Favorite smaller cities in Europe
 

I will be travelling through France, Switzerland, and Italy over the course of the next few months. I would be happy to leave updates of various places I have been and take in account what the folks in Fodors have visited and liked. So what are your favorite smaller cities (under half a million)?

My favorite: Lyon, France is a great walking city. The shops and restaurants are always a pleasure. It's clean and well organized.

Least favorite: Bologna, Italy. Dirty, gritty, trashy shops, overly crowded, poorly planned. The only thing Bologna has going for it is the food.

Vevey and Montreux, Switzerland.

Lyon - pop 1,200,000 well over your limit of 500,000.

So I guess you won't be going back to Bologna? That is good, I hate to think of Bologna becoming overrun by tourist.

Lucca and Lagano pop into my head....

Italy - Vicenza, Verona, Venice, Parma, Todi, Perugia, Cortona, Assisi, Urbino, Gubbio, Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Orvieto, Trieste

Switzerland - Gruyeres, Montreux, Vevey, Lucerne, Lugano, Locarno, Bern, Interlaken, Neuchatel, Freibourg, Lausanne

France - Avignon, Arles, Antibes, Carcassonne, Beaune, Bayeux, Chartres, Strasbourg, Colmar, Uzes, Sarlat, Chinon, Annecy,

and 100s more...

Lyon is not a small city, sweetie. Have you actually been there? I have.

Oberammergau, Austria
Sintra, Portugal
Obidos, Portugal
Beaune, France
Angouleme, France
Segovia, Spain
Oxford, England

My favs are mostly in France - although I'm doing a "small towns of Italy" tour is 2007 so will probably have a whole bunch more...
But for now:
Sarlat, Périgueux, St. Remy, Beaune, Dijon, Nimes, Venice, Assisi...

Montalcino was a favorite of ours in tuscany; also love Brugges on the weekdays when its less crowded.

under half a million?

I guess my favorite city qualifies -- VENICE! :)

But for truly smaller city, Brugges...loved it!

I guess I like cities built around canals?

Chamonix, at the base of Mont Blanc.
Take Mont Blanc tunnel to Courmayer.

Lovely little towns.

Take the "Aguille du midi" cable cars to the 12,000ft top of the Alps in Chamonix.

Chamonix is technically france, but it is about an hour outside of Geneva.

>Oberammergau, Austria
Oh no!
My vote is New York, Canada ;-)
or Los Angeles, Mexico

I agree with the following places big time:

Obidos, Portugal
Bayeux, France
Colmar, France
Verona, Italy
Brugges, Belgium
Urbino, Italy (which is very small)

I also loved:

Santiago de Campostella (I know that's spelled wrong...), Spain
Haarlem, Netherlands
Bath, England
Bamberg, Germany

>Oberammergau, Austria
Come to think of it... Somebody not knowing which country he/she is in or has visited. Kind of creepy :D

France
Beaune
Sarlat
St Remy
Villefranche-sur-mer
Colmar


Switzerland
Appenzell
Sion
Murten
St. Moritz

Italy
Orvieto
Siena
Verona
Lucca

Brugge, Belgium
Wells, U.K.
Rothenberg, Germany

Dinard, France was quite lovely.

Bielfield, east Germany.

bristol.

Tournus, France (on the Soane)
Erlangan, Germany (Bavaria)
and I just love saying "Hassenwinkle" in Germany, I don't know what state.