European Cities

granger

granger

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A place if people are interested to post on places they visited and liked

I'm just back from Copenhagen, my first time

Well connected by metro and were plenty of opportunities for walking which I do enjoy

Two nice nature walks within the city as well as guided bike and walking tours

Yes, it is expensive, I wouldn't necessarily hurry back but it was fine for a first experience

Lisbon on the other hand, I visited in September and thoroughly recommend

Everything is reasonably priced, great metro and much original beauty. Even the street drug pushers were friendly chaps.

Lots of pastry and cake shops, accommodation in a city centre apartment was great and got to see benfica play for less than 30 quid.

Will visit Lisbon again in 2023
 
Had a long weekend in Copenhagen in 2017. Great place.

Oslo in winter is truly magical (metro/tram ride up to the Holmenkollen is beautiful), but it is very, very, expensive - equivalent of £20 for a pint and a glass of red wine for me and Mrs Grass.
 
Seville....did a solo trip a few year ago as none of my friends were able to come and I thoroughly recommend it especially as a solo female traveller. Quite compact so easy to walk around too and so much to see. Goes without saying that the food was fantastic.

I did an Airbnb at €24/night. Took a bus down to Cadiz for the day and stayed one night (again Airbnb) in Jerez so I could go an see the dancing horses (like the Lipizzaners of Austria).

I’d definitely go back.
 
jinnyj said:
Seville....did a solo trip a few year ago as none of my friends were able to come and I thoroughly recommend it especially as a solo female traveller. Quite compact so easy to walk around too and so much to see. Goes without saying that the food was fantastic.

I did an Airbnb at €24/night. Took a bus down to Cadiz for the day and stayed one night (again Airbnb) in Jerez so I could go an see the dancing horses (like the Lipizzaners of Austria).

I’d definitely go back.
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Seville is fantastic and incredibly hot from May onwards. Outdoor tapas bars galore.

Been lucky enough to go to many but for all it’s expensive and crowded at the wrong time, Rome is the one that literally blew me away.
 
Back in 1976-77 when I was living/working in Bordeaux I'd spent most of the year making excuses for not joining fellow language assistants on jaunts to Paris but come the spring I decided it would be wrong to spend a year in the country and not visit the place so I bit the bullet, went up for one of the early Longchamp meetings and spent the rest of the next week kicking myself for being so stupid in the first place.

It's an awesome place.

I was back fairly regularly after that, mainly for race weekends.
 
Desert Orchid said:
Back in 1976-77 when I was living/working in Bordeaux I'd spent most of the year making excuses for not joining fellow language assistants on jaunts to Paris but come the spring I decided it would be wrong to spend a year in the country and not visit the place so I bit the bullet, went up for one of the early Longchamp meetings and spent the rest of the next week kicking myself for being so stupid in the first place.

It's an awesome place.

I was back fairly regularly after that, mainly for race weekends.
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Go to Galway or Kilkenny

Both have racetracks near and are easier to enjoy than Dublin which sadly in the city centre is now a shadow of what it was
 
Once spent 3 days in East Berlin (an iron curtain city in those days) and, although it was interesting historically, the poverty was almost unimaginable for a once proud Capital. Actually saw ctizens queueing to buy rotten grapes off a horse drawn cart, and similar, early morning to buy a gas cooker from the showroom below our hotel.
A 5* hotel bang in the city centre, but the food was atrocious. Admittedy not a fan of smoked food, but never eaten less on a 3 day jaunt, before or since.
The world famous zoo lived up to its billing, but some of its inmates looked as poorly fed as the general public.
 
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Desert Orchid said:
I was once told Riga had the highest proportion of beautiful women in the world.

I've wanted to go there ever since, preferably on my own...
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I was seeing a Latvian lady at the time.

She lived in a place called Ventspills. I saw the Baltic Sea, Russia directly opposite.

She lives in Durham and is married with kids now. I keep in touch with her family. No hard feelings I hope.
 
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Not a city (I think) but I've been spending a couple of months a year in Nerja over the last few years and can't get enough of the place. Suits me.

Other cities in order of my enjoyment.

1. Munich
2. Paris
3. Rome
4. Amsterdam
5. BIarritz

Hated Copenhagan.

(ps..I have anew dog who brings me a glass of red wine in the evening. I think that he's a Bordeaux Collie.)
 
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My parents used to live in Torrox which isn't too far from Nerja, it's very nice. Picturesque and not too touristy.

Top 3 Euro Cities I've been to:

1. Amsterdam - Went for the blow, stayed for the ho's (I was very young)
2. Vienna - History, the buildings, great shopping, fantastic metro system.
3. Cologne - I love a city with a big **** off river in the middle of it. The famous Cathedral is breathtaking and Krefeld isn't too far. Really nice track.
 
I visit Amsterdam up to 6 times a year with work - it is still a very cool city with excellent english and things to do

I have a friend who now lives in Greece so, do plan to visit there in 2023

Been to Madrid twice this year, it is nice but preferred Portugal

Was in Riga, many moons ago when it was maybe still a bit backward, am sure it is a ifferent place now

Prague was also a place where I had a great weekend...

And perhaps maybe most surprising, the best stag I was on over the last ten years was in Glasgow
 
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granger said:
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Great food, lovely beaches, spotlessly clean, no stag/hen parties, walking in the Sierra Nevada hills close by, golf, Spanish feel, not too many restaurants have plastic chairs and phot's of the menu, wrinkly demographic - all the things I seem to need these days. And most importantly, 'she who must be obeyed' finds relaxation and contentment too.

Euro: Regulary walk to Torrox Costa - lovely spot too.
 
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Euronymous said:
My parents used to live in Torrox which isn't too far from Nerja, it's very nice. Picturesque and not too touristy.
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Yes, I once had a solo week in Nerja and really liked the place. Also visited Torrox once day and fancied the idea of living there.

Bastartin Brexit has knocked all that on the head for now.

I actually quite like Fuengirola. Very much a functional Spanish town/city but the rail connection to Malaga airport is a huge plus. A short train journey form F into Malaga city. The older part of town is amazing to explore on foot.

(And it has two El Corte Ingles stores so Mrs O likes it as well.)
 
Go to the northern half of Europe in the better months of the year. The Baltic has beautiful summers when the cities open out into a lively street life. Nowhere is nicer than Stockholm, but Copenhagen is much more attractive than it used to be and Helsinki is enjoyable too. But at this darker and colder time of the year these places are very different, more closed up.

Berlin is a great city, full of history and culture of all kinds from highbrow to alternative. It's very buzzy but it's not especially pretty, and its winters are harsh, best to wait until summer to go there too.

This is the time of year for going south, but some of the old favourites are not what they were. Barcelona is overrun, Madrid is not as cool as it once was, and even Seville is starting to will under an assault by mass weekend tourism. My new favourite in Spain is Jerez, especially if you enjoy flamenco music and dance.

Rome is wonderful too, but bring a good guide book because while some restaurants and cafes are as good as you'll get, a lot are disappointing. I've never got Milan, but just about any other Italian city or town I've been to has been wonderful, even overcrowded Venice.


The great cities of central Europe shouldn't be left off the list either; there's no fear of ever running out of interesting places to visit.
 
Bruges is very pretty, but it's purely a tourist town with no real heart to it. Gent and Antwerp are attractive cities and enjoyable places to visit, and in general the Flemish towns have more to offer than the Walloon ones. Brussels is also a more interesting place than its reputation suggests but it takes a bit of getting to know.
 
Grey said:
Bruges is very pretty, but it's purely a tourist town with no real heart to it. Gent and Antwerp are attractive cities and enjoyable places to visit, and in general the Flemish towns have more to offer than the Walloon ones. Brussels is also a more interesting place than its reputation suggests but it takes a bit of getting to know.
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As a current resident of Brussels I would agree with all of that, particularly Bruges which was a big let down to be honest. A recent place that I discovered is Genval which is stunningly beautiful.

As part of my previous job I visited pretty much every MS of the EU, mostly capital cities, and I have to say the nicest was Ljubljana in Slovenia, closely followed by Vienna.
 
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