Cities similar to Florence?
 

I love Florence because it is such a walkable city with good food, good places to stay ,sights to see and day trips.
What other European cities are similar to Florence?

Good question !
While no city can truly compare to the wonders of the Renaissance, I find that Salzburg is a good choice for easy walking and diverse options.

I can suggest three in Italy: Venice, Rome and - horrors! - Palermo.

Venice might be a little weak on good food unless you know where to go, but it certainly has good places to stay, sights to see and day trips - to Padua, Verona, Vicenza, to name the most obvious ones.

Rome - or at least the historical center of Rome, where most of the sights are - is far more walkable than most people think. Food, places to stay, sights, day trips to Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa, Tarquinia, Orvieto, etc., etc.

Again, the historical center of Palermo is eminently walkable. (If you prefer to stay in "new and trendy Palermo," it will be more difficult to walk everywhere.) Food, places to stay, sights, day trips to Monreale, Cefalu, even Agrigento.

I visited Nice, France, with my daughter last May. She had been living in Florence, and she said that Vieux (i.e. 'old') Nice reminded her of Florence. It is a nice, walkable section of Nice, with tiny streets and many restaurants and shops. You can find my trip report by clicking on my screen name above. We liked our hotel there, found good restaurants, and there are innumerable day-trips you can take from Nice.
:)>-

Vienna came to mind right away. I even daytripped Prague from Vienna and it wasn't too bad.

Also YORK!!!

OK - maybe not the food part for York...but it is a wonderful city for walking.

Lyon, France.

Oh, and Amsterdam!

I've never visited it, but Lecce is known as the Florence of southern Italy.

My favorite walking city, apart from Venice, is Copenhagen. The food is wonderful, too.

I would add Perugia, Verona and Urbino for Italy. Amsterdam and Antwerp for the north (although Amsterdam is weak on food). For Spain, I think Sevilla offers a lot of what you cite, as does Edinburgh in Scotland.

I've never been to Florence, but I was talking with a woman this evening whose favorite city is Florence and her second favorite is Vienna. I have visited Vienna three times, and it is fabulous for art, music and food.

Hi F,

>What other European cities are similar to Florence?<

Prague, Vienna, Dresden, Copenhagen, Bath.

((I))

As the originator of the thread, my response:
Maybe Vienna/Salzburg could be a trip.
No one mentioned Berlin-not walkable?
A Berlin/Dresden combo?
Did Bath and York.
Rome is walkable but not intimate.
Need a return to Venice with day trips.
I have studied Nice and it sounds good.
I haven't read good reports on food in Amsterdam.
Know nothing about Copenhagen.
No Swiss entries?

Food in Amsterdam is wonderful. There are so many restaurants, and we found a couple of contemporary ones we especially liked. It's not a city of old Dutch food, that's for sure. You'd be surprised how new and fresh the restaurant scene is there. I posted our trip report from Amsterdam, so you can find it if you click on my screen name above. We spent 5 nights there in June 2005.

In fact, here's the section of my trip report regarding dining:

"Two cafes on the same block as the hotel were wonderful: Café Katoen for a university atmosphere with a simple menu; and Café le Jarden, for great table seating on the canal with a more upscale menu.

Amazing dinners at two restaurants in particular:
“Stout!”, at Haarlemmerstraat 73 (www.restaurantstout.nl). Fabulous ‘foamy asparagus’ soup with shrimp, chateaubriande, fresh fish, dessert course, wine list. Very trendy lighting. Great service. We’d gone to the neighborhood in search of a restaurant called “Lof” which we’d seen written up. We didn’t like its atmosphere, but were lucky that Stout! was just across the street.

Also at “Restaurant Dining Eleven” we had a great dinner. It’s at Reestraat 11. Also trendy and contempory, well-presented and beautifully-served meal.

Another nice dinner at “frenzi”, at Swanenburgwal 232. Very simple and contemporary. We arrived shortly after 10:00p.m., when most restaurants close in Amsterdam, and persuaded the owner to sell us any left-overs they had in the kitchen! They put together a nice Caesar salad with cooked-in-the-shell shrimp and mango. Very nice.

A good brunch at a place across the street from frenzi—called “Puccini”. Creative salads and sandwiches. Very nice also."

I also wrote a trip report from my visit to Nice this past May. It's also here on the Forum, if you search.
:)>-

Possibly Zurich with day trips since you asked about Switzerland. Loved hiking in the Appenzells nr. Zurich as well as Lucerne and even Innsbruck.

Antwerp

Salamanca, Burgos, Seville.

San Sebastian except that it too clean to be like Florence

Have you ever heard of Nafplio in Greece, on the Bay of Argos in the peloponnese? I didn't think so! Greeks never tell others about it,because they want it all to themselves -- and it's only 2.5 hours from Athens by smooth A/C bus 10 x a day.

On a peninsula with stairstep streets down to the plaza & waterside, impossible to describe in words so go to google, and search on "Image" tab for Nafplio -- here's just a sample at
www.camping.gr/campingplatz/ tritonii/nafplio.htm

It's a "World Heritage City" (like Bath) for its history & wonderful state of preservation. The first capital of modern greece (1828)after centuries of Turk rule. Only 10,000 pop. but v. cosmopolitan atmosphere... huge marble- flagstoned plaza, tasteful shops. Supremely walkable!

MORE MORE -- Prehistoric castle atop town w. Venetian addons, Huge fortress on Gibralter-esque rock behind town.. day tours to Ephesus,Mycenae ruins (or do it yourself on local busses).. and the most glorious paralia (promenade) on the water to view the sunset.

To stay, I advise hotel w. balconies looking down on town. Pension Mariana comes to mind,or Hotel Diaskouri(sp?). There are outstanding authentic Greek restaurants -- and (unlike Italy) they won't cost you a fortune.

I have mixed feelings about writing this because I want to keep Nafplio a secret between me & the Greeks.. I'll be there in early June, my 4th time.