The right days. The right neighborhood. The right month.

Lisbon

Portugal

Seven hills, one river, and the best light in Europe.

Prague

Czech Republic

Gothic skyline, world-class beer, small-city prices.

Seville

Spain

Two days of Moorish palaces, tiled plazas and tapas eaten standing up.

Porto

Portugal

A working river, granite hills, and a glass of port at the end of every one.

Budapest

Hungary

Thermal baths, grand boulevards, ruin bars, low prices.

Vienna

Austria

Imperial palaces, coffee-house rituals, Klimt gold.

Granada

Spain

Two days of Moorish palaces, hillside views and free tapas with every drink.

Rome

Italy

Three thousand years of ruins, and dinner outdoors on top.

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Canals, museums and bikes, all in one walkable ring.

Florence

Italy

The Renaissance in two walkable days: the David, the Uffizi and a sunset over the Arno.

Bruges

Belgium

Two days of canals, belfry views and beer in a medieval town you cross on foot.

Barcelona

Spain

Gaudi, gothic lanes, and the beach in one walkable city.

Berlin

Germany

Wall history, world museums, and the best nightlife in Europe.

Madrid

Spain

World-class art, Habsburg squares, and tapas eaten late and standing up.

Krakow

Poland

Intact medieval core, milk-bar prices, heavy history nearby.

Copenhagen

Denmark

Design, harbour swims and cinnamon buns, all on two wheels.

Athens

Greece

The birthplace of the West, with the best rooftops in Europe.

Edinburgh

Scotland

Two days of castle crags, Old Town closes and volcano views in a city you climb on foot.

Paris

France

The museum city, the terrace city, the walk-until-your-feet-give-out city.

Venice

Italy

A car-free city on water: San Marco, the Grand Canal and the lagoon islands in two slow days.

Dublin

Ireland

Georgian squares, the Book of Kells and a Guinness by the Liffey: a compact literary capital in two days.

Stockholm

Sweden

A capital spread across 14 islands: the Gamla Stan old town, the salvaged Vasa warship, Nordic design and fika in three days.

Nice

France

The capital of the Riviera in two easy days: the Promenade des Anglais, the ochre lanes of Vieux Nice and a bay of pure azure.

Dubrovnik

Croatia

A walled Adriatic old town of marble lanes and terracotta rooftops, with the city walls walk and Game of Thrones backdrops at every turn.

Reykjavik

Iceland

The world's northernmost capital: colourful rooftops, the Hallgrimskirkja tower and a base for the Golden Circle and the Blue Lagoon.

Munich

Germany

Bavaria's easygoing capital: beer gardens and Marienplatz in the centre, the Alps and Neuschwanstein an hour past the city limits.

Tallinn

Estonia

A fairy-tale walled old town on the Baltic, all spires and red rooftops, cheap and walkable in two easy days.

Oslo

Norway

Norway's fjord-side capital, where a marble Opera House, world-class museums and deep forest all sit within a short walk of the water.

Helsinki

Finland

Finland's design-driven Baltic capital: a white cathedral, a sea fortress by ferry and serious sauna culture in two easy days.

Naples

Italy

A raw, operatic city on a volcanic bay: the birthplace of pizza and the gateway to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.

Split

Croatia

A living Roman palace on the Dalmatian coast, with marble lanes, the seafront Riva and a gateway to the islands.

Riga

Latvia

The Baltic's Art Nouveau capital: a walled medieval old town, Europe's grandest market and cobbled squares, cheap and walkable in two days.

Brussels

Belgium

The EU capital of the gilded Grand-Place, world-class beer and chocolate, and comic-strip murals across the old town.

Vilnius

Lithuania

Europe's largest baroque old town, a breakaway artists' republic and rock-bottom prices, walkable in two easy days.

Bratislava

Slovakia

A compact baroque capital on the Danube under a white castle, an hour from Vienna and rock-bottom cheap.

Ljubljana

Slovenia

A car-free green capital on a dragon-guarded river, with Plecnik's architecture underfoot and Lake Bled an hour up the road.

Zurich

Switzerland

A polished banking city on a clean lake, with a medieval old town and the Alps within easy reach, beautiful and famously expensive.

Warsaw

Poland

A capital rebuilt from rubble, where a fairy-tale old town stands beside Stalinist towers and glass skyscrapers.

Bucharest

Romania

A cheap, chaotic capital of Belle Epoque boulevards, communist megastructures and a buzzing old town.

Valencia

Spain

The birthplace of paella, with a futuristic City of Arts, a 9km park in a drained riverbed, a Gothic old town and a city beach.

Valletta

Malta

A tiny fortified honey-stone capital of the Knights of St John, Baroque churches and Grand Harbour views.

Gdansk

Poland

Poland's amber-trading Hanseatic port of tall colourful gables, a giant brick basilica, and the shipyard where Solidarity began.

Bologna

Italy

Italy's red-brick food capital of endless porticoes, leaning medieval towers and the oldest university in the Western world.

Sofia

Bulgaria

Roman ruins under the metro, a gold-domed cathedral and a 2,290-metre mountain on the tram line, at some of the lowest prices of any EU capital.

Belgrade

Serbia

A raw, sociable capital where the Sava meets the Danube, with a mighty fortress, floating river clubs and famously cheap nights out.

Luxembourg City

Luxembourg

A fortress capital on a cliff: UNESCO ramparts, free lifts into a green valley, and zero-cost transport, in two easy days.

Malaga

Spain

Andalusia's sunny coastal capital of Moorish fortresses, Picasso, tapas and a city beach.

Milan

Italy

Italy's fashion-and-design capital of the Gothic Duomo, the Last Supper, aperitivo and the Navigli canals.

Lyon

France

France's gastronomic capital, with a Renaissance old town, hidden traboules, two rivers and bouchon bistros.

Salzburg

Austria

Mozart's baroque city of a hilltop fortress, church domes and Alpine day trips.

Hamburg

Germany

Germany's port city: red-brick warehouses, harbour ferries and a concert hall on the water.

Bilbao

Spain

The green Basque city reborn around the Guggenheim, with a medieval old town and world-class pintxos.

Bergen

Norway

The colourful Hanseatic wharf and rainy fjord gateway between seven mountains.

Zagreb

Croatia

Croatia's inland capital: a hilltop old town, coffee as a ritual and the best Christmas market in Europe.

Antwerp

Belgium

Rubens altarpieces, a railway station built like a cathedral and the world's diamond trade, all inside a two-day walk.

Rotterdam

Netherlands

The Dutch city with no old town, rebuilt from 1940 as an open-air laboratory for architects, in front of Europe's biggest port.