Favourite European cities

[soulhalshall]

Apart from Cambridge, what are your favourite three European cities and why? Proper certifiable cities not cities in the way some Americans seem to refer to any settlement as such.

-Belgrade: I used to visit fairly often while living in Montenegro and spent the summer of 2014 there learning Serbian. There is a terrific park (Kalemegdan) with a fortress almost in the centre of the city overlooking the meeting point of the rivers Sava and Danube. The highlight of my days, other than dramatically poor attempts to flirt with girls at the hostel, was watching the sun set over the rivers with a can of Jelen beer.

-Athens: in many ways an unplanned dump covered in graffiti with some old stuff in, but after five years living there I eventually loved it, hidden areas of green, each suburb with a bit of personality and the various Greek idiosyncrasies which I think you probably either enjoy and tolerate or despise. And the best food in the world I reckon.

-Strasbourg: lots of the sort of old charming Frenchness which Paris doesn't offer, an area of old town by the river, bridges and greenery, cobbled streets and squares. I spent a month staying in an attic studio there while doing a course and falling in love with a girl from Yorkshire. It was a drag to leave both her and the city. I haven't been back to Strasbourg and I shouldn't have gone back to her. At the end of the month I went to meet another girl I had been involved with, in Croatia. We were due to travel around for a few weeks but I couldn't get the Yorkshire girl off my foolish mind so I told girl 2 this in Split of all places (Boys II Men's End of the Road was playing in the cafe I swear). She told me we couldn't travel together anymore. By this time Yorkshire girl had gone surfing near Santander. I texted her and asked if I could meet her. Ok she said, but not promising anything when you arrive. Great I thought. So I got a bus to Dubrovnik, went into an internet café and booked the next flight to Santander. It wasn't direct. It was Dubrovnik to Gatwick, bus to Heathrow, first class Heathrow to Madrid, night on the airport floor, first class Madrid to Santander. 942 GBP. The mood wasn't great down at the surf shack. We didn't kiss at all, she told me she was pining after some bloke from Huddersfield then I caught her snogging a surf instructor who looked like Jimmy Quinn, on the last night. I stormed off but eventually returned and we went to Barcelona together the following day. Then we made the beast with two backs three times in an Ibis which I enjoyed despite myself, I mean really I should have left after Jimmy Quinn but you know what it's like, and I probably deserved that for leaving the other girl in Split. Then we went to Montpellier where I met her mum, then I went to Avignon and Marseille and we reunited again in Nimes. Funny old summer.

What are your three fave cities in Europe?

[paulb]

For me at is probably Porto. Not a big city but has a bit of everything.
Old narrow streets, lovely old waterside bars and cafes as well as all the Port companies along one side of the river where you can go for a taste and some have rooftop bars.
From the key side you can go on trips up the Douro river to the wine producing areas.
You have the option of going to the beach too on a nice day.

Brugge is another that we enjoyed with the small cobbled streets.
Easy to get around as it is quite small and the Belgian beer!
We drove this as it's an easy drive from Calais.

I enjoyed Barcelona too, there is so much to see and do but you need longer than a weekend if you want to fit a lot in.

We have plans for may more that have been curtailed including Dubrovnik (although I hear Pula is well worth a visit and less busy). Krakow, Riga, but time will tell if we get there.

[Andrewlang]

Not done an awful lot of Europe but another vote for Brugge. I did nothing special there other than sightsee on the way to a business trip in....somewhere else (I forget) but it was lovely and somewhere I'd go back for sure. I was there with my boss, who's a bellend, so it did well to be memorable despite that.

I'll go Amsterdam too. First time I recognised it's beauty but kind of hated it, my head was in the wrong place for a trip so I felt a bit f*ucked up during and for a weeks after. Anyway, went again a year or so back and had a lovely time. Chilled out city, friendly people and lots of stuff to do. Loved it. Was a work thing too actually...one of those team building things. I sacked that sh*t off as often as possible and did my own thing. Really can't be bothered with the forced fun stuff, especially when you get eyeballed as soon as any hint of team building results breaks out in the office (grumble grumble)

And finally Prague. Did it during the Germany world cup so did little more than watch football on old square, make a few friends (not anymore mind, turns out a budding friendship can be cut short when you mention you're gay, heh), dance in front of 200 cheering Koreans as we waved their national flag, and buy a United russian doll. Was fun times. Went back again on a stag a few months later and had, uh, good times again with good good people. It's got a bit of a seedy underbelly to the place (not even underbelly really...it's a proper beer gut of naughtiness right in your face. I don't think I've ever been offered drugs so often as in Prague, even in South America...except Cartegena!) but also beautiful and romantic. I'd like to go back there with a guy sometime and explore that side of it because I haven't really seen a great amount of the city.

Obviously Cambridge isn't allowed in the rules but it is a genuinely amazing place to live. Maybe we get a bit blaisè to it or whatever but its truly stunning. I've done the tourist thing recently on dates with one or two with guys from outside the area and it helped me appreciate it through the eyes of an outsider.

Andrew

[mike_CUFC]

I've heard amazing things about Prague but not yet managed to tick it off the list yet.

For me, Barcelona I absolutely loved. Keep on meaning to go back as not enough time over the 3 days we were there but ignoring the pickpockets it is a beautiful city and Las Ramblas lived up to expectations.

Venice is a must for any couple, you just need to get the right time of year and hope for a bit of good luck in the weather. We went March and had high teens/early 20's weather wise which was perfect in that warm enough to not have to wrap up but cool enough to walk around without getting too hot as well as not having the famous smells that happen when it's muggy. Also save a chunk of money by staying just outside Venice and hopping on one of the many trains for next to nothing and a short half hour train ride.

Thirdly, not sure it really counts as a city but we loved Cork and the surrounding area along the South cost of Ireland. So picturesque and very friendly people.

[soulhalshall]

Venice was somewhere which I felt was totally as stunning as you heard it would be, in that it was stunning even though that's what you expect, so it still surprises almost.

I moved to the countryside outside Cork in December and have liked it a great deal. People are friendly as you say. I don't often go into the city but it seems to be a pretty decent place. My son plays cricket at Cork CCC and it's a nice spot there down by the river, feels almost like Cambridge.

[martin018]

Salzburg, Prague and Krakow 🙂

[Mark of Carnage]

Paris always and Barcelona (before the slum clearances for the 92 Olympics) and has to be London.

[cufctheparrot]

So many good European cities out there its difficult to chose, so it would probably be easier to say the ones I don't like as much, but i will stick with my favourite here.

I tender to prefer smaller capital cities particularly favourites include Lisbon, Budapest & Florence.

For the larger cities probably Rome, Kiev, & Moscow, and then there's the small cities / large towns, with Split, Piran, and Gdansk being highlights.


Also, agree Belgrade and the view over the rivers from near the fortress is special as well.

[JimboBaggins]

Porto, Antwerp and Trondheim. If ever I leave Cambridge it will have to be for somewhere with a river or near a large body of water nearby.

[Mark Peters’ Bonce of Power]

Maastricht - Lived there for a year and completely fell in love with the place. Very relaxed pace of life, friendly people and with all the beautiful old buildings, great pubs, two Universities full of international students and everyone riding bikes it’s very much a Dutch Cambridge. Speaking of it as purely a place to live rather than visit, it’s also very well positioned for day trips to some lovely parts of Belgium and Germany. A particular pleasure of mine was to take a walk from my flat down to the river maas, follow the towpath upstream for about half an hour then cut through a country park and over the border into Belgium to have a drink at a fantastic little bar in the village of Kanne.

Another shout for Amsterdam, I’m a big fan of The Netherlands. Party town but also a very relaxed vibe and tonnes of history and culture to soak up. Sunny afternoons in Vondel Park with a few beers, kayaking tours of the canal belt are great fun, some excellent museums if you like that sort of thing and of course there’s no better place to be if you occasionally like to partake in some exotic tobacco.

Berlin - another obvious one, but what a city! Top quality beer that’s as cheap as water, incredible nightlife and plenty of historical and cultural stuff to explore. Unique I think in that unlike anywhere else I’ve been, despite (obviously) having a geographical ‘city centre’ there’s cool stuff happening all the time in every district, rather than the normal concentration of sights in a small central area.

Tbilisi - One of the best places I’ve ever been. It’s beautiful, the people are incredibly friendly and hospitable, we did a walking tour on our first day and ended up being invited back to the guides dad’s house for dinner, which we readily accepted and couldn’t have been made more welcome. The local wine is excellent, the food is fantastic and the scenery, just wow. See also Yerevan which we visited on the same trip, culturally similar and different in equal measures to Tbilisi and equally fantastic.

Honourable mentions to Koln, Aachen, Paris, 's-Hertogenbosch, and Baku.

[soulhalshall]

Agree about Tbilisi, had a similar experience with a guide; it was my birthday the following day and she invited me out to a place with her friends and arranged a cake. We had a little moment at the end of the evening. I arrived in Georgia shortly before New Year and the passport control folks were handing out free bottles of Georgian wine to everyone which was a good way to be welcomed.

Poland I have always wanted to go to, particularly Gdansk.

[getoffmyland]

Top would easily be Florence. Clean, pretty, history,architecture. Sunset over the Arno can't be beat.
Barcelona, as it has bits of everything. Nice little streets and markets, the bustle of a city, beach, good cafes.
Our own London, for its variety. Beats New York hands down, in mine eyes.

[TallPaddy]

Great topic and some excellent picks. Two questions for 2 of you; soulhalsal, what do you do that has allowed you to live in such a variety of places? And Mike, in what way could Cork not be called a city being as it is the city of Cork and bigger than Cambridge?
I will go for cities in spain I have had 1day in and would love to go back to properly check out. Granada, Malaga and Salamanca.

[cambcam]

Probably Berlin tops, love Amsterdam... and Rome. Lots of other amazing places too (many already mentioned) but as obvious as those three are, they still take some beating.

Some cities will always be remembered fondly because of a particular time of your life, who you were with etc, so they have elevated status in your mind but are not necessarily on a recommendation list - see Monchengladbach, Heidelberg and Koblenz for that, although the latter two are well worth a visit although probably not cities themselves.

Interesting to see Barcelona so highly thought of - I’ve been a few time and just don’t get it at all. I guess some places you just connect with and others you don’t.

As for London, I’ve been driving all over that place on business and recreationally on and off for the last 8 years and have seen some incredible things, but each time I go the same question gets asked - Is this one of the world’s greatest cities or is it an absolute sh*thole?

I think the answer is probably “both”.

[cambsno]

Sept 15, 2020 12:28:58 GMT Andrewlang said:

Obviously Cambridge isn't allowed in the rules but it is a genuinely amazing place to live. Maybe we get a bit blaisè to it or whatever but its truly stunning. I've done the tourist thing recently on dates with one or two with guys from outside the area and it helped me appreciate it through the eyes of an outsider.

Andrew

This 100% - Its easy to take Cambridge for granted, amazing and beautiful city. I loved taking the kayak out down the Cam in lockdown, so peaceful.

Cologne is a must do place - been a number of times, great beer, good food, beautiful cathedral, just a lovely city, and been to a couple of Cologne games plus one lower league game.