Atlas

Places

Where to base yourself, how long to stay, and the one thing that usually goes wrong.

• France · 4 nightsParisA river city of villages, with more good ordinary days than monuments.museums · food · walking · a first Europe trip
• Italy · 4 nightsRomeA working capital sitting on a ruined one, best taken at walking pace.ancient city · food · walking
• Spain · 3–4 nightsBarcelonaA sea city with its own language, and a modernisme trail that can eat you if you let it.architecture · sea · food
• Germany · 3–4 nightsBerlinA capital that is larger, poorer in palaces and richer in argument than the postcard gate.museums · history · neighbourhoods
• Netherlands · 3–4 nightsAmsterdamA canal city that is smaller than its reputation and sterner about bicycles than visitors expect.museums · canals · day trips
• Austria · 3 nightsViennaAn imperial capital that is better in a coffee house than in a loop of palaces.coffee houses · palaces · a central European base
• Czechia · 3 nightsPragueA beautiful city with a famous bridge, and a real city just behind the lanes that lead to it.walking · architecture · a central European city
• Hungary · 3 nightsBudapestTwo cities on a river, a parliament that looks like a film set, and baths that are civic, not spa-theatre.river · baths · food
• Portugal · 3–4 nightsLisbonHills, tiles, a river that is almost the sea, and a city that punishes thin shoes.viewpoints · food · walking
• Portugal · 2–3 nightsPortoA river city of granite and tiled houses, steeper than it looks in photographs.river · walking · wine
• Spain · 3 nightsMadridA capital of paintings, long dinners, and neighbourhoods that are not the palace.museums · food · late dinners
• Italy · 3 nightsFlorenceA small city that contains more art than a weekend can use, surrounded by hills that can.art · walking · a smaller Italian city
• Italy · 2–3 nightsVeniceA city that is also a problem of luggage, bridges and crowds — and still unlike anywhere else.walking · the lagoon · not a day trip
• Greece · 3 nightsAthensA modern capital under a rock, with better food and worse timing than the myth suggests.the Acropolis · food · a Greek capital
• Belgium · 2 nightsBrusselsA capital people change trains in, which is a poor way to meet it.food · a rail hub · two nights
• Denmark · 3 nightsCopenhagenA harbour city at a human scale, expensive on purpose, and easy to like on a bicycle you do not ride in the wrong lane.harbour · food · a northern capital
• Italy · 3 nightsThe Amalfi CoastA cliff of towns above a famous sea. Beautiful, and a poor place to improvise with a car in August.coast · one base · not a road trip
• Italy · 2–3 nightsThe Cinque TerreFive villages on a steep coast. Sleep in one. Walk to another. Do not collect them all before supper.walking · coast · two nights
• Italy · 3–4 nightsThe DolomitesA limestone range where the bakery sign may be in German and the path is the point.walking · mountains · not a day from Venice
• Switzerland · 2–3 nightsZermattA car-free town under the Matterhorn. Switzerland is not in the Union, and the mountain does not care.mountains · trains · walking
• France · 3 nightsThe LuberonStone villages, a market morning, and a landscape that is quieter than its reputation if you sleep in only one of them.villages · markets · a car
• Italy · 2–3 nightsMilanA working northern capital of fashion, finance and a cathedral that took centuries, not a softer Florence.the Duomo · food · a northern Italian city
• Italy · 2–3 nightsNaplesA loud, brilliant port under a volcano. The Italy that Rome is not, and the correct door to the coast.food · the bay · Pompeii
• Spain · 3 nightsSevilleA southern capital of orange trees, a vast cathedral, and heat that is not a detail.Andalusia · the cathedral · spring
• Spain · 2 nightsGranadaA city with the Alhambra above it. The palace is the reason. The city is why you stay the night.the Alhambra · two nights · Andalusia
• Germany · 3 nightsMunichA wealthy southern city with museums, beer halls, and the Alps close enough to tempt a bad day trip.museums · Bavaria · a southern German city
• Germany · 2–3 nightsHamburgA port city of warehouses, water and weather. Not a smaller Berlin, and not a fairy tale.harbour · a port city · walking
• France · 2–3 nightsLyonA river city that takes lunch more seriously than Paris takes monuments.food · a French city · two rivers
• France · 2–3 nightsBordeauxA pale stone river city that happens to be the capital of a wine region, not a tasting room with streets.river · wine if you want it · a French city
• France · 3 nightsNiceA real city on a famous bay. The promenade is the edge, not the whole.the sea · a southern French city · three nights
• Sweden · 3 nightsStockholmA capital scattered across islands, expensive, and serious about winter as well as the postcard summer.islands · winter or summer · a northern capital
• Estonia · 2 nightsTallinnA Hanseatic old town on the Baltic, small enough to walk and easy to mistake for a stage set.old town · a Baltic port · two nights
• Iceland · 2 nights, then the islandReykjavikA small capital at the edge of Europe, and a poor place to sleep if the island itself is the point and you have given it one night.a small capital · weather · not the whole island
• Ireland · 2–3 nightsDublinA compact capital on the Liffey, in the euro, outside Schengen, and not a theme park of pubs.a capital · outside Schengen · walking
• Poland · 3 nightsKrakowA complete old centre, a castle on a hill, and a history next door that is not a day trip you improvise.old town · three nights · not a euro city
• Belgium · 1–2 nightsBrugesA medieval city that is perfectly intact and, by noon, perfectly full. Sleep there or do not bother.canals · one or two nights · go early
• Austria · 2 nightsSalzburgA baroque city in a narrow valley, with a fortress above it and the Alps at the end of the street.baroque · two nights · the Alps nearby
• Croatia · 2 nightsDubrovnikA walled city on the Adriatic that is magnificent at dawn and a queue at the hour the ships are in.walls · the sea · not a cruise stop
• Croatia · 2–3 nightsSplitA living city built into a Roman palace. More useful than Dubrovnik, and less fragile.a Roman palace · ferries · a living centre