Top 12 Places to Visit in Europe

There are so many amazing places to visit in Europe that it can be hard to choose! Because countries are so close together it’s easy to travel from beautiful beaches into the snow covered mountains in just a few hours. Which means you can pack a whole lot into a short amount of time! Here are our top 12 places to visit in Europe and things to do in each place!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This means at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through a link and make a purchase. This post may also contain other affiliate links and non-affiliate links to products and websites.

Each one of the places in this post is amazing for it’s own reason! It’s hard to compare beaches versus mountains because honestly we love them both for different reasons. So much depends on what you like to do and your travel style. But you’re bound to have an amazing experience at any of the places on this list!

#1: Madrid, Spain

We loved the city of Madrid so much! We expected it to be just another big city with a lot of people and a lot of history. But we had such a great time and ending up enjoying it so much more than Barcelona!

It’s really affordable to stay in Madrid! We were able to get a place to stay for about $40 USD a night that had everything we needed. There are so many places to get food in the city too that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to eat something delicious!

We ate so much jamón (ham) while in Spain and never got sick of it! You have to try it in Spain!

It’s also a really easy city to get to as there is a large train station and a large airport which makes arriving and leaving easy no matter if you’re going back home or continuing on to another location in Europe.

We would recommend exploring Retiro Park which is an expansive park in the city. You literally can get lost it’s that big! Make sure to give yourself time to wander around the center of Madrid where you can see some beautiful buildings!

#2: Rapallo, Italy

We stumbled upon Rapallo because we were looking for a place to stay along the Italian Riviera that wasn’t insanely expensive. Rapallo was exactly that! It’s about 65 kms to Cinque Terre and 8 kms to Portofino so it’s in a great location! We took the train to Cinque Terre and the bus out to Portofino without ever needing a car.

Once we got there we realized it’s a place that many locals go to on vacation. We loved the local and laid-back vibe! There are so many restaurants and places to eat. You can walk along the water which is a great place to watch the sunset and end the night!

#3: Sifnos, Greece

We are completely obsessed with Greece! We’ve been twice now to four different islands and it will never get old! Sifnos is a really beautiful island that isn’t as touristy as more popular islands like Santorini or Mykonos. But it’s close by so you can combine a trip to Sifnos with the nearby island of Milos or Paros. If you’re looking for a quiet, low-key island to enjoy the beach and some Greek food then Sifnos is for you!

We stayed in the town of Kamares which meant we were walking distance to the port to get the ferry and also close to a bunch of restaurants!

#4: Haarlem, Netherlands

Haarlem is a really cute city about 30 kms outside of Amsterdam. It has so much charm we loved it after only being there a few hours. It’s an easy train ride to get into the center of Amsterdam but has so much to offer on it’s own. There are beautiful cobblestone streets with restaurants and shops to wander through.

We found accommodation options were less expensive in Haarlem than in Amsterdam which also drew us to stay there and then take the train into Amsterdam for the day.

If you visit Haarlem make sure to go to Frietkamer and get French fries! There were the absolute best we had in both the Netherlands and Belgium. They have a bunch of different options for dipping sauces too.

#5: Villefranche, France

Villefranche was our favorite spot along the French Riviera. We took the bus on a day trip to Villefranche from Nice. The village of Villefranche is small with a few restaurants but continue out to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula. The Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat coastal pathway follows the coastline around the whole peninsula. It’s an incredible walk that we enjoyed so much!

There are spots to stop and jump in the water if you get hot! We packed our daypack with towels, snacks, and water bottles and had such a great day! We then took the bus from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat village back to where we were staying in Nice.

#6: Lagos, Portugal

The Algarve has some of the most incredible beaches and isn’t a place you want to miss! Lagos is a larger city that has a lot of restaurants and accommodation options. It’s a good place to stay to centrally locate yourself to visit a lot of the beaches. There is also a large train station in Lagos making it easy to get there.

In August it was pricey to find a place to stay in Lagos. We ended up in a shared hostel room for $80 USD a night which is not a great deal. So if you can visit in the shoulder season it can save you a lot of money!

From Lagos you can walk along the coast and visit beach after beach. Our favorites include Praia de Balanca, Praia de Dona Ana, and Ponta de Piedad. It’s really easy to walk along the coast even without renting a car!

#7: Ochsenfurt, Germany

We found the small town of Ochsenfurt kind of by accident. We were looking for a quaint town in Germany to get outside of the popular big cities. It’s about 100 kms from Nuremburg in southern Germany and was exactly the kind of place we were looking for.

A short train ride away from Ochsenfurt is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a medieval walled city. It’s a great day trip from Ochsenfurt to a really quintessential German town. We loved walking along the wall around the city.

We were able to get a really affordable Airbnb to stay at right in the middle of Ochsenfurt.
We had one of the best meals at Zum Kauzen, a restaurant right in the main town area. Go there and get schnitzel and I promise you won’t regret it!

#8: Venice, Italy

While Venice can be very crowded it’s still so worth visiting! The canals in Venice are unlike anywhere else we’ve ever visited. You can get lost just walking around the smaller streets and finding all sorts of bridges. We especially enjoyed wandering around the Santa Croce area because we found it so much less crowded than the area near St. Mark’s Square.

Consider taking a day trip to Burano Island to see the colorful houses. Burano was one of the highlights of our time in Venice. If we were to do it again we would choose to just visit Burano and skip Murano Island.

We chose to stay in Venice Mestre which is on the mainland. It’s significantly less expensive to stay because there are so many more options. You can quickly and easily take the train from Venice Mestre to Venice Santa Lucia in about 10 minutes!

Read More: 10 Things To Do in Venice, Italy

#9: Grindelwald, Switzerland

Grindelwald is a small town about 30 minutes from Interlaken. We weren’t sure what to expect but once the train started getting closer we completely understood! There are some shops and a few hotels in the town area but you really want to get up to the top to experience all the surrounding mountains.

Once at First, the top of the cable car system, explore the First Cliff Walk. If you’re scared of heights this may not be for you but the views are incredible! The grated walkway lets you see all the way to the ground so we made sure to put all our stuff in our daypack just in case.

The hike to Bachalpsee Lake is beautiful and a must while you’re up at First! There are plenty of signs and markers to make sure to get to the lake. We wish we had given ourselves a little more time to enjoy the lake area more!

Because we did so much walking we were both glad to be wearing hiking shoes while visiting Grindelwald. You could probably do it in sneakers but we wouldn’t recommend wearing sandals especially not on the cliff walk.

Travel Truth: We waited and hiked to Bachalpsee Lake at the end of the day. The reflection was beautiful but we would have loved to have more time. Make sure to plan your day at Grindelwald while taking into account the time of the last cable car down so you don’t have to walk.

#10: Lake Bled, Slovenia

Slovenia isn’t as well known as Italy and Switzerland but it has a lot to offer! Ljubljana, the capital city, has a lot of history and a lot of delicious food! From there you can take the bus to Lake Bled in about 1 hour. It was really easy to navigate as it’s a popular bus route.

Lake Bled is one of the most picturesque lakes we saw in Europe! It was an amazing day trip and if we had longer we would have gone back for a second day. There is a path that goes around the entire lake that we wandered along for a few hours. You can definitely walk the loop faster but we enjoyed taking pictures along the way and lucked out with amazing weather!

Consider hiking up to Ojstrica or Mala Osojnica which are both popular viewpoints. From both summits you get views of the entire lake. We hiked to Ojstrica and then hiked to Mala Osojnica afterwards so it’s totally doable to do both. We packed a picnic lunch in our daypack and ate it on a bench at the top of Mala Osojnica which we would definitely recommend!

If you’re visiting during the warmer months there are a few spots to jump into the lake so don’t forget to bring a bathing suit and packable towel!

Read More: Day Trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia

#11: Amsterdam, Netherlands

We were both so pleasantly surprised by Amsterdam. It is an incredibly beautiful city where we spent hours just happily wandering around. There are endless canals and bridges and so many impressive houseboats. Our favorite neighborhood to walk through was Joordan where you can find so many trendy cafes to pop into or if you’re interested nearby is the Anne Frank museum. The bike culture is also fascinating as you walk by hundreds and hundreds of bikes parked outside the train station.

Make sure not to leave Amsterdam without trying a stroopwaffle from Croissanterie Egstorf. A stroopwaffle is basically two wafers with caramel in the middle and it’s delicious!

Read More: Guide to Visiting Amsterdam

#12: West Coast of Ireland

We spent 4 days road tripping around Ireland and are so glad we decided to rent a car! We visited in November and even though it was chilly we would definitely recommend it because there were almost no other tourists everywhere we went!

If you’re in Ireland you have to visit the Cliffs of Moher. They are just as impressive as we expected although it can get windy so plan ahead and bring layers especially a rain jacket because you never know in Ireland. We stayed for sunset and it was one of the most incredible sunsets we saw in Europe.

Doolin is a good place to stay overnight near the Cliffs of Moher to make the most of your time. From there driving towards Galway you can get on the Wild Atlantic Way which is a beautiful drive along the western coast of Ireland. There are countless places to stop to see ruins, castles, and endless stone walls.