Best Places to Visit in Europe for Outdoor Activities

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

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

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

"Charming" and "breathtaking" are adjectives that get a workout when you're traveling in Italy, but it's rare that both apply to a single location. The Cinque Terre is such a place, and this combination of characteristics goes a long way toward explaining... 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

If your idea of nirvana is palatial villas, rose-laden belvederes, hanging wisteria and bougainvillea, lanterns casting a glow over lakeshore restaurants, and majestic Alpine vistas, heaven is Lake Como. In his Charterhouse of Parma, Stendhal described... Read more

Iceland is one of the most dramatic natural spectacles on the planet. It is a land of dazzling white glaciers and black sands, blue hot springs, rugged lava fields, and green, green valleys. This North Atlantic island offers insight into the ferocious... Read more

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

As you approach Provence there's a magical moment when you finally leave the north behind: cypresses and red-tile roofs appear; you hear the screech of cicadas and breathe the scent of wild thyme and lavender. Along the highway, oleanders bloom against... 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

Lyon and the Alps are as alike as chocolate and broccoli. Lyon is fast, congested, and saturated with culture (and smog). In the bustling city—often called the gateway to the Alps—it's hard to believe that those pristine peaks are only an hour's... Read more

"Let nature be your teacher." Wordsworth's ideal comes true in this popular English region of jagged mountains, waterfalls, wooded valleys, and stone-built villages. No mountains in Britain give a greater impression of majesty; deeper and bluer lakes can... 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

Playground of the rich and home of movie stars, rock musicians, and dispossessed royal families, Marbella continues to rise on Europe's social ladder. Dip into any Spanish gossip magazine and chances are the glittering parties that fill its pages are set... Read more

A pair of contrasting characteristics define the appeal of northwest Italy's Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta regions: mountain splendor and bourgeois refinement. Two of Europe's most famous peaks—Monte Bianco (aka Mont Blanc) and Monte Cervino (the Matterhorn)—straddle... Read more