Nearly everyone’s first trip to Europe looks the same. You hit up London, Amsterdam, Paris, and then plus or minus Zurich/Lauterbrunnen (fresh Swiss mountain air/chocolate and for those with a sky-diving death wish), Berlin (if you’re particularly awesome ;)), Barcelona (those beaches….), Venice and Milan (if you venture south to Italy), Salzburg (for the sound of music/Mozart people), and Prague (for everyone who’s heard ‘oh you’ll have to go to Prague, it’s so undiscovered and fresh – FYI: this was true 10 years ago. Now, Budapest is ‘fun, new and fresh’, but by the time you read this, it probably won’t be).
Most of the time, it’s big highlights. And definitely worthwhile. Western Europe is full of world class museums, architecture, incredible food, nightlife, and it’s just foreign enough for tourists to come visit and feel that they’ve had a great experience, and they haven’t (for the most part) overexerted their cultural comfort meter, or put themselves in situations that a first time globe trotter can’t get out of.
But what about everything in between London and Prague? The Iron Curtain of the last century still evokes ‘do not pass’ in many previous generations’ minds, and it is perhaps this reason that first timers stick mostly to Western Europe. But they risk missing out on cheaper, (literally) more colourful, parts of Europe that are perfectly safe, easy to get to, and beautiful. But if you’re determined to limit your country number (a wise choice for first or second timers), and still see ‘it all’, why not sprinkle some of these gems between your big-city-hopping.
1. Oxford, England
You’re probably visiting jolly old England to see Big Ben and the dozen other touristy things to see and do in London. But why not check out nearby areas? England is a tiny country, with amazing rail and bus networks, connecting you from London to Edinburgh in as little as 5 hours. (But please don’t do this for the same reasons you’re leaving London – you’ll miss my favourite parts of England!)
Oxford is probably most known for its university. But it also has beautiful narrow streets full of stone buildings, family-run shops, and three locations at Christ Church College were used in the Harry Potter movies (the staircase leading up to the great hall, the Bodleian Library – used as the infirmary, and where Professor McGonigal teaches the students to dance, and finally, the real great hall, where inspiration was drawn from to create the movie great hall).
Entry to the Great Hall – sorting ceremony, anyone?
2. Reims, France
Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world. I love absolutely everything about it, and would probably be content to live the rest of my life in the City of Lights.
But if I’d truly done that, I wouldn’t have discovered Reims.
It was my love of French wine, and specifically, champagne, that originally took me to Reims, but it was the amazingly friendly locals, the inexpensive but delicious family-run restaurants, the stunning scenery, and of course, the champagne, that made me fall in love with the town in less than a day, and constantly make me think back on it as an idyllic place to spend more time.
I wrote an entire blog post about the time I rode a bicycle from Reims to Epernay, along the champagne trail. Check out that particular adventure here.
One day soon, I’ll be back for longer!
“come quickly, I am tasting stars!”
3. Seville, Spain
The only reason I went to Seville was because I loved the opera ‘the barber of Seville’. And really, it was probably more of an ‘oh I’ve heard of this town! I need to see it!’ kind of love.
While Seville is just about 1000 kilometres from Barcelona (no small distance for sure!), Spain’s high speed Ave trains can cover the distance in just five hours. Take an early morning train and you’ll be at your hotel in time for the town-wide siesta.
Seville is the only city I’ve ever seen natural, non-tourist-trap, passionate, creative flamenco dance. I’ve gone to the evening shows, had my one drink and paid 20€ to see beautifully costumed, obviously talented-but-working-for-tourists dancers. It’s a great show. But just that. A show.
I was walking along a random street in Seville when I heard music. (If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll know my best advice to myself, and you, is that you should follow the music whenever you hear it!). So I followed it and I came to a small gathering of young college-looking students. A few had instruments and a jam session had broken out. Nobody else was paying them much attention so I pretended to be quite interested in a nearby building.
All of a sudden, the music intensified and a woman started to dance. Obviously improvised, but it grew more and more passionate, the music and dance a wild romance (to my mind at least).
An elderly man was making his way slowly across the street but as he neared, he started to dance as well, executing perfect stomps, steps, twirls, while not three minutes earlier, I would have questioned his ability to walk.
As quickly as the impromptu dance had begun, it broke up and the street returned to its non-magical prior normalcy, but that perfect moment has forever ingrained Seville in my mind, and on my list of top smaller cities that you need to make time for!
4. Gimmelwald, Switzerland
You can’t really go wrong with many little Swiss towns, but Gimmelwald is one of my favourites, and is one of very few that has a hostel, which means your stay in a pretty expensive country doesn’t have to be ridiculously expensive.
Gimmelwald is accessible via a cable car that you catch from Lauterbrunnen. You can also choose to hike a reasonable gentle hike through the mountains, but it takes a large part of the day (think 5-7 hours).
Make sure you bring your own food, as the closest grocery store to the town is a 40 minute hike away (Murren). While there are a few restaurants in town, and some locals offer cheese and meat for sale, it can be expensive and not always available.
If you choose to stay in the Mountain Hostel, breakfast is provided and because almost every there is on a budget, the kitchen is a wonderful place to meet fellow travelers around meal times.
Gimmelwald is a car-less town and the views are unbelievable. While there isn’t much to do around town, it’s an excellent place to relax.
5. Orvieto, Italy
Italy’s Tuscany/Umbria area is full of stunning hill towns, each probably more beautiful than the last. These are quiet towns with locally owned restaurants and hotels. There is nothing like enjoying a stunning sunset over the hills while enjoying a 3€ glass of chianti.
These towns have narrow, winding roads, cozy town squares, and offer very reasonable prices, especially compared to tourist-heavy areas in larger centres.
Orvieto is a gateway to many of these towns, with the central train station connecting you to Florence, Rome and beyond within an hour or less. From Orvieto you can reach Civita, Siena, Arezzo, Ponterio, Assisi and more by bus and train. As such, Orvieto can be busy during the day with tourists only visiting for a few hours. But after about 4pm, the town slows down and becomes a beautiful Italian haven.
Orvieto Cathedral
6. Brno, Czech Republic (Czechia)
Chances are probably pretty good that you have a friend, a relative, or a co-worker that tells you that you need to go to Prague. While a good idea, it would be too bad if all you saw of this beautiful country was the overrun, touristy, rapidly-getting-expensive city of Prague.
Brno is a short 2.5 hour direct train journey from Prague. The city has a beautiful old town area with baroque-style churches, narrow winding streets and welcoming locals. The city has not yet been inundated with tourism, and prices are still cheap.
7. Krakow, Poland
While most people use Krakow as a jump-off pont to do a day trip out to Auschwitz/Birkenaw or to the Weilikza Salt Mines. Though both incredible and valuable not-to-be-missed day trips, Krakow should not be given a mere night or two. The city bustles with energy and has an amazing artsy/music-vibe. Prices are very cheap, and it’s not uncommon to get a hostel bed and breakfast for less than 10$.
Free walking tours are offered and are an incredible source of local information (meeting every day at the old town square), and there are dozens of small, family-run restaurants.
Don’t miss the royal chamber orchestra that plays every other evening in the church of st Adalbert in the main square. Tickets are about 16$, but are well worth it for music lovers.
8. L’viv, Ukraine
Lviv is one of the most Western cities in Ukraine, both in proximity, and in their way of life. The city is vibrant, youthful, energetic, and extremely inexpensive. A nights stay in a great, central hosted with breakfast runs about 2$. If you prefer to splurge, stay with the likes of Hemingway and book a room at the George Hotel for about 18$, including a beautiful buffet breakfast.
Those who wander are often likely to compare cities to what they were ‘years ago’, presumably when they were untouched, unjaded, not on everyone’s tourism radar. You might hear that Budapest is the New Prague, or Krakow is the new Budapest, or now, that Lviv is the new Krakow, etc, on down the line until there might not be anywhere left (let’s hope this never happens).
Whether it is the recent/ongoing trouble in the east, with Russian aggression and war going on in the country, tourism is down through the country, and while it’s unfortunate that Lviv is brushed into the conflict like areas in Crimea, the reality is that Ukraine is a massive country, and that they are over 1200kms from each other.
Locals in Lviv are open, friendly, extremely welcoming. While English isn’t widespread yet, you will find the younger generation able to converse, and in tourist areas, it is becoming more common. While their preferred language seems to be Ukrainian, Russian is spoken as well, though you may occasionally find those that are less than happy that you are speaking a language from a country they wish to be distanced from.
The city is easy to get around, very walkable, with excellent bus, tram and train connections.
Did I mentioned it’s cheap??
Trains run overnight from Krakow, or by bus for a very local experience from Poland and the Czech Republic.
9. Sibiu, Romania
Romania is well-worth venturing to, though it is definitely off the first-time-traveler-to-Europe route. The country is home to stunning scenery, inexpensive travels (lengthy train journeys starting at a few dollars, accommodation for less than 7$ a bed in a hostel dorm, and restaurant meals for a few dollars, including local beer), welcoming locals, and many activities to satisfy even the most busy traveler.
Sibiu is connected to main Western Europe most easily through Budapest on a direct overnight train. While a quiet city, it is home to a beautiful old town, with several large music festivals through the summer months.
Perhaps most interestingly, is of course the historical stories of the city and country, and how legends have made their way, even into modern day thinking and architecture. Buildings all over the country are built with tiny windows in the attics, in order to allow the vampires (most well-known, is Dracula), to spy on their victims.
The houses have eyes. 
10. Sofia, Bulgaria
One of the only capital cities on this list, Sofia deserves a mention because it feels like a small town. In the middle of the city, there is a massive pedestrian street with spectacular views of the mountains right on the outskirts of the city. While Bulgaria might not be first on your list of European capitals to visit, if you want many more years, you’ll likely miss out on the best years to visit. While English is still uncommon, and you’ll get enough of a thrill of culture shock from the Cyrillic writing everywhere (especially if you are from western nations), there are enough young students and children learning English is school that you’ll be able to get by.
Sofia is home to some beautiful Byzantine architecture, soaring mosques and other religious buildings, and a massive local indoor market. There are dozens of monuments, parks and museums, plus an amazing tree walking tour.
Don’t miss a meal at Bistro Lyubimoto (Бистро Любимото), a hole-in-the-wall place run by a family with some English, but a spectacular menu and beautiful surroundings, and of course, with everything in Sofia, reasonable prices.
11. Riga, Latvia
Latvia always seemed like such a foreign destination to me. I remember writing a story in a creative writing class back in high school. I needed a far-away, foreign sounding country to make my main character from, and I plucked Latvia off of a globe by spinning it around. When my teacher asked why I’d chosen it, not wanting to tell him the randomness of my thinking, I told him I’d always wanted to go.
Almost seven years after I told him this, I actually made it to Latvia, and I found a beautiful, friendly, extremely cheap, former-Soviet country. It wasn’t exactly the wild, foreign country I’d imagined, and it remains, unexpectedly one of my favourite European cities.
If you’re going the hostel route, you need to stay with Friendly Fun Franks hostel. The climb up the rickety, narrow staircase isn’t exactly welcoming, but the welcome beer you receive upon arrival makes it all worthwhile. The owners and employees go out of their way to make sure every guest has an incredible time, with their free walking tours, amazing historical facts and incredible pub crawls. (I’m not really a ‘pub crawl’ type person…but if you’re going to choose one location to give it a try, make it Riga. Please. My group of new best friends and I closed down the karaoke bar where I was twice mistaken for Adele, and then we walked down the cobblestone streets at 5am, singing a rousing rendition of Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’. To this day, it remains a solid, beautiful, though slightly fuzzy, memory of Riga.)
While Riga used to have their own currency, and with their new adoption to the euro, prices have risen considerably, it is still excellent value for your tourist dollars.
The country has recent ties to Russia, after gaining their independence after the collapse of the USSR, and the contrast between soviet-style architecture, and a country looking to the future, creates endless sightseeing opportunities.
Touch the top rooster for the best luck 🙂
12. Flaam, Norway
Located at the end of the Aurlandsfjorden, an offshoot of the songnefjord, Flaam is probably the smallest, and most difficult place on this list to get to.
If it’s your first trip to Norway, you should look into a Norway in a nutshell tour, as it includes transportation by train, bus, and ferry, through a series of fjords. You can break up this trip over several days, which is where you’ll get your time in Flaam.
Flaam is home to twice the number of sheep-to-people (though considering that there seems to be only about 100 residents, this doesn’t seem overpowering on the sheep front).
Considering it’s location, most activities around town are outdoor pursuits. I’d highly recommend a ‘fjord safari’, a high speed cruise in a little zodiac boat. You can get up close and personal with the massive fjord sides, some of the animals that make their home in the water (mostly fish and otters, but whales have been known to occasionally meander into the fjords), and visit neighbouring villages or farms. Try a cheese tasting in nearby Undredal, or do some hiking on the various clear-cut, well-maintains paths.
Be sure to finish your Flaam trip with a journey on the Flaam railway, one of the highest in the world. The train journeys from Flaam, through Myrdal, to Oslo once a day, and is mostly operates for tourists, but is a beautiful journey through the glaciers and fjords.
This is definitely not an all-encompassing list. For every over-visited, over-touristy massive city, there are dozens of smaller centres just waiting to welcome tourists who are ready to explore.
Is there any city or two you would add to the list? Have you visited any of the above?
Love the smaller less busy, less touristy cities and towns. Can’t do Paris in the summer too crowded.