# What is your favorite European city and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629 "2012-04-13T02:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/61 "2012-09-20T16:13:21Z")
I think my favorite city in Italy is Trieste, which is funny because it may be the least Italian-feeling city in Italy (it was a city-state for a long while, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and didn’t become part of Italy until 1920). But it’s just beautiful – the way it sits on a mountainside overlooking the Adriatic, the wedding-cake architecture of the buildings around the piazza, the cathedral of St. Justus that dates to the 6th century, all the hills and the very rich history… I’d love to go back. Assisi is another favorite Italian city, both for its history and its modern charm. I see this on its wiki page: > [@](#): > > Festival Calendimaggio, held on 1–5 May, is a re-enactment of medieval and Renaissance life in the form of a challenge between the upper faction and the lower faction of the town. It includes processions, theatrical presentations, flag-weavers and dances. How cool is that?! Somebody, go to Assisi next May for this and report back. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/62 "2012-09-20T23:28:41Z")
#1 has to be Paris. It has everything I could ever want in a city. I even toyed with the idea of moving there once . . . but then it would no longer be special. The town of Nice is my runner-up. It’s like a compact version of Paris . . . plus a beach. And many other towns along what we call the “Riviera.” Honorable mention would go to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna and Venice. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/63 "2012-09-20T23:49:58Z")
Another voice for Istanbul. I was bowled over by the history, and the beauty. The intoxicating smells of the spice bazaar. The glorious tiles. The fabulous mosques, the Bosphorous, the Hagia Sophia. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/64 "2012-09-21T03:06:09Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > I’ll try to recommend some cities you won’t hear too much of: > > Bordeaux (cheap, great wine and easy access to many great little small towns) > Krakow > Budapest > **Liege** > Corfu (Kerkyra–cheating because it’s an Island) Liège? Are you just going out of your way to name the continent’s crappiest city, to seem edgy and with it? It’s honestly like saying that Detroit is the prettiest city in North America. Do you really mean Liège? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/65 "2012-09-21T17:06:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > To rank the three (post visit): > > 1. Istanbul > 2. Rome > … > 3. Athens > > No, we didn’t go to 17 different cities, it’s just that Athens was much ado about nothing. Istanbul was awesome and Rome was great (but expensive - $6 for a can of Coca-Cola?) I will stick with my choice upthread about Berlin, but I actually liked Athens - nice people, great food, and tons of things to do! Regarding $6 for a can of Coke in Rome - trust me, you can spend far more than that in many cities, even at places here in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/66 "2012-09-21T18:20:55Z")
I will say that our Athens experience suffered because the ship was only in port for 1 day, as opposed to 2 in Istanbul. We spent 5 days in Rome after the cruise. But I would pay to go back to Istanbul, and Rome, and even Ephesus. But I don’t think I would pay to go back to Athens… ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/67 "2012-09-21T18:36:27Z")
Paris Barcelona Luxembourg Amsterdam London Lausanne Pisa All European cities are wonderful destinations but Paris is the creme de la creme. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/68 "2012-09-21T18:42:22Z")
I’ll just rank the European cities that I’ve spent more than a day in, with a blurb about each. #1: London. Like others have said, it’s just spectacular. Great tourist attractions, extraordinarily cosmopolitan feel, relatively clean and everything works. #2: Rome: Incredibly historic- you have something like 2400 years of history in one city, some of it still standing and in use. Plus, it’s a modern big city, and has all that comes with that. #3: Prague: Maybe not as historic as Rome, or as cosmopolitan or well organized as London, but really beautiful, with extremely friendly people, and a really nice feel to it. Terrific beer and good food as well! Kind of dirty though. #4: Edinburgh: Kind of like Prague, but full of Scots, who I happen to really like and get along with. #5: Budapest: It had a strange feel to it, but the people were good, and the place has some really interesting things. Plus, the Hungarian people and language are different from the rest of Europe, so it’s interesting for that as well. It is a beautiful city as well, but has that Eastern European/Paris/Brussels grunge to it though. #6: Florence: Really touristy, but very pretty, and with good food and some of the world’s best art. #7: Oxford: Did a study abroad here. Fun place, very historical and worth seeing if you’re in the UK. #7: Amsterdam: I didn’t spend long enough there to really get a great feel for the place, but what I did see, I liked a lot. Very friendly, very clean, very well run (like the Netherlands in general). I didn’t feel like some gypsies would pickpocket me in Amsterdam, unlike most other European cities. #8: Paris: Astoundingly pretty city, but filthy dirty, and full of Parisians, who seem to be their own brand of rude, unlike any other. Great tourist attractions and stellar food though. #9: Brussels: Good food and beer, and that’s about it. Places I’ve day-tripped to: Bruges: Really touristy and crowded (at least when I was there), but still a fun city. Ghent: Less touristy than Bruges, but still has interesting things to see. Delft: Neat stuff to see, nice people, etc… Utrecht: Neat stuff, nice folks, but not much in the way of touristy stuff. York: Pretty cool- the Minster and the Shambles are definitely neat to see. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/69 "2012-09-21T20:23:10Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Liège? Are you just going out of your way to name the continent’s crappiest city, to seem edgy and with it? It’s honestly like saying that Detroit is the prettiest city in North America. Do you really mean Liège? Absolutely–loved it there. If I wanted to be “edgy” I might have chosen Hamburg. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/70 "2012-09-22T21:52:04Z")
To live in or to visit? The answers would be different in my case. I believe I’d like living in Berlin because it seems to have a wide variety of distinct districts and neighborhoods each with its own feel. Some are very urban and some are more suburban, with lots of greenspace and quiet residential streets. At the same time, all of it is interconnected by Berlin’s world class transit system. Throw in the city’s very considerable cultural heritage and I’m sold. On the other hand, Rome has a longer and (in my opinion) more interesting history. There are more individual things in that city that I want to see; I could visit there for a month and still only have scratched the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/71 "2012-09-22T22:27:55Z")
London is my favorite city. Why? because it is the only European city I have spent any amount of time in. I really adored Lugano, Switzerland, but I only spend one day there. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/72 "2012-09-22T22:41:49Z")
Of the not so often mentioned: Sarajevo (mentioned once up thread) and Ljubljana. Sarajevo is really different. A stunningly beautiful city with great night life, but the strange feeling of the recent history still hangs around. The people take a little getting used to: like many places in Eastern Europe smiling is not a default position so at first they seem unfriendly. They are actually really great, funny and helpful people. Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia. Slovenia is the cutest country in the world. It’s the size of a thimble and you can pretty much see most of Ljubljana by standing in the main square and turning 360 degrees. It’s a cool little town though and really pretty. There is a beautiful (and of course small) river running through the centre, with plenty of cafe just off it. There is an awesome castle on a hill in the middle. There are restaurants and museums and a markets. And Slovenian people are gorgeous. That was just to add to different options to the list. Otherwise my list would predictably be: London, Rome, Paris, Budapest, Porto (over Lisbon), Amsterdam, Edinburgh. In no particular order. Budapest and Porto are the only remotely affordable ones. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/73 "2012-09-23T02:28:48Z")
Ljubljana and Edinburgh. And if you go to Ljubljana, make a side trip to Piran… Wow - somebody else mentioned Ljubljana. In addition to what he/she/it said, I’ll add that Slovenian people are very friendly. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/74 "2012-09-23T18:16:53Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I really adored Lugano, Switzerland, but I only spend one day there. I used to work in Lugano every summer, for seven years - and yes, it is a truly beautiful city with lots to do, and close to places with even more things to do. I believe it is known as “The jewel of Switzerland” because of it’s rather lush surroundings (palm trees and southern European flair) and it a popular destination, even for the Swiss. A tad on the pricey side, to say the least, but worthy of a couple days to stop and visit, should you be taking a train from northern Europe to Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/75 "2012-09-24T15:39:26Z")
London without a doubt. Amsterdam, Prague and Istanbul are good too. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/76 "2012-09-24T16:47:27Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Wow - somebody else mentioned Ljubljana. In addition to what he/she/it said, I’ll add that Slovenian people are very friendly. Well I am going to use this statement as a flimsy excuse to post my vacation [photos](http://www.flickr.com/photos/9634145@N03/collections/72157631610528324/) which include a day in that city (although most of our Slovenia time was based in Bled, which also has a fine, picturesque castle). Also add a vote for Venice (where I was yesterday \<– attempting to evoke jealousy). I swear that it is impossible to take an ugly photograph in Venice. If you dropped a dog turd on the ground and pointed your camera at it, some amazing sculpture would jump in the way before you could hit the shutter. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/77 "2012-09-24T17:02:48Z")
My top 3 right now: Paris. Something magical about driving from Arc de Triomphe up through La Defense. Paris just feels perfect, at least in the first 12 arrondissements. Amsterdam. Easy to overlook it seems as it’s taken for granted in a weird way. There’s just a peacefulness to the city that can’t be broken. Istanbul. I think of Paris as a woman and Istanbul as a man. There’s something strong and proud about this city and its rough edges makes it all the more endearing. (I’m heading to Riga and Tallinn for the first time in a couple weeks and maybe Malta before the end of the year. I majored in German 20 years ago and still haven’t been to that country yet…) ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629/78 "2012-09-24T20:44:37Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Ljubljana and Edinburgh. And if you go to Ljubljana, make a side trip to Piran… > > Wow - somebody else mentioned Ljubljana. In addition to what he/she/it said, I’ll add that Slovenian people are very friendly. Seconding the super-friendly Slovenians and seconding Piran. Man I love Slovenia. So much awesomeness squeezed into a tiny country 😃 (ETA she, for future reference) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-european-city-and-why/618629.md?page=3)