Poll: Most loved smaller European cities & towns (under 500,000 pop.)
 

Hi Everyone,

Getting back into planning our next summer's European vacation and I thought it would be fun to have everyone's opinion on their favorite smaller European cities and towns.

We fell in love with Bologna, Italy. So much history and situated in a magnificent part of Italy (Varenna, Ravenna and Parma are close by). Not many visitors and as raw an Italian city that you will ever find. A hauntingly beautiful city that should not be missed.

So, 1 for Bologna, Italy

I have no idea what the populations of these cities are (and I wouldn't call anything with a population of 500,000 a town), but in France Rennes and Toulouse and Strasbourg would be high on my list. As you get smaller, of course, there are many more.

Toledo, Spain
Bath, England
Vicenza, Italy
Sienna, Italy
Luca, Italy
Aix en Provence, France
Granada, Spain

Bruges, Belgium is a clean picturesque version of Amsterdam.
Cassis , France is all you need for a visit to a seaside town minus museums.

The stock is endless.
Erfurt in the eastern parts of Germany is an amazingly agreeable city with smaller cities like Gotha and Weimar close by.
In northern Bavaria you've got Würzburg, Nürnberg (both with Bamberg within easy reach) and Regensburg.
In northern Germany old Hansa cities like Lübeck, Stralsund and Wismar are well worth a visit, with the island of Rügen a pleasant escape.
In northern Italy the university city of Padua (Padova) is a pleasant base to discover the area.
And there are many, many more...

Bamberg, Bermany and Bruges, Belgium. Both are charming, almost medieval towns, not large cities.

Bermany? ?Sorry for the typo. I get new glasses this week.

Durbuy, city of about 400 people, called 'the smallest city of the world'.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durbuy

Under 500k is pretty big.

That said,

1. Trondheim, Norway
2. Antibes, France
3. Montreux, Switzerland

I could name several hundred of towns in Europe that meet your criteria. No kidding.

Napflion, Greece
Chania, Freece
Fethiye, Turkey
Leiden, Netherlands
Perugia, Italy

Bruges
Strasbourg
York

And a host of others. Don;t know the exact pops but I would consider these smaller cities.

bookmarking

San Sebastián, Spain

I also love Montreux, Switzerland, and head there about every year or every other year. Population is under 30,000.

Augsburg, Germany, is a good choice; population around 130,000. Other favorites are Bern (130,000), Thun (32,000), and Basel (165,000), all in Switzerland.

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Aachen, Germany
Toledo, Spain

Bruges
Beaune, France
Siena, Italy
Sarlat, France
Toledo, Spain
Uzes, France

CAADOCCIA, TURKEY

A wonderful wonderful small town also called the "Cave City"

Metz and Nancy

Apart from those I've seen mentioned above, and mostly leaving out the most heavily visited cities:

Lund
Glasgow
Durham
Salisbury
Wells
Galway
Haarlem
Gouda
Utrecht
Dordrecht
Trier
Nîmes
Avignon
Chartres
Ávila
Segovia
Salamanca
Trieste
Torino
Ferrara
Comacchio
Urbino
Ascoli Piceno
Chioggia
Padova
Mantova
Assisi
Spello
Sermoneta
Genova

Some of these may be smaller than what you're looking for.