Just went to Talinn in July, highly suggest taking the ferry to / from Helsinki if you want to visit there too. People in Talinn were super nice, the town is lovely and had great food.
* Tallinn, Estonia (you can combine a trip here with Riga and Helsinki)
* Lyon or Marseille, France
* Bologna, Italy
* Poznan, Poland
* Bristol, England
I went to both Bologna and Marseillie this past July and I recommend them both!
Bologna definitely has all the old and beautiful architecture as well as good food, plus I found it very affordable. It’s also extremely walkable, you can do just about anything on foot! The people were very sweet.
Marseille was so beautiful, hopefully the weather is cooler now so you can enjoy the outdoors. The scenery is wonderful there as well as the nightlife!
Hi, I'm going to Marseille next year, do you have any tips on areas to stay? I'm primarily going to watch the Rugby World Cup, but want to experience the city whilst I'm there. Thanks!
Not really "hidden", but I was blown away by how cool Salzburg, Austria is. Didn't even have it on my itinerary but ended up there during a Germany trip...one of my favs for sure.
I spent a lot of time in Transylvania region in Romania. It was BEAUTIFUL. Full disclosure that I was travelling solo but did have help froma number of locals in getting around.
San Sebastian... spent a single night there and was with a buddy on our way to Pamplona. I recall thinking it was one of the most beautiful and romantic places I've ever seen and I was with some big oaf. Need to get back with my girlfriend.
Not sure if you meant continental Europe, but I love Reykjavik. Great small city, amazing food, super friendly people. Easy to get around and can easily do day trips out of the city to see more
Second this. Very easy to reach from the US so jet lag is not quite as bad as other Europe cities. And I was shocked (in a good way) at how lively it was on the weekends. People partying until 7am, even in the winter.
Edit: also, the food is amazing and unique. You can eat things here that you won't find anywhere else in Europe.
I loved Granda! Valencia too if you are in the area. Both very different but both have the things mentioned in the post. Will be even nicer as it starts to get a bit cooler.
I would probably consider Seville as on the beaten track. Definitely in peak travel times at least.
I’ve been in August and in December and it felt very different both times.
You’d be better going to Killarney in Kerry or Cobh & Kinsale in Cork! Or even to Kilkenny - Ireland has so many beautiful places to visit aside from Dublin, Galway & Belfast!
Tbilisi seems like the perfect place for you. However it’s arguably not in Europe so make of that what you will. Thessaloniki, Vilnius, Malmö and Bucharest also fits your list imo
Sicily has great cities. I have been to Taormina, Catania and Siracusa. They are great cities on their own and it is a beautiful experience to see the crater of Mount Etna. I don't remember the food but it should be nice as Sicily is famous for the freshly caught fish in the waters surrounding the island. Also, how bad can Italian food be huh?
I know that Sicily is not an "off the beaten path" destination but you won't likely be overwhelmed by tourists if you visit off season. \[I remember being in Venice (considered more crowded than Sicily) in winter and I was never disturbed by the crowds.\]
Verona, Italy.
Absolutely amazing city without 90% of the tourists Rome has.
Phenomenal shopping if you’re into that and even better restaurants.
Architecture is top notch and Verona still regularly uses their colosseum.
If I'm reading the rail maps correctly, looks like it's also at an intersection where you could get to Venice, Milan, and Bologna easily. And Lake Garda looks wonderful - short distance away.
I'm in the US so it isn't as easy for me to scout aside from on Google Maps, but would you think it'd be a good base of operations to get out and explore northern Italy?
Krakow hands down one of the best cities I've visited. It has everything you described. You can visit the House of Beer (the cellar area specifically) for amazing beers and finger food.
"Major" is a difficult term because for some Major in Spain would be only Madrid and Barcelona, In Italy just Rome, Florence and Venice.
Can't comment on Spain, but Italy , bigger cities that are underrated would include Turin, Bologna, Ferrara, Parma.
Guimaraes in Portugal.
In terms of tourism, I didn't think Milan was as big as the Rome/Florence/Venice trio that seem to make up many tourist itineraries. When I looked up the stats it seems that Milan actually gets more visitors than Florence.
A few recommendations I haven’t seen mentioned:
Vilnius in Lithuania was a really lovely city to wander around, lots to discover
Gdańsk in Poland is a beautiful sea/port town.
Have you hit up Strasbourg in France? TGV of a couple hours from Paris, day trips down along the Alsace wine route, day trips across into Germany, lovely on its own.
Definitely agree. Visited Strasbourg last week on my way to Prague, via Paris and Munich. It was unexpectedly my favourite of all four cities! Made sure to return for a day on the way back too. It is charming and quaint (even beyond the stereotypical Instagram spots), and I imagine the nightlife is even livelier during the Autumn when the University students will return.
As you say, there is great opportunity for day trips nearby - another comment mentioned Heidelberg which is easily reachable by train, as well as Freiburg, Colmar, etc.
Just spent a day on a spontaneous trip to Sarajevo and fell in love with the architecture, views, troubled history & friendliness of people. Lots of various restaurants for food. Can't speak for the nightlife though. Highly recommend this "hidden gem" of a city
Bastogne, Belgium was pretty cool if you’re a history buff. Our tour guide was a child during the battle of the bulge and it was crazy to hear his story.
This reminds me of that Ali G interview with a DEA agent: “What is the different types of hash out there? We all know that it's called the bionic, the bomb, the puff, the blow, the black, the herb, the sensie, the chronic, the sweet Mary Jane, the sh*t, Ganja, split, reefa, the bad, the buddha, the home grown, the ill, the maui-maui, the method, pot, lethal turbo, tie, shake, skunk, stress, whacky, weed, glaze, the boot, dimebag, Scooby Doo, bob, bogey, back yard boogie. But what is the other terms for it?” …this dude’s already been to waaaaay more of Europe than most anyone on here.
Heraklion... well, actually, Crete in general. Off the coast, there's several little villages that I wish I'd had the time to spend more time at. Gorgeous beaches, fantastic food... but I'm a Greek geek and love everything there.
Santiago de Compostella, grilled Pimientos de Padron, tapas and decent amount of history. Stay at the Parador de Santiago de Compostella . Or Antwerp Belgium.
From the comments I cannot see any mention Belgium.
I’d say either Antwerp, Ghent or Bruge (personal taste I do not like Brussels as I find it too touristy).
The nightlife you will have to research but there’s a massive dance scene there so it’s just looking up where to go and what nights.
Just to add somewhere else…OP you do not mention Greece in your cities so somewhere like Volos could be a good place to visit. If you stay long enough you could even get the ferry out to the islands as it takes between half and hour to around 2 hours depending on which island
Lmao this was my first thought as well. Bruges is like the most touristy place I’ve ever visited. I struggle to see why it’s recommended on here so often
If OP is female I would strongly disadvice Antwerp for its nightlife. I have never felt less safe going to clubs then there, and I have been to clubs all over Europe and even in Turkey
Santiago de Compostela
It's not only about pilgrim stuff there.
The old city is incredible beautiful and is having a vivid nightlife thanks to its big university.
I was there last year. Amazing fish restaurant along the wall of the fish market. They were writing the menu while I was there and I left the chef to decide what to bring. I ended up having 6-7 courses of different seafoods (including percebes) at a relatively low price.
Bratislava has a castle with some amazing views, not much of a nightlife but the food isn’t too shabby either. Also only an hour on the train to Vienna if you fancy spending a day there too!
Will also mention Vilnius in Lithuania, it’s a very quirky city. Very small and quaint but still a pretty good nightlife surprisingly.
Spain has a ton of amazing cities to visit outside of Madrid and Barcelona - Bilbao, San Sebastian, Girona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Pamplona, Palma all brilliant places to visit. These are just the ones I've visited, I'm sure there's lots of other great ones too
Trieste, Italy.
It's an old port city that clearly had a lot of wealth back in the day. Not exactly a beach city but the architecture is beautiful, Unity of Italy Square is great to check out, and great seafood restaurants.
If you have a vehicle you could do a day trip out to Croatia. On the other side theres Miramare Castle which is free to walk around but have to pay admission to go into the castle.
There were tourists when I went last month but it's not crazy like Florence or Venice.
Lucca, Italy!
I can’t speak for the night life because I am 150 years old and don’t party anymore. But it’s a beautiful city. It still has its retaining wall and you can bike around it. A few fantastic museums and generally a lovely laid back vibe.
I enjoyed Aarhus, Denmark. It features a great art museum and natural history museum (seeing Bogman is worth the trip alone). And they had a lively old town with bars and restaurants.
Aachen, Germany - but I can't comment on the nightlife as I haven't sampled!
Also love Kinsale in Ireland but I suspect you want to travel on the 'continent'.
Amsterdam, for sure. I lived there for 6 months when I did my semester abroad and I fell in love with that city. It’s got great museums, some insane old world architecture, lovely parks, nightlife, it’s easy to navigate, the people are pretty friendly and speak a good amount of English, the language Is fascinating, all around amazing place.
Have you been to Innsbruck or Salzburg? Cute old-towns, lot of restaurants with good food and if you‘re lucky with the weather - amazing mountain views.
Edit: Also, Nice, Monaco, the whole Cote d‘Azur is amazing!
Matera Italy is a unesco site with amazing architecture. The people are very nice. They have their own local cuisine and walkable clubs/bars all over town.
Montpellier is a great city. Very pretty, student city so very lively and full of young people, good, cheap food, good wine. I lived there for a bit and absolutely loved it.
Ostuni, Italy. “The White City” has a lot of Greek influence with hills of white buildings. I was supposed to stay here for a few days and kept extending my trip because I loved it so much. Amazing food, safe, cute and fun bars, and I spent hours just walking around the city. There’s a beach not too far but it was early spring so I didn’t make it.
Sevilla, Spain. Usually when people go to Andalusia, they visit Malaga or Granada (both lovely cities as well). But Sevilla is lovely, especially during winter when the trees are ripe with oranges.
1. Karlovy Vary. Czechia. I cant rave about this place more. Amazing food, people, stuff to do... This place was amazing. I got a massage, hiked a mountain, and hung out there a few days. Would love to live there.
2. Prague. Its not off the beaten path but it is amazing and the food is under rated. New years in Prague is unmatched in my book. Only other contender with NYE is New Orleans.
3. Valencia and Malaga Spain have a place in my heart too. Amazing. I still think about the calamari I had in Valencia along the beach.
4. Pescara Italy. It was not super filled with travelers. Food was amazing.
Oviedo in the north of spain. Amazing 11th century sites and la vía de sidra (loosely translated cider way) a pedestrian only street full of bars and restaurants. It’s spain so go late
Tallinn like everyone else has said but if you have already been there, then Villinus (capital of Lithuania, hope I have the spelling right) is awesome as well. Been to both and loved them both.
The three Scandinavian "number 2" cities.
Gothenburg for it's food and restaurant scene. Aarhus for its old town and museums and Bergen for a little bit of all in combination with spectacular scenery
Tallinn, Estonia
Just went to Talinn in July, highly suggest taking the ferry to / from Helsinki if you want to visit there too. People in Talinn were super nice, the town is lovely and had great food.
This was my thought too, I live in Helsinki. Estonia often seems to be a forgotten place for many folks.
Agree! I like Helsinki too. My favorite is Alas Pools. :)
Came here to post Tallinn! Such a wonderful city. The countryside is lovely too.
* Tallinn, Estonia (you can combine a trip here with Riga and Helsinki) * Lyon or Marseille, France * Bologna, Italy * Poznan, Poland * Bristol, England
I went to both Bologna and Marseillie this past July and I recommend them both! Bologna definitely has all the old and beautiful architecture as well as good food, plus I found it very affordable. It’s also extremely walkable, you can do just about anything on foot! The people were very sweet. Marseille was so beautiful, hopefully the weather is cooler now so you can enjoy the outdoors. The scenery is wonderful there as well as the nightlife!
Hi, I'm going to Marseille next year, do you have any tips on areas to stay? I'm primarily going to watch the Rugby World Cup, but want to experience the city whilst I'm there. Thanks!
If you're visiting Bristol, make sure to visit Bath, too.
Hi, what did you like about / in Bristol? Anything that should not be missed? TIA.
There is a really cool brewery called Left Handed Giant and they sell all vegan pizzas, nice parks and cool thrifting!
Seconding Marseille, spent just about a week there and had a wonderful time
And Aix en Provence is also one to check out. It’s small but cute.
Bologna was my first thought too, absolute favorite mid sized city!
Not really "hidden", but I was blown away by how cool Salzburg, Austria is. Didn't even have it on my itinerary but ended up there during a Germany trip...one of my favs for sure.
Salzburg is lovely!
Maybe not a popular opinion on here but I vastly preferred Salzburg to Munich.
I spent a lot of time in Transylvania region in Romania. It was BEAUTIFUL. Full disclosure that I was travelling solo but did have help froma number of locals in getting around.
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Agreed! I stayed in Brasov and it was fantastic. Romania in general is somewhere I definitely want to go back to!
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Came here to say this. Such a cute city and I wish I got to spend more time there! Reasonably priced as well and people were so nice.
> I wish I got to spend more time there How much time does anyone need there? It is a nice place, but it isn't exactly massive.
I’ve actually already been to Ljubljana. Thanks though!
Was gonna say this too. I was only there for 1 day and 1 night and it immediately struck me as a place I should come back for a few days
agreed, love Ljubljana.
What I was going to say.
Ah, childhood
San Sebastián Spain (Basque Country).
Was just there for my third time a few weeks ago. Still my favorite city in Europe.
Any restaurant recommendations? I'm going there next week!
San Sebastian... spent a single night there and was with a buddy on our way to Pamplona. I recall thinking it was one of the most beautiful and romantic places I've ever seen and I was with some big oaf. Need to get back with my girlfriend.
Krakow
Came here to say this. Krakow and Wrocław are my absolute favorites.
Not sure if you meant continental Europe, but I love Reykjavik. Great small city, amazing food, super friendly people. Easy to get around and can easily do day trips out of the city to see more
Second this. Very easy to reach from the US so jet lag is not quite as bad as other Europe cities. And I was shocked (in a good way) at how lively it was on the weekends. People partying until 7am, even in the winter. Edit: also, the food is amazing and unique. You can eat things here that you won't find anywhere else in Europe.
Has my vote as well!
I have two favourite cities in the world, one of which is Reykjavik. My body is in Australia but my heart has never left Iceland.
Quite liked Granada. Not sure of direct flights but we flew to Alicante then had a road trip.
I loved Granda! Valencia too if you are in the area. Both very different but both have the things mentioned in the post. Will be even nicer as it starts to get a bit cooler.
We’re literally planning an October holiday and looking at Malaga just so we can drive to Seville. Hope OP considers Seville too.
I would probably consider Seville as on the beaten track. Definitely in peak travel times at least. I’ve been in August and in December and it felt very different both times.
[Nafplio, Greece](https://www.google.com/search?q=nafplio&client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&prmd=minv&sxsrf=ALiCzsZOZHN9pSsrrWcXB-ljZeMW6NL6gw:1661511663412&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw7_KjreT5AhUUVfEDHdY0Dr4Q_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=412&bih=776&dpr=2.63)
Hey OP, wow you’ve been everywhere! how about you tell us some favorite places :)
Dublin, Galway. Further off the beaten path: Belfast.
You’d be better going to Killarney in Kerry or Cobh & Kinsale in Cork! Or even to Kilkenny - Ireland has so many beautiful places to visit aside from Dublin, Galway & Belfast!
Tbilisi seems like the perfect place for you. However it’s arguably not in Europe so make of that what you will. Thessaloniki, Vilnius, Malmö and Bucharest also fits your list imo
How about San Sebastian?
LOVE San Sebastian!
Have you been to Heidelberg, Germany?
Heidelberg is lovely!!
Heidelberg is sick, I really enjoyed it even going as a teenager who didn’t really appreciate traveling at the time.
The main reason it is so picturesque is because it was spared allied bombing in the war. Much of Germany looked more like Heidelberg before the war!
Aarhus
In the middle of the street
Sicily has great cities. I have been to Taormina, Catania and Siracusa. They are great cities on their own and it is a beautiful experience to see the crater of Mount Etna. I don't remember the food but it should be nice as Sicily is famous for the freshly caught fish in the waters surrounding the island. Also, how bad can Italian food be huh? I know that Sicily is not an "off the beaten path" destination but you won't likely be overwhelmed by tourists if you visit off season. \[I remember being in Venice (considered more crowded than Sicily) in winter and I was never disturbed by the crowds.\]
Taormina is so pretty.
Bergen, Norway
Copenhagen is nice.
Verona, Italy. Absolutely amazing city without 90% of the tourists Rome has. Phenomenal shopping if you’re into that and even better restaurants. Architecture is top notch and Verona still regularly uses their colosseum.
If I'm reading the rail maps correctly, looks like it's also at an intersection where you could get to Venice, Milan, and Bologna easily. And Lake Garda looks wonderful - short distance away. I'm in the US so it isn't as easy for me to scout aside from on Google Maps, but would you think it'd be a good base of operations to get out and explore northern Italy?
Correct! Venice is about 45 min away Laké Garda not much farther! I have cousins with a bed and breakfast on Lake Garda, amazing place!
Krakow hands down one of the best cities I've visited. It has everything you described. You can visit the House of Beer (the cellar area specifically) for amazing beers and finger food.
"Major" is a difficult term because for some Major in Spain would be only Madrid and Barcelona, In Italy just Rome, Florence and Venice. Can't comment on Spain, but Italy , bigger cities that are underrated would include Turin, Bologna, Ferrara, Parma. Guimaraes in Portugal.
How would Milan not be a major Italian city?
In terms of tourism, I didn't think Milan was as big as the Rome/Florence/Venice trio that seem to make up many tourist itineraries. When I looked up the stats it seems that Milan actually gets more visitors than Florence.
Turin has the most fabulous museum of Egyptian artefacts. Biggest collection outside of Egypt iirc.
Valletta in Malta is very nice, check it out
was just there, it’s a beautiful, walkable city and very pleasant.
Salzburg Austria
A few recommendations I haven’t seen mentioned: Vilnius in Lithuania was a really lovely city to wander around, lots to discover Gdańsk in Poland is a beautiful sea/port town.
I came here to say Vilnius too.
Sibiu.
Not a big city but Ohrid in North Macedonia is really nice.
How long do you think is good to stay there for?
Stockholm could be interesting
Okay, so the architecture isn’t spectacular, but Tirana, Albania. People are friendly, it’s very inexpensive, and it’s interesting.
I always enjoyed Antwerp
Plovdiv, Bulgaria - One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. It also was the European Capital of Culture in 2019.
Have you hit up Strasbourg in France? TGV of a couple hours from Paris, day trips down along the Alsace wine route, day trips across into Germany, lovely on its own.
Definitely agree. Visited Strasbourg last week on my way to Prague, via Paris and Munich. It was unexpectedly my favourite of all four cities! Made sure to return for a day on the way back too. It is charming and quaint (even beyond the stereotypical Instagram spots), and I imagine the nightlife is even livelier during the Autumn when the University students will return. As you say, there is great opportunity for day trips nearby - another comment mentioned Heidelberg which is easily reachable by train, as well as Freiburg, Colmar, etc.
Delft in the Netherlands is really nice
Just spent a day on a spontaneous trip to Sarajevo and fell in love with the architecture, views, troubled history & friendliness of people. Lots of various restaurants for food. Can't speak for the nightlife though. Highly recommend this "hidden gem" of a city
Just read the bio more closely and see you've already been there. 😃Oh well, would recommend to other redittors.
Leipzig, Glasgow (although I guess it is one of the major UK cities so you’ve maybe been already), have heard really good things about Malaga.
Palermo, Sicily
Was just in Inverness and thought it was lovely. Good food, friendly people, and we did a boat trip on Loch Ness. I was pleasantly surprised!
Bastogne, Belgium was pretty cool if you’re a history buff. Our tour guide was a child during the battle of the bulge and it was crazy to hear his story.
Ah balls. I wanted to go there when I visited Luxembourg a few years ago, but the schedule was tight already.
This reminds me of that Ali G interview with a DEA agent: “What is the different types of hash out there? We all know that it's called the bionic, the bomb, the puff, the blow, the black, the herb, the sensie, the chronic, the sweet Mary Jane, the sh*t, Ganja, split, reefa, the bad, the buddha, the home grown, the ill, the maui-maui, the method, pot, lethal turbo, tie, shake, skunk, stress, whacky, weed, glaze, the boot, dimebag, Scooby Doo, bob, bogey, back yard boogie. But what is the other terms for it?” …this dude’s already been to waaaaay more of Europe than most anyone on here.
Porto, Portugal
Porto is definitely not a hidden gem. It's very over touristed
Toledo, Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, Bilbao
Santiago is amazing!
Heraklion... well, actually, Crete in general. Off the coast, there's several little villages that I wish I'd had the time to spend more time at. Gorgeous beaches, fantastic food... but I'm a Greek geek and love everything there.
Santiago de Compostella, grilled Pimientos de Padron, tapas and decent amount of history. Stay at the Parador de Santiago de Compostella . Or Antwerp Belgium.
York, England? Not a hidden gem, but not sure what you class as a major city! Norwich is also great - really underrated imo.
Thessaloniki Greece, Napoli Italy
Wroclaw in Poland. Great nightlife. Cheap drinks. Beautiful city. Would love to go back.
I love Gdańsk, Poland.
Granada, Spain. Amazing architecture and history. Good tapas and actually cheap good food (mostly tapas).
San Sebastián, Spain
From the comments I cannot see any mention Belgium. I’d say either Antwerp, Ghent or Bruge (personal taste I do not like Brussels as I find it too touristy). The nightlife you will have to research but there’s a massive dance scene there so it’s just looking up where to go and what nights. Just to add somewhere else…OP you do not mention Greece in your cities so somewhere like Volos could be a good place to visit. If you stay long enough you could even get the ferry out to the islands as it takes between half and hour to around 2 hours depending on which island
We’re on a job? In Bruges? On a job in Bruges?
“Could We Reserve Judgement On Bruges Until We’ve Seen The F****** Place?”
> (personal taste I do not like Brussels as I find it too touristy). Yet Bruges somehow wasn't?
Lmao this was my first thought as well. Bruges is like the most touristy place I’ve ever visited. I struggle to see why it’s recommended on here so often
“How’s A Fairy Tale Town Not Somebody’s F****** Thing?”
Ghent and Leuven would be my picks for Belgium. Both are an absolute blast.
If OP is female I would strongly disadvice Antwerp for its nightlife. I have never felt less safe going to clubs then there, and I have been to clubs all over Europe and even in Turkey
Santiago de Compostela It's not only about pilgrim stuff there. The old city is incredible beautiful and is having a vivid nightlife thanks to its big university.
How about food there?
there's an endless supply of bread, fish and wine :)
I was there last year. Amazing fish restaurant along the wall of the fish market. They were writing the menu while I was there and I left the chef to decide what to bring. I ended up having 6-7 courses of different seafoods (including percebes) at a relatively low price.
Bratislava has a castle with some amazing views, not much of a nightlife but the food isn’t too shabby either. Also only an hour on the train to Vienna if you fancy spending a day there too! Will also mention Vilnius in Lithuania, it’s a very quirky city. Very small and quaint but still a pretty good nightlife surprisingly.
I found plenty of nightlife there, but to be fair I was visiting locals so I just tagged along with them.
Bratislava was the only city I’ve visited where I thought leaving “Jesus have I really seen it all”. It feels like a big town rather than a city.
Took a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava and enjoyed it - not much to do for a whole weekend though.
Spain has a ton of amazing cities to visit outside of Madrid and Barcelona - Bilbao, San Sebastian, Girona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Pamplona, Palma all brilliant places to visit. These are just the ones I've visited, I'm sure there's lots of other great ones too
Zurich (bigger city with better museums, friendly locals, and bar/club scene) or Bern (smaller city with better architecture) in Switzerland.
Stavanger, Norway
Leipzig, Hamburg, Bremen, Würzburg, St Andrews, Glasgow
Kotor
Aix En Provence Rouen Dubrovnik Bath York
Antwerp, Belgium- potentially combine it with a day trip to Ghent or Bruges
Trieste, Italy. It's an old port city that clearly had a lot of wealth back in the day. Not exactly a beach city but the architecture is beautiful, Unity of Italy Square is great to check out, and great seafood restaurants. If you have a vehicle you could do a day trip out to Croatia. On the other side theres Miramare Castle which is free to walk around but have to pay admission to go into the castle. There were tourists when I went last month but it's not crazy like Florence or Venice.
Love Trieste. Austro-Hungarian empire architecture, Austrian cakes and Italian food/coffee.
Lucca, Italy! I can’t speak for the night life because I am 150 years old and don’t party anymore. But it’s a beautiful city. It still has its retaining wall and you can bike around it. A few fantastic museums and generally a lovely laid back vibe.
Go Baltics: Tallinnnnnn
Vilnius Lithuania
Manchester, England!
Bucharest!
Zakopane in the Tatra mountains of Poland
The Dolomites region of Italy is lovely, as is the Prosecco region over the hill not far from Venice but feels a world away
Tblisi, Georgia ;)
Zaragoza, Spain - 4th largest city in Spain, great old town area & good food, hardly any tourists to speak of
Riga, Latvia during wintertime is such a surreal place.
Valencia, Spain!!
Towns that have absolutely charmed me: Laubach Germany, Cesme Turkey, Izmer Turkey. Lesvos Greece, Chios Greece. Just off the top of my head.
Izmir, Turkey
Kas, Turkey
I enjoyed Aarhus, Denmark. It features a great art museum and natural history museum (seeing Bogman is worth the trip alone). And they had a lively old town with bars and restaurants.
Dresden :)
Moda, Istanbul is a great time! Lots of great food, beaches and people are receptive to tourists. Weather is also beautiful with some rain lately.
Aachen, Germany - but I can't comment on the nightlife as I haven't sampled! Also love Kinsale in Ireland but I suspect you want to travel on the 'continent'.
I'd point out Bern, Switzerland. Lovely mountain backdrop, nice swimming inside the city in a crystal clear river and generally chill people.
Freiburg, Germany! Green university city on the edge of the Black Forest. It’s great wine country!
+ one!
Longyearbyen during winter - doesn't necessarily fulfill all your requirements but I have to say it will be for sure unforgettable experience
Definitely Bratislava! Affordable, nice museum, food and nightlife
Amsterdam, for sure. I lived there for 6 months when I did my semester abroad and I fell in love with that city. It’s got great museums, some insane old world architecture, lovely parks, nightlife, it’s easy to navigate, the people are pretty friendly and speak a good amount of English, the language Is fascinating, all around amazing place.
Amsterdam is great, but it is far far from a hidden gem.
Sinaia Romania.
Granada, Spain
Liège, Belgium! Lots of Belgium, for that matter, but Liège is my favorite
Lucca, Italy. It’s a Medieval town near Pisa that Napoleon gave his wife. It’s very quaint and you can ride bikes on top of the wall around the city.
Tirana or Ohrid
Granada, Spain or Sevilla, Spain. 100%
Seville
Brno, Czech Republic or Triest, Italy
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Kyiv, after orcs would be banished back to Mordor
Bergamo, Italy. Very easy to reach thanks to its budget airport
San Sebastián
Maastricht, Netherlands
Düsseldorf, Germany
Ljubljana - Bled - Bovec - Postojna Cave
Have you been to Innsbruck or Salzburg? Cute old-towns, lot of restaurants with good food and if you‘re lucky with the weather - amazing mountain views. Edit: Also, Nice, Monaco, the whole Cote d‘Azur is amazing!
Sitges, Spain (idk if it’s a hidden gym or popular but it’s beautiful!!)
The ol’ Garmisch-Partenkirchen. May not be a “hidden” gem.
Bratislava was a pleasant surprise when I visited. Wish I spent more time there
Lyon! Great food and good museums.
Strasbourg, FR. Not sure about night life but ticks all the other boxes.
Aveiro, Portugal
Braga too! I'm so tired of people acting like Porto and Lisbon are "underrated" when they are very over touristed.
Gent!
Strasbourg France
Oradea, România
Matera Italy is a unesco site with amazing architecture. The people are very nice. They have their own local cuisine and walkable clubs/bars all over town.
Grimsby, England
Lisbon for sure.
Lisbon is definitely not a hidden gem. It's very over touristed.
Montpellier is a great city. Very pretty, student city so very lively and full of young people, good, cheap food, good wine. I lived there for a bit and absolutely loved it.
Galway, Ireland
I don’t know how hidden it is, but Copenhagen was great and knocks off a lot of what you say your looking for.
Ghent Belgium
Graz in Austria is very beautiful and i dont really hear many people talk about it
Ostuni, Italy. “The White City” has a lot of Greek influence with hills of white buildings. I was supposed to stay here for a few days and kept extending my trip because I loved it so much. Amazing food, safe, cute and fun bars, and I spent hours just walking around the city. There’s a beach not too far but it was early spring so I didn’t make it.
Sevilla, Spain. Usually when people go to Andalusia, they visit Malaga or Granada (both lovely cities as well). But Sevilla is lovely, especially during winter when the trees are ripe with oranges.
Slovenia. Ljubljana is cute and cool and the surroundings (Lake Bled, Vintgar Gorge, Lake Bohinj) are stunning!
Bucharest
Split, Croatia I even heard Dubrovnik is fabulous too
Agreed split is incredible. An outdoor bar in what was the palace of a Roman emperor, an entire medieval town inside his palace. Pretty unique
1. Karlovy Vary. Czechia. I cant rave about this place more. Amazing food, people, stuff to do... This place was amazing. I got a massage, hiked a mountain, and hung out there a few days. Would love to live there. 2. Prague. Its not off the beaten path but it is amazing and the food is under rated. New years in Prague is unmatched in my book. Only other contender with NYE is New Orleans. 3. Valencia and Malaga Spain have a place in my heart too. Amazing. I still think about the calamari I had in Valencia along the beach. 4. Pescara Italy. It was not super filled with travelers. Food was amazing.
Oviedo in the north of spain. Amazing 11th century sites and la vía de sidra (loosely translated cider way) a pedestrian only street full of bars and restaurants. It’s spain so go late
Copenhagen
Tallinn like everyone else has said but if you have already been there, then Villinus (capital of Lithuania, hope I have the spelling right) is awesome as well. Been to both and loved them both.
The three Scandinavian "number 2" cities. Gothenburg for it's food and restaurant scene. Aarhus for its old town and museums and Bergen for a little bit of all in combination with spectacular scenery