TDudette

Well, I mixed up Mykonos with Santorini-that was the dramatic one. The windmills and the harbor at Mykonos were very picturesque.

And TPAYT, how could one leave out the lake towns in Italy?! So beautiful.

ps-1959, your "senseless, typically American" comments were unnecessary and unkind IMHO.

mike1728

Traveller 1959... Relax..............it's about generating conversation about Europe which is always a good thing. On a post like this people will hear about different towns throughout Europe and in turn further research the areas via books and the internet and possibly plan trips around what they have learned...."typically American"??. ..Go Yanks!!

Mikek

bookchick

I find San G quite clogged with tourists, too. It's great to find lovely little towns, but when you can barely walk down the streets due to the congestion, it's kind of off-putting, IMO.

BC

Katie_H

Wooh--happy Friday. Nice to come in to see so many responses. I'm finding myself googling half of these to see what they look like (and where in the world they are). USNR, your comment about Conques, France, "the town that time forgot" intrigued me. I found the following on Flickr. I would LOVE to spend a few days just taking photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2369007273/

Zeppole---that first flickr photo you posted with the mannequin is cool looking.

I agree that "picturesque" in my mind usually means "smaller".

Palenque

Well yes by 'picturesque' i would place about 50 Italian towns above any town in places like Germany, the U.K. and just about anyplace north of the Alps. Only southern France seems to have widely preserved the medieval look in many of its smaller towns as well as places like the Greek Islands.

Indeed if looking romantically untouched and old is the criteria then i'd say Clovelly may be the prettiest town in England.

bettyk

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/135...11574650JljlPY

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/135...11574650EfkKBF

Palenque

Brussels anyone?

rowdytxgirl

I haven't been to any you have mentioned. All my big trips have been to Germany.

I love Oberammergau (in the fall and winter) and
Mittenwald for the sheer beauty of the mountains.

Both can be pretty touristy but the countryside is very nice!

annabelle2

I have been to some of the listed places:
Bath
Delft
R on the T
Sintra (stayed there three times and really love it)
Eze

I like many of the additions, especially Cuenca, Ronda, Vernazza & Corniglia, St Paul de Vence; agree that when I start thinking of "picturesque" places, numerous Italian hill towns, Swiss villages, & French small towns start tumbling through my mind!

Other worthy places listed like Venice and Santiago de Compostela are cities, not towns, in my book, however.

Three more that spring to mind are:

Mutters in the Austrian Tyrol
Obidos in Portugal
Bibury in England

cathies

Hi Katie, we renamed Albas in The Lot "Brigadoon" in honour of the Gene Kelly movie - the town only reappears once every 250 years or so. Albas is gorgeous, but murder to find! We were verging on the divorce courts by the time we got to our gite!! But it's so pretty it was worth the trouble.

Thanks for starting this thread, it's great fun.

screen_name_taken

If one has ever been to Pedraza and/or Consuegra (Spain), they would both be the list.

brando

I agree with op about Sintra and Vernazza as a later poster mentioned.

Anywhere on the trails of CT are great, or a morning sun rise in Florence, walking the st's of rome and catching a glimpse of the colleseum or the st. peters, a sunset in asissi, etc etc.

littlejane

Been to:
Eze (would definitely agree)
Bath (no, wouldn't call it picturesque although I loved it)
Sintra - yes, maybe
Lucca - no, not my idea of Picturesque. Think some of the other tuscan hill towns have better vistas and look better for photos (another poster mentioned san gimignano, I'd substitute this for Lucca)
Mykonos - didn't understand this one at all, while I enjoyed it I thought in terms of beauty it was nothing special. Oia or Fira on Santorini would get my vote any time.
The big ommission for me is Dubrovnik - breathtakingly beautiful.

reheatedspaghetti

I would definitely add Hvar, Croatia to the list!

ediemay

I believe this thread would be much shorter if we were naming the ugliest and least quaint of the European towns, especially in France. Hard to recall very many.

tcreath

Dubrovnik, Croatia
Hallstatt, Austria
Spello, Italy

tcreath

I would also second Maitaitom's Ljubljana recommendation as well.

Tracy

stefarr

What about my capital city..Valletta? Its harbour is in a league of its own....

I think in this case it is a question of beauty being in the eye of the beholder..

My all time breath holders,

Pienza in Italy and all the Val D'Orcia
Positano..when not overrun by tourists
Aeolian islands
Cinque Terre
La Morra in Piemonte....

a bit biased I'm afraid, being so close to Italy ...

LJ

Been to Bath, Sintra, Delft and Lucca.

Would add Alberobello (Puglia) Italy.

Luisah

I've been to Eze and Lucca and agree with both choices, but would call Lucca charming rather than picturesque.

I would add Roussillon (sp?) and Les Baux in France; Ronda and Mijas in Spain; Santorini in Greece and Eyeries and Baltimore in Ireland.

I saw several picturesque villages in Switzerland but don't recall the names.