The Friendliest Places to Visit in Europe

Ever since Killarney was first "discovered" by William Thackeray and Sir Walter Scott, visitors have been searching for superlatives to describe the deep blue lakes, dark green forests, and purple mountainsides of this romantic region. Perhaps it was no... Read more

It may have a ruined cathedral and a grand university—the oldest in Scotland—but the modern claim to fame for St. Andrews is mainly its status as the home of golf. Forget that Scottish kings were crowned here, or that John Knox preached here... Read more

The vast, mountainous domain of northeastern Italy, unlike other celebrated Alpine regions, has remained relatively undeveloped. Strange, rocky pinnacles jut straight up like chimneys, looming over scattered, pristine mountain lakes. Below, rivers meander... Read more

Ask any Dubliner what's happening and you may hear echoes of one of W. B. Yeats's most-quoted lines: "All changed, changed utterly." No matter that the decade-long "Celtic Tiger" boom era has been quickly followed by the Great Recession—for visitors... Read more

Antwerp is Europe's second-largest port and has much of the zest often associated with a harbor town. But it also has an outsized influence in a very different realm: that of clothing design. Since the 1980s, Antwerp-trained fashion designers have become... Read more

Midway down the Italian peninsula, Tuscany (Toscana in Italian) is distinguished by rolling hills, snowcapped mountains, dramatic cypress trees, and miles of coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea—which all adds up to gorgeous views at practically every... Read more

Fir-clad mountains, rocky peaks, lederhosen, and geranium-covered houses: the Bavarian Alps come closest to what many of us envision as "Germany." Quaint towns full of frescoed half-timber houses covered in snow pop up among the mountain peaks and shimmering... Read more

Art lovers call Salzburg the Golden City of High Baroque; historians refer to it as the Florence of the North or the German Rome; and, of course, music lovers know it as the birthplace of one of the world's most beloved composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart... Read more

The fourth-largest Greek island and, along with Sicily and Cyprus, one of the great islands of the Mediterranean, Rhodes it was long considered a bridge between Europe and the East. Today, its diversity ensures it remains a polestar of tourism as well:... Read more

The word conjures something magical as it rolls off the tongue: Istria. Beyond sounding poetic, however, the name of this region of Croatia is derived from the name of the Illyrian people who occupied the area well before the Romans first arrived in the... Read more

The whole Eastern Alps region is dramatic countryside, with breathtaking scenery and great winter sports equal to those in Switzerland. Here majestic peaks, many well over 9,750 feet, soar above slow-moving glaciers that give way to sweeping Alpine meadows... Read more

Izmir may not have immediate appeal, but if you take a few days to explore, you'll come to appreciate the diverse architecture, fascinating ruins, and interesting museums that give this coastal Turkish city its edge. Despite the rapid growth of the past... Read more

Antalya is a definite tourist hub, and it's one of Turkey's fastest growing cities; these days the international terminals of Antalya airport are busier even than in Istanbul. Most visitors are on package tours, but Antalya is also a popular destination... Read more

To Greeks, Crete is the Megalonissi (Great Island), a hub of spectacular ancient art and architecture. Fabled as the land of King Minos, it is a unique world where civilization is counted by the millennium. From every point of view travelers discover landscapes... Read more

The capital, perched on a bluff at the confluence of the Pétrusse and Alzette rivers, goes by the same name as the country—Lëtzebuerg in Luxembourgish. When Luxembourgers themselves refer to visiting the capital, they merely say they... Read more