The best city in Europe (not in the UK)

I am leaving UK out because I don't want this to turn into a Manchester V Newcastle, London v Birmingham type debate.

I've not been to that many of the major European cities, only really Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona. I am not sure which one I like the best, I am inclinded to say Barcelona because of the climate, it just seems to have somthing for everybody, a beach, the buildings, the food, the drink etc.

Paris is a lovely city but a little expensive and the climate is too similar to the UKs

Amsterdam is a bit odd, I had one of my best ever nights here (and its not what you think!!). I think maybe its a little expensive again (especialy the hotels).

I liked barcelona because you can stay in 4 star hotels for £40 a night in peak season, pop in a 5 minute tram ride to Port Olympic and get drunk quite cheaply at a bar by the beach.

I prefer all three of these cities to London anyway

 

Go North.

Rather taken by Helsinki and Leningrad when I visited a while ago a good few years ago before the fall of the Evil Empire. Since then these gems have been splashed all over the Saturday Guardian Travel section every other month and are now stuffed with and by lots of tourists.

Auric

 

Lisbon, Barcelona and Paris

Michael.

 

well im biased but amsterdam wins for me every time,something for everyone,even your granny would find something to do,most locals are very friendly,prices compare favroble to central london and as for hotels being expensive, hows £70 a night sound for a luxury 2 bed appartment,easy walking distance to most of the tourist sites,but off the beaten track enough to relax ?
roll on the end of september

 

paris for me, I love the place.

Chris

 

Barcelona is a top place, but Prague in 1987 was paradise. It's full of tourists nowadays, mind you.

-- Ian

 

Venice - apart from the tourists.

Bern, infact most of Switzerland is lovely.

 

Grenoble - fantastic scenery all around which changes dramatically with the seasons. Not too big, not too small and plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry.

Montpellier - much the same reasons as Barcelona, but with a language I can speak

 

Another vote for Helsinki

 

Another vote for Venice.

 

PRAGUE - Fantastic place, and 45p per pint !

 

The best city in Europe for what?
Living (alone or with family), holydays, shopping,...?

 

Wow.. this is difficult.

I've never been struck by Paris to be honest.

Lisbon has some really beautiful parts, plus it has a pretty good climate and is close to the coast.

Stocholm has a nice "old city" and has a very beautiful natural setting and a very clean underground system.

Lusanne in Switzerland is nice, particularly down by the lake. I didn't like Zurich much though, probably because I couldn't afford to do anything there it was so expensive.

What little I saw of Madrid was ok, though the drivers are completely mad, (like Lisbon).



I have to say though, that for sheer beauty of setting no city that I've been to beats Rio, (ok ok.. I know it's not in Europe).

GTM

 

Huh?

My vote goes to the small Umbrian hill towns in Italy: Gubbio, Montefalco, Todi.


Regards,

L.

 

I visited Leningrad and Helsinki in 1986 when the Cold War was still bubbling away under the surface hence the remark about the "Evil Empire" but it only applied to the Leningrad portion of my trip.

Helsinki was open, enjoyable and utterly entrancing whilst Leningrad I found to be foreign, exotic and slightly dark. Two exciting cities offering contrasting views of life at opposing ends of the late 1980's world view of things.

Auric

 

I had a great time in and around Munich for 10 days a couple of weeks or so ago. I drank far more than my fare share of the local Lager every single night and can't recall ever waking up with a hangover or headache, very strange. Plenty of cultural things to do too, with lots of Photo oppurtunities, the Cathedrals in the city centre are huge with their large imposing towers and spires. Obviously a visit to one of the many Bier Kellers was a must do, seeing the tasty Bar chicks delivering upto 6 or 7 1 Litre steins of lager in each hand was impressive, what a grip :MILD: i could hardly pick up one after a few hours and then only with two hands . I lived in Germany far a couple of years in the late 80's , After reading so much crap in the papers over the last few years ( probably mostly English football related) i'd forgotten just how nice and friendly German folk where, a most enjoyble visit. Also like a lot of European countries , a public transport system that actually works really very well !

Penance,

I met some guys who work in Bern, (in fact they where on the same course as me). Most of them seemed to live just over the border in France as they said it was cheaper that way. They also said that there where some very strict and weird Domestic type bye-laws in place. Stuff like you can't do your washing on a Sunday, or flush the Toilet after 11pm when living in an apartment block. I presume they where pulling my leg ?
I had half a chance to go over to Bern next week to do some work for 2.5 weeks, unfortunately the new boys in our company are going instead due to manpower shortages in the UK, sometimes having time/experience can have drawabacks. Sounds like it might be worth trying to get out there next time though ? ( strictly summer only for me though- i don't do snow ).

 

Just what you prefer, so it could be a mixture of all.

Personaly I like cities, beaches, bars shops, transport, site seeing etc which is why I liked Barcelona so much.

I find Paris an odd city but I think I like it because it has flair, this somthing that London lacks.

 

In Europe, Budapest gets my vote for eating, letching :MILD: and sheer value.

Just outside Europe - I love Marrakesh. Exotic in itself and a great springboard for the mountains and desert.

The pits - Utrecht and Frankfurt.

 

Oh man, I hear you with Utrecht - though there are a couple of great restaurants nearby. Can't remember the names, but one of them is halfway between Utrecht and De Meerns (where we have our office) - I'd recommend the Ostrich steak!

I'll add Munich to the dump list too.

 

Frankfurt ??

My only exerience was of turning in to a side street and coming face to face with a group of Heroin junkies literally shooting up in front of me and my freinds. The worst bit was, we walked passed and through an archway only to find ourselves on Frankfurts main road outside the main railways station with hundreds of tourists walking around totally oblivious to what was happening just yards away.


GTM