A genuinely underrated base for exploring the Austrian Alps.
Porto is smaller and more intimate than Lisbon, with the crumbling azulejo facades, the Douro River, and the port wine cellars across the water in Vila Nova de Gaia. Consistently one of the best value cities on this entire list.
What are the top 10 places to visit in Europe? Rome, Paris, Santorini, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice, Prague, Reykjavik, Cinque Terre, and Lisbon consistently top the list, though it depends heavily on what you’re after, city energy, islands, or nature.
What’s the best time of year to visit Europe? Shoulder season, April to June or September to October, gets you good weather and meaningfully smaller crowds than peak summer, especially at the more famous spots on this list.
What’s the most underrated country in Europe? Portugal and Croatia both punch above their reputation for the price. If you want genuinely off-the-radar picks beyond this list, the hidden gems in Europe guide covers spots most tourists never find.
How many countries should you try to see in one Europe trip? Fewer than you think. Two or three countries with real time in each beats rushing through six, especially on a first trip.
What’s the most budget-friendly country on this list? Portugal, Hungary, and the Czech Republic all run noticeably cheaper than Western Europe’s big names while still delivering major-city energy.
Twenty-two places is a lot to choose from, so here’s the short version. If you want iconic without needing a rental car, Rome, Paris, and Prague deliver all of it on foot. If you want water and postcard views, Santorini, Amsterdam, and Dubrovnik are your best places to go in Europe for that. If you want mountains, Interlaken and Reykjavik are hard to beat. And if you’re still deciding where to go in Europe for a first trip, pick two or three cities from this list and give each one real time rather than rushing through all twenty-two, you’ll come home with better memories and a much shorter jet lag recovery!
Want more? Explore all my European destination guides or head to my travel resources page for the gear, apps, and tools I actually use on every trip.
This post was all about the top places to visit in Europe.
Save this guide to Pinterest so you have it the next time you’re planning a Europe trip.
Hey there, I'm Angelique!
I'm a Filipina-American, Chicago native living abroad and running my online design agency from Chiang Mai, Thailand. Over a decade of traveling in, and yes, I still pinch myself. With family split between the US, UK, and SE Asia, travel has always been part of my story. This blog is where I share the honest side of living and traveling abroad, the places I explore, my best study abroad tips from personal experience, and the little hacks that make this life actually work. Glad you're here, friend!
Studying abroad soon?
everything to sort before you go, in one printable page.
for partnerships and collabs
for website + branding support
for the day to day
Ang Around The Globe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
I share what I'm actually doing, where I'm going, and the things I wish I'd known before I booked the flight. No spam, just the good stuff that you'll actually enjoy reading.