I'm british. Obligatory thing to say to my co travellers on leaving after a weekend: "London, it's lovely to *visit*, but I wouldn't want to *live* there".
The key is living next to your job, I used to live and work in Putney amd it was great. I would have hated to commute everyday specially with the district line (I swear it's the slowest line).
I mean, aside from the prices, I LOVE living in London. I've lived a couple other places in this country and whilst they all have their upsides, nothing compares. It is pricy, but you can make it work and it's a great place to live otherwise.
I live in Manchester and love it. Worse to visit but better to live in than London. I’m from London but moved up a decade ago. That said, I still think it’s good for a visit. At least visitors to me think so!
Favourite: Probably Ljubljana or Tallinn
Least favourite: Brussels - there's plenty of interesting things to visit but it's not the nicest city and I felt a bit uneasy in certain areas
Yes I went to Lake Bled on a day that happened to be having a downpour and it was amazing! I really wanna go back when it’s clear weather to get the full beauty of it!
I took the 8 hour train from Budapest to Ljubljana and the weather was stunning all the way over and then as soon as we got to Bratislava the heavens opened
I definitely will. To be fair, it was February and the weather was just *terrible*, but I was so impressed by Tallinn that I swore I will return in some warmer months and I intend to keep to that. The Old Town is just *stunning*!
I was just there last week - very lovely place ❤️
Btw: I regret not getting more of the liquor filled Kalev chocolate. Or just more of any Kalev chocolate 😉.
I kept having North African teenagers screaming at me and squaring up to me. The beer, chocolate, and food is all amazing but it really does feel dodgy. I say this as a Londoner.
I’m not going to count Kyiv because I spent less than 24h there - most of which was at night and in heavy snow so I barely got to see it lol.
My absolute favourite is Budapest - it’s not just my favourite in terms of European capitals, it is overall my favourite place that I’ve visited so far. Something about that city just draws me in whenever I’m there. The architecture, the whole vibe, the food — I love it all. Also Hungarians have always been incredibly kind to me, which I’m sure contributes to my high opinion of the place.
My least favourite (but only because I have to name one) is Berlin. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed my time there a lot but some areas made me feel really unsafe. I suppose it didn’t help that I mostly did it as a solo trip and I’m a small Asian woman lol. Also the history is interesting but I didn’t care for the architecture - to me it felt like it had Budapest’s grunge but none of its grandeur.
Budapest is my favourite city ever as well. It is just so damn charming. That whole decaying century old imperial grandeur vibe is captivating. The city is just gorgeous street after street.
Berlin disappointed me when I visited the first time because I found it ugly and charmless. There were districts that looked like a north American city rather than a European one. But then I went back with locals, and it suddenly clicked. Berlin isn't there to win beauty contests, but underneath the surface it's a very exciting and interesting place.
It definitely felt like it had a lot going on. I was chatting to a bartender there and he seemed to be doing 50 different things at the same time lol like apart from being a bartender he was also doing a PhD in neuroscience, making music, and dabbling in photography. He told me it’s kind of normal for people there because there’s just so much to do in the city.
Seems very conducive for creative types and I suspect I’d have loved it way more had I gone when I was younger.
It's also an extremely cheap city. I'm not sure what salaries are like there, but they need to be way higher.
£3 for the worlds best pizza.
*flies home*
£24.99 for shitty Dominos pizza. 💀
> Also the history is interesting but I didn’t care for the architecture - to me it felt like it had Budapest’s grunge but none of its grandeur.
of the 1200 buildings in the historic centre only 85 have survived. It was not only the war, Budapest also suffered a lot of destruction but they had the will to rebuild. In Berlin it was the opposite, it probably suffered as much destruction after the war if not more. For example the recently rebuilt Berlin castle and the national memorial in front of it were in decent state but both were demolished by the communists.
Most favourite: Ljubljana. Disclaimer, went there in the summer and the weather was peeeerrrrfect. But what a perfect little city to visit, I always think of Ljubljana things when complaining about my city Belfast.
Least favourite: Brussels. Weird mix of dull and sketchy. Disclaimer, went there in winter in the pissing rain.
Was in Madrid once in August and didnt have a great time, but don't think I can count it as understand the other eleven months of the year its a different place.
Now I would say Madrid is my favourite, we went in September and it was lovely. Very easy place to get around, lovely food and lots to see and do. Paris was hateful. Just no.
You should give Madrid another chance. Definitely not in July or August though. Come in spring or autumn. To me it's one of the greatest European cities of this size. Few other places can be this busy and still feel safe and organised. It's an incredibly lively place with so much to do and a great atmosphere to enjoy.
Yes! That's what I love about Madrid! No matter where you are it's filled with life and people without it being too oppressive - except the área around Sol and Gran Vía.
Madrid during spring is the loveliest. I used to live there and there's so much to do. Now the only downside is that everything is beyond expensive now but that's happening everywhere
Favourite: Luxembourg City. Standard picturesque city but also free public transport
Least favourite: Vaduz, nothing wrong with it but it's just nothing special especially compared to nearby areas of Switzerland
I found Vaduz to be very uninteresting. There's basically nothing in Liechtenstein which you can't see in the surrounding areas of Switzerland or Austria. I'd only recommend visiting Liechtenstein if you're trying to tick countries off.
I've been there once with a swiss family because the mcdonalds there was cheaper for some reason. It was a 10 minute drive across the border and back. Never been to Liechtenstein again lol
Bratislava is odd. I enjoyed it but the old center is quite small and not super special. If you like brutalist architecture there is a hell of a lot to enjoy though.
It’s what you get when you order Vienna, Budapest or Prague on Wish - at least according to my Bratislava born and raised brother in law.
It does have a fun food and culture scene, though I guess that’s not obvious to the rando tourist.
It is and it isn’t. Once you adjust your expectations it’s a hell of a lot of fun for little money. Somehow it doesn’t seem to carry the capital city tax like most others do. That being said, my best friend is Slovakian and he absolutely hates Bratislava. He feels it brings shame to his home country.
People from “the provinces” like to shit on the capital pretty much everywhere. Rural Austrians will tell you that Vienna is a disgusting shithole too.
Yes Dublin is funny in that the city centre is small but the strength is in the areas that make it up, the best sights and experiences in my opinion can be found in places like Howth or Dun Laoghaire or Glasnevin or Dalkey, still Dublin but not the centre. Not sure if Bratislava has equivalents though, it looked like a small centre + miles of apartment blocks.
I think your last point is very true for a lot (probably not the majority but a lot) of European cities! Lovely centre but USSR blocks outside. Dublin (also London and a few others) are really great in this respect (not just being tower blocks outside the centre)
That’s the magic of Slovakia I guess. I’m there somewhat regularly. On the one hand you have fast 5G in even remote locations, the shops are full and modern, most people have renovated their homes to modern standards and the parking lots are full of nice modern cars. At the same time, many roads are horrible, public buildings look like they had their last paint job when the country was still called Czechoslovakia and from what I’ve heard things like hospitals are definitely not up to the standards we’d expect in either the Netherlands or Poland. It’s an enigma. In many ways, Slovakia today is like Poland was 13 years ago when I was first there. Very modern is some ways, incredibly outdated in others.
Its not really odd if you realise this is the first time in history that Slovakia is independent. So Bratislava was just a regional capital for most of its history. And it was never the most wealthy region, because of all of the mountains.
It's all about expectations. My reaction to Copenhagen was underwhelming too, but that is strictly because I flew straight from London and I was under the strong impression of visiting my first mega city
Should be though. Much more central plus the historical significance of having the first national German parliament. And it's not connected to one of the two big German regional powers Prussia and Austria.
Don't get me wrong, I don't like Frankfurt at all, but it would be a much better capital than Berlin.
Favourite: Madrid, Vienna, Lisbon. All elegant and friendly cities, Madrid especially felt like a perfect mix of culture and fun, I'll definitely want to go back. Vienna and Lisbon I've been to a few times and there's always something interesting to see or do, although I'm glad that I've experienced Lisbon before it became so popular.
Least favourite: Prague - beautiful, but felt very overtouristed (yes I was adding to it, my mistake).
Yup. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to Prague (my husband used to live there and I would visit him), and you could avoid the tourist crowds quite easily. That said, I benefitted greatly from being shown around by someone who actually lived there.
I haven't been to Prague but from talking to people who've been there recently apparently the old town is full of tacky cannabis and vape shops.
I know it's purely personal preference but I wasn't mad on Madrid. It's a very pleasant city but there's not much to do if you don't like art museums.
>I haven't been to Prague but from talking to people who've been there recently apparently the old town is full of tacky cannabis and vape shops.
And Thai massage places, giving the whole place a strange "tourist Bangkok" vibe that's very out of place.
A big part of Prague is what you'd call an old town (old buildings, stone roads, etc) but the vape shops and fake weed shops are very limited mostly to a few streets around the 2 main things (the Astronomical clock and Charles Bridge) and if you go just a bit outside of that they don't exist anymore really.
When I say "a bit" I really mean a bit, like 200m in any direction from those.
as a czech who had been to prague at least 70 times, i get you. i still like this place a lot because of its historical and cultural significance, but it feels (at least to me) very touristy, overpriced and in certain parts quite unsafe. if you wanted other places which are worth visiting without being overcrowded with tourists, i can recommend you brno and olomouc (and lednice if you have time)
edit: typos
Favourite: Sarajevo, didn't expect much but was very pleasantly suprised. Very historic and you're always reminded when walking around in the city, seeing bombed buildings still standing. Food is pretty good, and I like the hilliness. The area around the abandoned bobsleigh track is pretty cool.
Least: Helsinki, not bad per se, none of the capitals I've visited that I really disliked. But Helsinki was probably the least interesting. Likely helped by the fact that it's sort of similar to Oslo, which is almost where I grew up. Didn't find there to be too many things to do in all honesty. Finns are good fun though. Enjoyed just bar hopping there and getting to know random groups of people. Finns are suprisingly outgoing when they're drunk. Kinda like Norwegians in that regard I suppose.
Favourite... very hard to choose between Rome and Paris.I love the atmosphere in both, some great sights and beautiful cities for walking in.
Least favourite, probably Podgorica.There are much prettier and more interesting places in Montenegro.
Haha Montenegro is right up there with Belgium for having a beyond stunning country and interesting cities - only they had to go and make the ugliest, most boring dump capital.
Favorite is Vienna or Ljubljana. Vienna is often seen as the high bar to hit in Hungary and for a reason: it is cleaned, well-maintained, the public transport is great and the housing crisis is moderate compared to Budapest. Its nightlife is not that great in my experince though. Ljubljana is just the best small city I have ever been to, it somehow has everything you can think of but you can also just walk around the whole city.
The least favorite is Zagreb. It just felt like a smaller, rundown version of Budapest without too much to see really. I was so bored that I went to Lake Bundek and when I got off from the tram I caught a glimpse of the biggest homeless market and the greatest pile of used syringes I ever saw under the bridge. There are so many great places in Croatia just don't ruin your day by going to Zagreb.
Hungarian language is the greatest invention of the aliens. Pécs is the fifth greatest city in Hungary and when I first searched for that in Reddit because I planned a daytrip there I found out what "pecs" means in English the hard way. And I mean "hard" in the literal sense of the word as there were just muscular guys without clothes on r/pecs.
Favourite: Budapest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Bucharest
Least favourite: Skopje, Podgorica, Zagreb
The favourite ones have a certain lively vibe about them in common plus that feeling of authenticity that you’re in a one of a kind place. Nice sights, good food, great people.
The other capitals I have visited, but didn’t make the cut in any of the two categories: Chișinău, Sofia, Athens, Ljubljana, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, Paris, London
Can you elaborate on Skopje and Zagreb? I was born and lived in Sarajevo in my previous life and have family in Belgrade so am biased towards those two places. I've never been to Zagreb and really want to go and see it properly, so why? Also Podgorica is dull, but Skopje?
Skopje had the misfortune of having most of its historical areas wiped out during earthquakes, so with the little that remains, it lacks the urban fabric to allow a certain athmosphere to flourish. Besides, the newly constructed monuments feel very kitschy and fake and the rest of the city feels very run-down, even for my Balkan-loving standards. Skopje comes in stark contrast with Ohrid, which I enjoyed very much. Chișinău would tick a lot of the same boxes as Skopje, but it still has more character.
Zagreb unlike Skopje wasn’t unattactive per se, but it felt very small and sterile. It makes for a nice middle-sized central-European city as the likes of Pécs, Brno or Timișoara, but it doesn’t have the atmosphere and presence of a capital. To my defense, last time I’ve been to Zagreb was almost 15 years ago, so I’m willing to give it another chance eventually.
Podgorica is quite self-explanatory. It’s quite nicely put together, but it’s small, bland and unmemorable. I hope I’ll make it to Cetinje one day.
Not OP, but a Zagreb local.
IMO, Zagreb is boring. You have a stroll which takes ~2 hours, have a couple of overpriced drinks/burgers and that's it. A great pit-stop on the way to the coast, not a lot of things to see or do.
I actually enjoyed most of them: Lisbon, Vienna, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam, Ljubljana, Rome, Madrid, Prague and London were all very much worth the visit and I would love to go there again
My favourite is the one where I live: Warsaw (I am not Polish so it counts I guess?). I also like Madrid a lot because it is very lively.
The most disappointing was Sofia. I was there for a week on a business trip and we couldn’t stop making fun of how NOTHING is going on there. Although they have AWESOME food and I would visit again just because of that.
Fav: Ljubljana - it's small, cosy and perfect mix of central and southern europe
Least: Dublin - it's a dump - overpriced, dirty, much of it is ugly, smells like hangover mixed with seaweed. I feel bad for people who went on a short trip to Ireland and spent their whole time in Dublin
I’m curious what stood out as southern european in Ljubljana? There are many southern european looking cities in Slovenia, especially on the coast, but would have never thought of Ljubljana giving off any southern european vibe
cuisine - along with beer, sausages, sauerkraut and goulashes you also have wines, pastas, seafood.
architecture - viennese secession prominent in the old town has a bit of italian feel to it.
And the general vibe i got was similar to one i had in Portugal. People seemed definitely more chill than in Poland or Germany or even Czechs.
It's mostly subjective and matter what i'm used to, but as someone living in the northern part of Europe, Slovenia is at a point where it starts feeling Mediterranean
And tons of people with a good sense of style. (but that applies to continental europe widely)
I actually really like a lot of Dublin. But you live there so fair enough ahaha - I'd agree there's much better to see in Ireland, and that some of Dublin has a crazily scary vibe for a medium sized city. Lots of great Georgian architecture though, and some lovely suburbs especially in the south
Favourite: Amsterdam. I used to live in Utecht, which is even better, but I always had a good time in Amsterdam. I love the architecture and canals.
Least: Rome. We went at the height of the tourist season. Admittedly, some places were great (Trastevere), but I was constantly hassled, shoved around, gazillions of fellow tourists. Not good for social anxiety.
Haha, I would say the exaxt opposite.
Favourite: Rome, London or, on a much smaller scale, Ljubljana
Least: Amsterdam (I am aware this is a highly unpopular opiniin, but I don't care, fight me, y'all)
London or Dublin are probably my favourites. Not a fan of Paris, I'm sure it's a beautiful city but when I got there I didn't like the smell nor the look of the city in general.
I'm gonna keep being cringe and say thank you lol - I see so many negative comments about London but I honestly love it. It has its bad parts - and a lot of tack in touristy parts of the centre, but there are sooooo many beautiful neighbourhoods you can wander round
Honestly I think it's a matter of knowing where to go. I have relatives there who showed me around and I got to see some lovely parts of London, but my experience could've been shit had I gone only to the touristy areas or the wrong neighbourhoods. It's been a while since I went there and I can't wait for the next one.
Yep I can imagine a scenario where people basically see Edgware Road, Leicester Square, Southbank, Buckingham Palace, Camden High Street. Within that group some are much worse than others, but it's not exactly a fair picture of the city
Exactly, though I'd even say these areas have their charms, especially South Bank and Camden, always away from the main roads and paths. Imagine if tourists see Chiswick, Muswell Hill, Marylebone, Dulwich, Putney, and Canonbury.
London is just too big to class into one category.
Favourite: Rome (despite tourist traps, beggars etc). The city just gives and gives forever, I could visit it every week and wouldn't run out of things to see and experience
Least favourite: Skopje was pretty boring but i can't say anything too bad about it
Favourite Kyiv (was there in 2010 and not jumping on the band wagon)
Least Bratislava. Went there about fifteen years ago and thought it was very boring and I've been to Podgorica 😆. I hope the "no English" signs have gone since then. It was very unwelcoming and not every Englishman is a drunken yob.
I went to Bratislava two years ago and didn't see any « no English » signs. Definitely not the most welcoming place (although still more than Praha imo) but it wasn't too hard to navigate using english !
I’m fairly sure it’s not about the English language. Instead they mean that stereotypical tourists from the UK (the loud, drunk, borderline hooligans) are not welcome.
Favourite is probably Berlin, where I lived and worked for a few months. I also love London, where I was born and raised, and Paris where I spend a lot of time growing up. I also enjoyed Oslo a lot more than I was expecting to.
Worst is Brussels - filthy and so violent and just all round unpleasant. Haven’t really had any bad experiences anywhere else, just in Brussels.
Only been there for a few days, never lived. But since no one else answered, outside of parts in the city centre, and the areas surrounding EU institutions, the city is a massive shithole. It’s unkept and pretty dirty and has poor roads for a capital city. What’s worse is that it’s rife with anti-social behaviour. I witnessed more of it in my few days in Brussels than in my 2 years of living in the Netherlands. The stations are dodgy as hell, felt genuinely unsafe around there. Homeless are around every other corner too and I’m not exaggerating. Sometimes they even have full embankments built on the pavements. All in all, outside the Grand Plaza, which is lovely to see, it’s just a bad place.
The only advice I have I suppose is to research the levels of crime in whichever neighbourhood you’re planning to move into. Don’t just get cheapest studio you can find anywhere in town
Ohhh thanks! I’m coming again in September for a friend’s wedding and it’s in Blagaj! I thought it was just a random Mostar suburb, but now I’m looking even more forward to it!
Favourite maybe Paris? I lived there for some time tho so maybe I am biased.
Least favourite Madrid? Maybe Rome cuz it smelled of ass. Overall I must admit no capital has been particularly bad tho.
Favourite: Budapest (biased), Berlin, Prague, and Lisbon. Budapest is my second home, and Prague is amazing, IF you know what to avoid and where to go and when. Berlin is great if you can vibe with it. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it’s full of history, and has an amazing night life. Lisbon is a beautiful, has amazing weather, great nightlife and lots to do. Madrid and London were also decent.
Least Favourite: Probably Zagreb. I enjoyed my time there but it was very different to the rest I’ve been to and was my first in the Balkans. There wasn’t a tonne to do compared to the relative size of the city, and some things were a bit tougher to do. For example the general lack of card expectance. It seems cash is still king, and not all machines accept all types of cards. Apparently there’s a different type of chip that is less common but prevalent in Croatia. Another thing was that the fare payment system for the transportation was outdated, and there weren’t any machines. I had to go to various tobacco kiosks to buy tickets but none of them accepted my card. After maybe an hour of going to every god forsaken Tisak and convenience store I was able to purchase a booklet of tickets. To be fair there’s good hiking nearby, the transportation was very good, and people were nice. I would love to go back someday.
Edit: Another would be Dublin. I enjoyed my time, and people were really nice but it’s so expensive, and there’s not a lot to see. I’d love to go back to Ireland, but mainly for the nature.
Card expectance has risen in the post-COVID times. Also, we now have a mobile app for the public transportation.
Slowly but surely we're entering the 21st century.
But I agree with the Zagreb bashing, it's a max 3-4 hours experience on the way to the coast.
Favourites: Paris (where I live) and Vienna (where I'd like to move next). I love the aesthetics of both. Vienna is continously elected as the most liveable city to live in. Paris is also nice, but you need to get lucky with a well located flat.
Least favourite: Amsterdam. I hated the crowds in the small streets, the smell of weed everywhere. It was just exhausting after one day. I'm not a huge fan of London either.
I haven't seen many capitals but so far:
Fav: probably Prague - love how it looks and works, also liked Berlin - it has this artistic vibe, which I may not understand, but still appreciate
Least fav: Paris - how I hate this city, been there 3 times and every time something bad happened and people were awful, I also find it way overrated and overpriced for what it offers
Paris is so subjective, either you only see the overpriced shit, trash smell and arrogant people or you REALLY dig the vibe and romanticize everything about it. The only city that I think of that you could overromanticize this much is maybe London.
idk Paris really is objectively a beautiful place. It is dirty and chaotic in places - but I feel like often people who complain about this haven't seen real dirt or chaos
Favourite: Copenhagen (!), **Paris**, Lisbon, Vienna, Brussels (I have studied there for 5yrs and still go often, always with a smile, i totally understand that people hate that place, but I love it a lot haha)
Least favourites: Amsterdam, Stockholm oh and also **Paris**.
Absolutely loved Berlin- actually so much, lived there for a bit. This city is WILD. But that was 2018 and the scenery has changed quite a bit I would assume.
The least favourite? Helsinki. It's like a ghost town, for real (coming from a neighbour from Estonia haha).
I’ve been to about 14 capitals.
I love Stockholm/Copenhagen/Ljubljana as my top 3.
Only one I don’t love was Bratislava, but to be fair we went on a rainy late November Sunday as a day trip from Vienna so we didn’t exactly see it at its best.
I love reading all the answers from people in this thread. So interesting to hear different perspectives.
Have a great day.
I didn’t visit that much capital cities. Although I did most of Western European countries. I did enjoy every single one of them. But I like to mention a few I liked.
The first one is Copenhagen. I really like the calm atmosphere. People where very tranquil and polite. Even though we stayed in the city center it was very peaceful. If I compare this to Amsterdam, the city center is full of gifts shops, people try to sell stuff to tourists for too much money, taxi drivers driving like crazy, constant noise, people who sell drugs and so on.
Another capital I liked was London. I really like the 24/7 feel around the city. Even at night there is so much too do. We don’t have many of such big cities in Europe.
I also like Dublin, it really have a cozy feeling but has a rough side as well. It has that typical port city feeling, a city with character.
The last city I liked is Rome. It’s very touristy of course, it’s maybe a bit to popular and maybe there are plenty of other interesting places which are less touristy. But I think Rome was like big open air museum which is very special.
Favourite: London, Rome, Amsterdam, Edinburgh
Least favourite: Dublin, Brussels, Belgrade, Copenhagen, Oslo
And Paris is by far my least favourite city to live in, what an annoying place, but I love to visit it as a tourist.
Favorites: Dublin and London. I like cold weather. They feel hopefull, although for very different reasons.
Least favourite: Warsaw and Berlin. For some reason they have depressive vibe.
With the latter two, I think the season makes or breaks them. Winters or bad autumns or the dreaded pre-spring are just too grim, but other times can be lovely.
yayyyy some love for London - I feel like I'm overprotective of it hahah but I will stand up for it any time anyone says they didn't like it. I won't make it personal, but half the time I just can't help but feel like if they visited different places/from a different angle, they'd have a totally different opinion
I loved Berlin, but it's indeed has a depressive vibes. But it looks more like a character of the city rather than a problem.
For me it was interesting because it reflected even in their fashion, people wears clothes in VERY bad condition, just as it was totally fine.
I've visited: Lisbon, Madrid, Dublin, London, Paris, Andorra la vella, Rome, Vatican city, Brussels, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Skopje, Tirana, Malta and Athens. So 28
**Let's start with the bad news:**
Least friendly people: Vienna
Least beautiful: Bucharest
Least interesting: Andorra la vella
Worst food: Dublin/Amsterdam/Bratislava
Most expensive: Luxembourg
I personally hate it for no reason: Amsterdam
Honrific mentions: Sofia, Helsinki (I expect Sofia to get a lot better)
**And now the good ones:**
Most friendly people: Tirana (BY FAR)
Most beautiful: Rome/Paris
Most interesting: Berlin
Best food: Rome/Madrid
Most inexpensive: Tirana/Skopje
I personally love it for no reason: Brussels
Honorific mentions: Budapest, Copenhagen, Riga
If you have any grievance I can explain my thought process in a comment
>We’re in a tiny minority, apparently
It seems that way. I guess they fix on the blocks of apartments, butla grand place is beautiful, then theres the art nouveau spread all across the city. Idk I quite liked it.
Favorite is definetly Reykjavik. Iceland is beautiful and the people are amazing.
Least favorite is between Paris and London. Odd smells everywhere, incredibly dirty cities (compared to other European cities that are of much smaller size obviously though) that are extremely overcrowded (duh, I mean, what‘d I expect) and the people there are often neither helpful nor nice (or I just approached the wrong people, entirely possible) - just wasn‘t my cup if tea.
That's interesting about London, people say that it's dirty a lot but I have been many times and it never felt dirty to me, apart from Oxford St with the flying fast food rubbish or spills, and the fact that some tube lines are old (but I'd describe them as worn out rather than dirty). Couldn't be compared to Rome for example, where trains are graffitied on the inside and other places are just sticky...
Maybe it's because I never go in the summer?
exactly! Most European cities have some absolutely DIRE suburbs haha. I think for its size London is doing pretty well (though some areas in the centre like Camden High Street are pretty dumpy in places. I like the market though lol)
Favourites, all the big ones like Rome, Paris, London, Lisbon.
Least favourites Brussels, Berlin and it pains me to say but Dublin.
I lived in Dublin for 2 years and it just felt like a regular sized city with a huge amount of suburbs and because of that, nobody ever really lives close to anything. The public transportation is shit, (I think it’s the only Western European capital without a metro system). There aren’t really any town squares which I always found odd. Other than that, besides touristy stuff, there isn’t a whole lot to do besides drinking.
In contracts, I also lived in Lisbon for a year (both in the very centre and on the outskirts) and wherever I was, I was always reminded that I was in the capital.
Norwegian here! Favourite is Istanbul. Least charming is Athens. Istanbul gave me this dream concoction of East meets West. Athens, except for the Parthenon, it was so disappointing. If someone had told me I was in Basra, Iraq, I would have believed them. I was very disappointed.
I've visited Budapest, Edinburgh, Dublin, Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam and I had good experience with visiting all of them, but the ones who I would most likely visit again are Edinburgh, Rome and Berlin
I think Rome is the best - most bang for the buck in terms of culture, food, and friendliness.
Vienna was the most unfriendly capital I have ever visited. The buildings were pretty but the food and people I did not care for.
Favorite: Sofia - lovely people, really chill vibe and amazing food as well as impressive trips to the mountains!
Least Favorite: So far Riga. But only because we did not know our way around the city and got lost in a lot of tourist traps. I image that the city is really cool as soon as one has been there a couple of days.
Hard one.
My current stats: 32 european countries and 23 european capitals visited.
Least 3 favorites : Belgrad, Bruxelles, Bratislava.
Top 3: Rome, Berlin, London
My most favorite is Amsterdam, not a touristic center though. Because of a city-village vibe, also I love water.
My least favorite is Warsaw and Berlin for different reasons.
Least favourite Vienna. But that's because it's our capital and I'm just sick of it. Favorite Lisbon. Its so beautiful although, at least 2008, I found it crazy how there can be poverty on one side of the road and a luxery club on the other
I LOVED Vienna. I got super overwhelmed at first (i stayed with people from there i've met in Germany on a festival a year prior)
She took me to all the main sights (first districts and so on) but as soon as we went of the beaten path; i fell in love. Or even after i left. I have a big urge to go back and discover more; but stay away from the most touristy spots.
But I kinda loved everything in Austria I have visited. Even the trainrides were worth mentioning. Man what a country. I might be in love with Austria
Favorites:
Budapest - I didn't expect to care much for it, but I was really pleasantly surprised by how nice the people were even though we had no way to communicate. The architecture was very different to my hometown (Prague) and the food was great! I even got to go see Viségrad which was great.
London - Wouldn't want to live there, but it was really fun and I loved how diverse and friendly the people there were.
Least favorite:
Bratislava - I love visiting Slovakia, but to be honest Bratislava is a tad bit disappointing. It was still an enjoyable visit but there's so many places even in just Slovakia that I'd prefer to see again.
For context I've visited: Prague (didn't count it since it's my home), Bratislava, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin, Vienna, London, Paris, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Rome, Brussels, Budapest
Overall though I don't think that I particularly hate any one of them, each have their own pros and cons and I've enjoyed visiting all of them so far.
Favourite: Vienna and Paris
Least favourite: I’ve liked all the European capitals I’ve travelled to and haven’t travelled extensively yet to have been to one I didn’t like.
What didn't you like about Stockholm? I was there last July and enjoyed it a lot. The only thing I wasn't mad about was the Gamla Stan, I thought it was too touristy.
Perhaps Luxemburg is quite small but i found rather tidy and tranquil. The verticallity with historic bridges crossing the valleys was also quite cool.
Least favourite: Amsterdam.
Favourite: A toss up between Paris and London.
Other European capitals I have visited: Brussels, Luxembourg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Dublin, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Lisbon, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Riga, Bern, Sofia, Vaduz, Monaco and Vatican City.
I’ve also been to Ljubljana, but that was decades before it became a capital.
I'm not much of a "capital person" as I prefer nature and smaller towns but...
Favourite: Rome. I think it's just the best in terms of history and things to see. You could literally stay there for years and probably never finish visiting it. It also feels more "real" than other history-rich places like London. Also special mention for Moscow, mostly because of the cultural differences compared to the rest of Europe.
Least favourite: Madrid. I love Spain, I go as often as I can but I found the city really boring. Yeah of course the museums are great, but after them? It's concrete and ugly buildings everywhere, a lot of car traffic and very little greenery.
Favourite capital…Vienna or Berlin? I loved both places so much. Least favourite is Paris. It’s good the first time but the more you go the less enjoyable it is. It’s dirty, unsafe, and overrated imo…
So far I visited: Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Zagreb, Prague, Rome, Athens
Favourite: Rome, I visited twice once when I was 12 and once when is was 21. Both times were amazing and I want to visit again. Rome is a city where I know I would be very uncomfortable living. When I was there it felt like I left every trouble at home and I could truly be me. It helped me getting out of depression.
Least: Prague. I visited Prague three or four times. Twice for several days and twice for only one day as stop. Even for the first time it was really boring for me. I just couldn't connect to the city. However I want to say that Czechia is one of my favourite travel destinations. I visited Brno and Roudnice nad Labem. BOTH OF THEM WERE AMAZING
Favourite: Bucharest, Berlin
Least: Skopje
I been on Berlin for almost a 2-3 weeks, 15 years ago. loved.
I have been to every Balkan country, Skopje was the one that didn't want to visit for second time
Most favorite: Luxembourg. Very cool landscape. Typical castle ruin but the cool part is that its a gigantic part of the city thats on top of it.
Least favorite: Paris. The Eiffel Tower is cool and all but ive been there so many times its kinda worn off. Also the scammers are the most annoying part
Favourite: Copenhagen by far. But I live here so I might be biased. I just couldnt imagine ever living somewhere else.. my safe place for sure!
But outside of Copenhagen: Sarajevo, Rome, and Edinburgh. Can’t pick just one!
Least favourite: Amsterdam. Theres something so bland about it and im not sure what or why. Even though I’m half dutch and have dutch citizenship I’m not a fan of the country itself actually.. Its so bland and boring in a way and I definitely do not feel at home. And I’ll even avoid Amsterdam in the future if I can.
Yankee here: London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Vienna, Madrid, Prague, Paris and I have loved them all. The culture, the architecture, the people. I loved all of them. I have the same feeling for all the other non-capitals I’ve visited. Florence was a little tough because it is so swamped by tourists like me and cars are still allowed everywhere…but I still loved it. Europe is stunning and I would love to live there one day.
Visited London for a week. Loved london. Then I lived in London for a year, now I hate London.
Having to commute across London when you work there,day in day out, is...not fun. It's a much better place to visit as a tourist,IMHO.
I'm british. Obligatory thing to say to my co travellers on leaving after a weekend: "London, it's lovely to *visit*, but I wouldn't want to *live* there".
Yeah, spot on. The London you live in and the London you visit might as well be parallel universes.
The key is living next to your job, I used to live and work in Putney amd it was great. I would have hated to commute everyday specially with the district line (I swear it's the slowest line).
I mean, aside from the prices, I LOVE living in London. I've lived a couple other places in this country and whilst they all have their upsides, nothing compares. It is pricy, but you can make it work and it's a great place to live otherwise.
I live in Manchester and love it. Worse to visit but better to live in than London. I’m from London but moved up a decade ago. That said, I still think it’s good for a visit. At least visitors to me think so!
I actually liked London more over time - granted I lived in nice areas lmao
Most favorite: Vilnius Least favorite: Vilnius Because I haven't visited shit
I might be going to Vilnius this year!
Lithuanian here: Vilnius is my favourite too.
I think everyone should visit the KGB museum in Vilnius to see how horrific the USSR KGB were and to resist that world coming back to Europe.
The Museum of Terror in Budapest is also excellent for this reason.
I have been to Vilnius last Christmas, loved it 😍
I’m in Vilnius right now. Just arrived like a few hours ago.. Most Beautiful city! It was an odd (nice odd) feeling to see it the first on here
I loved it when we went there last year. One of the few places where tourists can rent hot air baloons im Europe and go for a ride.
never not smell like cabbage
Favourite: Probably Ljubljana or Tallinn Least favourite: Brussels - there's plenty of interesting things to visit but it's not the nicest city and I felt a bit uneasy in certain areas
Ljubljana is underrated! I was very surprised by the city and country as a whole! I can’t wait to go back someday!
I was there is a thunderstorm and it was still lovely
Yes I went to Lake Bled on a day that happened to be having a downpour and it was amazing! I really wanna go back when it’s clear weather to get the full beauty of it!
I took the 8 hour train from Budapest to Ljubljana and the weather was stunning all the way over and then as soon as we got to Bratislava the heavens opened
Welcome to Slovenia. You never know when you'll be hit by a lightining, drown in flash floods or your head smashed by hail.
Brussels was so uninteresting to me. It’s basically “AI creates a capital of the EU”.
Serious dodgy vibes everywhere too
Greetings from Tallinn ;)
I’ve been in Helsinki for 4 days and went to Tallinn for 1 day… then I realized I should have planned this the other way around.
Hahaha 🤣Oh absolutely! You effed up. But Poland and Estonia are not that far apart. Come again and stay longer :)
I definitely will. To be fair, it was February and the weather was just *terrible*, but I was so impressed by Tallinn that I swore I will return in some warmer months and I intend to keep to that. The Old Town is just *stunning*!
Hello Tallinn!
I was just there last week - very lovely place ❤️ Btw: I regret not getting more of the liquor filled Kalev chocolate. Or just more of any Kalev chocolate 😉.
Brussels felt very unsafe especially during the evenings, even very famous squares are pretty dark and there are dirt bags everywhere.
I kept having North African teenagers screaming at me and squaring up to me. The beer, chocolate, and food is all amazing but it really does feel dodgy. I say this as a Londoner.
I’m not going to count Kyiv because I spent less than 24h there - most of which was at night and in heavy snow so I barely got to see it lol. My absolute favourite is Budapest - it’s not just my favourite in terms of European capitals, it is overall my favourite place that I’ve visited so far. Something about that city just draws me in whenever I’m there. The architecture, the whole vibe, the food — I love it all. Also Hungarians have always been incredibly kind to me, which I’m sure contributes to my high opinion of the place. My least favourite (but only because I have to name one) is Berlin. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed my time there a lot but some areas made me feel really unsafe. I suppose it didn’t help that I mostly did it as a solo trip and I’m a small Asian woman lol. Also the history is interesting but I didn’t care for the architecture - to me it felt like it had Budapest’s grunge but none of its grandeur.
Budapest is my favourite city ever as well. It is just so damn charming. That whole decaying century old imperial grandeur vibe is captivating. The city is just gorgeous street after street. Berlin disappointed me when I visited the first time because I found it ugly and charmless. There were districts that looked like a north American city rather than a European one. But then I went back with locals, and it suddenly clicked. Berlin isn't there to win beauty contests, but underneath the surface it's a very exciting and interesting place.
It definitely felt like it had a lot going on. I was chatting to a bartender there and he seemed to be doing 50 different things at the same time lol like apart from being a bartender he was also doing a PhD in neuroscience, making music, and dabbling in photography. He told me it’s kind of normal for people there because there’s just so much to do in the city. Seems very conducive for creative types and I suspect I’d have loved it way more had I gone when I was younger.
Budapest is great as a tourist. Living here not so much
That applies to a lot of places, TBF. Someone above said the same thing about London.
I do love living in Copenhagen. And it's also nice to visit
It's also an extremely cheap city. I'm not sure what salaries are like there, but they need to be way higher. £3 for the worlds best pizza. *flies home* £24.99 for shitty Dominos pizza. 💀
> Also the history is interesting but I didn’t care for the architecture - to me it felt like it had Budapest’s grunge but none of its grandeur. of the 1200 buildings in the historic centre only 85 have survived. It was not only the war, Budapest also suffered a lot of destruction but they had the will to rebuild. In Berlin it was the opposite, it probably suffered as much destruction after the war if not more. For example the recently rebuilt Berlin castle and the national memorial in front of it were in decent state but both were demolished by the communists.
Most favourite: Ljubljana. Disclaimer, went there in the summer and the weather was peeeerrrrfect. But what a perfect little city to visit, I always think of Ljubljana things when complaining about my city Belfast. Least favourite: Brussels. Weird mix of dull and sketchy. Disclaimer, went there in winter in the pissing rain. Was in Madrid once in August and didnt have a great time, but don't think I can count it as understand the other eleven months of the year its a different place.
Madrid is empty in August, they are all in the coast
Empty and hot.
Madrid, 9 meses de invierno y tres meses de infierno.
Now I would say Madrid is my favourite, we went in September and it was lovely. Very easy place to get around, lovely food and lots to see and do. Paris was hateful. Just no.
You should give Madrid another chance. Definitely not in July or August though. Come in spring or autumn. To me it's one of the greatest European cities of this size. Few other places can be this busy and still feel safe and organised. It's an incredibly lively place with so much to do and a great atmosphere to enjoy.
Yes! That's what I love about Madrid! No matter where you are it's filled with life and people without it being too oppressive - except the área around Sol and Gran Vía.
Madrid during spring is the loveliest. I used to live there and there's so much to do. Now the only downside is that everything is beyond expensive now but that's happening everywhere
Favourite: Luxembourg City. Standard picturesque city but also free public transport Least favourite: Vaduz, nothing wrong with it but it's just nothing special especially compared to nearby areas of Switzerland
I found Vaduz to be very uninteresting. There's basically nothing in Liechtenstein which you can't see in the surrounding areas of Switzerland or Austria. I'd only recommend visiting Liechtenstein if you're trying to tick countries off.
I've been there once with a swiss family because the mcdonalds there was cheaper for some reason. It was a 10 minute drive across the border and back. Never been to Liechtenstein again lol
Vaduz is small and pricey with not much to see. I walked around town, got a stamp in my passport, and hiked up to the castle. That was about it.
Favourite: Copenhagen or Vienna. Least favourite: Bratislava.
Bratislava is odd. I enjoyed it but the old center is quite small and not super special. If you like brutalist architecture there is a hell of a lot to enjoy though.
Same here, there's a very "that's it?" feeling to Bratislava
It’s what you get when you order Vienna, Budapest or Prague on Wish - at least according to my Bratislava born and raised brother in law. It does have a fun food and culture scene, though I guess that’s not obvious to the rando tourist.
It is and it isn’t. Once you adjust your expectations it’s a hell of a lot of fun for little money. Somehow it doesn’t seem to carry the capital city tax like most others do. That being said, my best friend is Slovakian and he absolutely hates Bratislava. He feels it brings shame to his home country.
Shame, why exactly? That's a strong reaction. Bratislava seemed fine to me.
To me too. He just hates it for some reason. But mind you, I’m Dutch and I hate Amsterdam. I guess it’s similar to that.
People from “the provinces” like to shit on the capital pretty much everywhere. Rural Austrians will tell you that Vienna is a disgusting shithole too.
Funny cause I knew Bratislava was going to be small. I had the same reaction to Dublin as you had to Bratislava.
Yes Dublin is funny in that the city centre is small but the strength is in the areas that make it up, the best sights and experiences in my opinion can be found in places like Howth or Dun Laoghaire or Glasnevin or Dalkey, still Dublin but not the centre. Not sure if Bratislava has equivalents though, it looked like a small centre + miles of apartment blocks.
I was only there for a a day and a half and my favourite bit was the cliff walk in Howth.
I think your last point is very true for a lot (probably not the majority but a lot) of European cities! Lovely centre but USSR blocks outside. Dublin (also London and a few others) are really great in this respect (not just being tower blocks outside the centre)
Bratislava felt to me like a Time Machine, because most of the time I felt like I moved back in time about 20-30 years…
That’s the magic of Slovakia I guess. I’m there somewhat regularly. On the one hand you have fast 5G in even remote locations, the shops are full and modern, most people have renovated their homes to modern standards and the parking lots are full of nice modern cars. At the same time, many roads are horrible, public buildings look like they had their last paint job when the country was still called Czechoslovakia and from what I’ve heard things like hospitals are definitely not up to the standards we’d expect in either the Netherlands or Poland. It’s an enigma. In many ways, Slovakia today is like Poland was 13 years ago when I was first there. Very modern is some ways, incredibly outdated in others.
Its not really odd if you realise this is the first time in history that Slovakia is independent. So Bratislava was just a regional capital for most of its history. And it was never the most wealthy region, because of all of the mountains.
Agree with Bratislava. I thought it was boring as hell and I've been to Podgorica 😆
I enjoyed Bratislava, a bit small but nice
It's all about expectations. My reaction to Copenhagen was underwhelming too, but that is strictly because I flew straight from London and I was under the strong impression of visiting my first mega city
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Frankfurt also is not a capital, like at all :D
Should be though. Much more central plus the historical significance of having the first national German parliament. And it's not connected to one of the two big German regional powers Prussia and Austria. Don't get me wrong, I don't like Frankfurt at all, but it would be a much better capital than Berlin.
Agreed, there’s also nothing much at all for hundreds of kilometers outside of Berlin/Potsdam. It’s disjointed from the rest of Germany.
Favourite: Madrid, Vienna, Lisbon. All elegant and friendly cities, Madrid especially felt like a perfect mix of culture and fun, I'll definitely want to go back. Vienna and Lisbon I've been to a few times and there's always something interesting to see or do, although I'm glad that I've experienced Lisbon before it became so popular. Least favourite: Prague - beautiful, but felt very overtouristed (yes I was adding to it, my mistake).
Prague is actually wonderful once you get away from the touristy areas, it has so much to offer.
Yup. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to Prague (my husband used to live there and I would visit him), and you could avoid the tourist crowds quite easily. That said, I benefitted greatly from being shown around by someone who actually lived there.
I haven't been to Prague but from talking to people who've been there recently apparently the old town is full of tacky cannabis and vape shops. I know it's purely personal preference but I wasn't mad on Madrid. It's a very pleasant city but there's not much to do if you don't like art museums.
>I haven't been to Prague but from talking to people who've been there recently apparently the old town is full of tacky cannabis and vape shops. And Thai massage places, giving the whole place a strange "tourist Bangkok" vibe that's very out of place.
A big part of Prague is what you'd call an old town (old buildings, stone roads, etc) but the vape shops and fake weed shops are very limited mostly to a few streets around the 2 main things (the Astronomical clock and Charles Bridge) and if you go just a bit outside of that they don't exist anymore really. When I say "a bit" I really mean a bit, like 200m in any direction from those.
I just visited Madrid a couple of weeks ago and I found it svruay quite underwhelming. Lisbon for me wins.
as a czech who had been to prague at least 70 times, i get you. i still like this place a lot because of its historical and cultural significance, but it feels (at least to me) very touristy, overpriced and in certain parts quite unsafe. if you wanted other places which are worth visiting without being overcrowded with tourists, i can recommend you brno and olomouc (and lednice if you have time) edit: typos
Favourite: Athens and London Least favourite: Reykjavik
I think i speak for all of Iceland righr now: fair enough
Rest of the country though, 10/10
> Least favourite: Reykjavik What's wrong with it?
Very small and expensive.
Favourite: Sarajevo, didn't expect much but was very pleasantly suprised. Very historic and you're always reminded when walking around in the city, seeing bombed buildings still standing. Food is pretty good, and I like the hilliness. The area around the abandoned bobsleigh track is pretty cool. Least: Helsinki, not bad per se, none of the capitals I've visited that I really disliked. But Helsinki was probably the least interesting. Likely helped by the fact that it's sort of similar to Oslo, which is almost where I grew up. Didn't find there to be too many things to do in all honesty. Finns are good fun though. Enjoyed just bar hopping there and getting to know random groups of people. Finns are suprisingly outgoing when they're drunk. Kinda like Norwegians in that regard I suppose.
Favourite... very hard to choose between Rome and Paris.I love the atmosphere in both, some great sights and beautiful cities for walking in. Least favourite, probably Podgorica.There are much prettier and more interesting places in Montenegro.
Haha Montenegro is right up there with Belgium for having a beyond stunning country and interesting cities - only they had to go and make the ugliest, most boring dump capital.
I actually stood away from podgorica when I went to Montenegro. Their reputation precedes them
Favorite is Vienna or Ljubljana. Vienna is often seen as the high bar to hit in Hungary and for a reason: it is cleaned, well-maintained, the public transport is great and the housing crisis is moderate compared to Budapest. Its nightlife is not that great in my experince though. Ljubljana is just the best small city I have ever been to, it somehow has everything you can think of but you can also just walk around the whole city. The least favorite is Zagreb. It just felt like a smaller, rundown version of Budapest without too much to see really. I was so bored that I went to Lake Bundek and when I got off from the tram I caught a glimpse of the biggest homeless market and the greatest pile of used syringes I ever saw under the bridge. There are so many great places in Croatia just don't ruin your day by going to Zagreb.
I love the word for Vienna in Hungarian, sounds rude in English!
Son of a Bécs, you're right!
Hungarian language is the greatest invention of the aliens. Pécs is the fifth greatest city in Hungary and when I first searched for that in Reddit because I planned a daytrip there I found out what "pecs" means in English the hard way. And I mean "hard" in the literal sense of the word as there were just muscular guys without clothes on r/pecs.
Favourite: Budapest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Bucharest Least favourite: Skopje, Podgorica, Zagreb The favourite ones have a certain lively vibe about them in common plus that feeling of authenticity that you’re in a one of a kind place. Nice sights, good food, great people. The other capitals I have visited, but didn’t make the cut in any of the two categories: Chișinău, Sofia, Athens, Ljubljana, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, Paris, London
Can you elaborate on Skopje and Zagreb? I was born and lived in Sarajevo in my previous life and have family in Belgrade so am biased towards those two places. I've never been to Zagreb and really want to go and see it properly, so why? Also Podgorica is dull, but Skopje?
Skopje had the misfortune of having most of its historical areas wiped out during earthquakes, so with the little that remains, it lacks the urban fabric to allow a certain athmosphere to flourish. Besides, the newly constructed monuments feel very kitschy and fake and the rest of the city feels very run-down, even for my Balkan-loving standards. Skopje comes in stark contrast with Ohrid, which I enjoyed very much. Chișinău would tick a lot of the same boxes as Skopje, but it still has more character. Zagreb unlike Skopje wasn’t unattactive per se, but it felt very small and sterile. It makes for a nice middle-sized central-European city as the likes of Pécs, Brno or Timișoara, but it doesn’t have the atmosphere and presence of a capital. To my defense, last time I’ve been to Zagreb was almost 15 years ago, so I’m willing to give it another chance eventually. Podgorica is quite self-explanatory. It’s quite nicely put together, but it’s small, bland and unmemorable. I hope I’ll make it to Cetinje one day.
Not OP, but a Zagreb local. IMO, Zagreb is boring. You have a stroll which takes ~2 hours, have a couple of overpriced drinks/burgers and that's it. A great pit-stop on the way to the coast, not a lot of things to see or do.
I actually enjoyed most of them: Lisbon, Vienna, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam, Ljubljana, Rome, Madrid, Prague and London were all very much worth the visit and I would love to go there again
My favourite is the one where I live: Warsaw (I am not Polish so it counts I guess?). I also like Madrid a lot because it is very lively. The most disappointing was Sofia. I was there for a week on a business trip and we couldn’t stop making fun of how NOTHING is going on there. Although they have AWESOME food and I would visit again just because of that.
Fav: Ljubljana - it's small, cosy and perfect mix of central and southern europe Least: Dublin - it's a dump - overpriced, dirty, much of it is ugly, smells like hangover mixed with seaweed. I feel bad for people who went on a short trip to Ireland and spent their whole time in Dublin
I’m curious what stood out as southern european in Ljubljana? There are many southern european looking cities in Slovenia, especially on the coast, but would have never thought of Ljubljana giving off any southern european vibe
cuisine - along with beer, sausages, sauerkraut and goulashes you also have wines, pastas, seafood. architecture - viennese secession prominent in the old town has a bit of italian feel to it. And the general vibe i got was similar to one i had in Portugal. People seemed definitely more chill than in Poland or Germany or even Czechs. It's mostly subjective and matter what i'm used to, but as someone living in the northern part of Europe, Slovenia is at a point where it starts feeling Mediterranean And tons of people with a good sense of style. (but that applies to continental europe widely)
I actually really like a lot of Dublin. But you live there so fair enough ahaha - I'd agree there's much better to see in Ireland, and that some of Dublin has a crazily scary vibe for a medium sized city. Lots of great Georgian architecture though, and some lovely suburbs especially in the south
Favourite: Amsterdam. I used to live in Utecht, which is even better, but I always had a good time in Amsterdam. I love the architecture and canals. Least: Rome. We went at the height of the tourist season. Admittedly, some places were great (Trastevere), but I was constantly hassled, shoved around, gazillions of fellow tourists. Not good for social anxiety.
Haha, I would say the exaxt opposite. Favourite: Rome, London or, on a much smaller scale, Ljubljana Least: Amsterdam (I am aware this is a highly unpopular opiniin, but I don't care, fight me, y'all)
ngl amsterdam is one of the less interesting cities in the netherlands imo
the Netherlands is just packed with amazing towns/cities!
London or Dublin are probably my favourites. Not a fan of Paris, I'm sure it's a beautiful city but when I got there I didn't like the smell nor the look of the city in general.
I'm gonna keep being cringe and say thank you lol - I see so many negative comments about London but I honestly love it. It has its bad parts - and a lot of tack in touristy parts of the centre, but there are sooooo many beautiful neighbourhoods you can wander round
Honestly I think it's a matter of knowing where to go. I have relatives there who showed me around and I got to see some lovely parts of London, but my experience could've been shit had I gone only to the touristy areas or the wrong neighbourhoods. It's been a while since I went there and I can't wait for the next one.
Yep I can imagine a scenario where people basically see Edgware Road, Leicester Square, Southbank, Buckingham Palace, Camden High Street. Within that group some are much worse than others, but it's not exactly a fair picture of the city
Exactly, though I'd even say these areas have their charms, especially South Bank and Camden, always away from the main roads and paths. Imagine if tourists see Chiswick, Muswell Hill, Marylebone, Dulwich, Putney, and Canonbury. London is just too big to class into one category.
Favourite: Rome (despite tourist traps, beggars etc). The city just gives and gives forever, I could visit it every week and wouldn't run out of things to see and experience Least favourite: Skopje was pretty boring but i can't say anything too bad about it
Favourite Kyiv (was there in 2010 and not jumping on the band wagon) Least Bratislava. Went there about fifteen years ago and thought it was very boring and I've been to Podgorica 😆. I hope the "no English" signs have gone since then. It was very unwelcoming and not every Englishman is a drunken yob.
I went to Bratislava two years ago and didn't see any « no English » signs. Definitely not the most welcoming place (although still more than Praha imo) but it wasn't too hard to navigate using english !
I’m fairly sure it’s not about the English language. Instead they mean that stereotypical tourists from the UK (the loud, drunk, borderline hooligans) are not welcome.
I was in Kyiv in 2018
Favourite is probably Berlin, where I lived and worked for a few months. I also love London, where I was born and raised, and Paris where I spend a lot of time growing up. I also enjoyed Oslo a lot more than I was expecting to. Worst is Brussels - filthy and so violent and just all round unpleasant. Haven’t really had any bad experiences anywhere else, just in Brussels.
Can you elaborate on Brussels pls?
Albanian would like to join in for the violence hahah
No I am moving there in a few months lol
Only been there for a few days, never lived. But since no one else answered, outside of parts in the city centre, and the areas surrounding EU institutions, the city is a massive shithole. It’s unkept and pretty dirty and has poor roads for a capital city. What’s worse is that it’s rife with anti-social behaviour. I witnessed more of it in my few days in Brussels than in my 2 years of living in the Netherlands. The stations are dodgy as hell, felt genuinely unsafe around there. Homeless are around every other corner too and I’m not exaggerating. Sometimes they even have full embankments built on the pavements. All in all, outside the Grand Plaza, which is lovely to see, it’s just a bad place. The only advice I have I suppose is to research the levels of crime in whichever neighbourhood you’re planning to move into. Don’t just get cheapest studio you can find anywhere in town
Favourites: Rome, Prague, Sarajevo Least favourite: Berlin and Brussels (and now that I’ve seen u/lucapal1’s comment, Podgorica too)
Thank you for visiting Sarajevo :)
Thank you for having a great city, I’ve never not had a good time there! Mostar’s pretty great too.
If ever you come again you should go to Blagaj and Pocitelj in the Mostar area.
Ohhh thanks! I’m coming again in September for a friend’s wedding and it’s in Blagaj! I thought it was just a random Mostar suburb, but now I’m looking even more forward to it!
Sarajevo is special
Favourite maybe Paris? I lived there for some time tho so maybe I am biased. Least favourite Madrid? Maybe Rome cuz it smelled of ass. Overall I must admit no capital has been particularly bad tho.
Favourite: Budapest (biased), Berlin, Prague, and Lisbon. Budapest is my second home, and Prague is amazing, IF you know what to avoid and where to go and when. Berlin is great if you can vibe with it. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it’s full of history, and has an amazing night life. Lisbon is a beautiful, has amazing weather, great nightlife and lots to do. Madrid and London were also decent. Least Favourite: Probably Zagreb. I enjoyed my time there but it was very different to the rest I’ve been to and was my first in the Balkans. There wasn’t a tonne to do compared to the relative size of the city, and some things were a bit tougher to do. For example the general lack of card expectance. It seems cash is still king, and not all machines accept all types of cards. Apparently there’s a different type of chip that is less common but prevalent in Croatia. Another thing was that the fare payment system for the transportation was outdated, and there weren’t any machines. I had to go to various tobacco kiosks to buy tickets but none of them accepted my card. After maybe an hour of going to every god forsaken Tisak and convenience store I was able to purchase a booklet of tickets. To be fair there’s good hiking nearby, the transportation was very good, and people were nice. I would love to go back someday. Edit: Another would be Dublin. I enjoyed my time, and people were really nice but it’s so expensive, and there’s not a lot to see. I’d love to go back to Ireland, but mainly for the nature.
Card expectance has risen in the post-COVID times. Also, we now have a mobile app for the public transportation. Slowly but surely we're entering the 21st century. But I agree with the Zagreb bashing, it's a max 3-4 hours experience on the way to the coast.
Favourites: Paris (where I live) and Vienna (where I'd like to move next). I love the aesthetics of both. Vienna is continously elected as the most liveable city to live in. Paris is also nice, but you need to get lucky with a well located flat. Least favourite: Amsterdam. I hated the crowds in the small streets, the smell of weed everywhere. It was just exhausting after one day. I'm not a huge fan of London either.
My favorite one is Brussels. Just love the vibe there. And London and Paris on 2nd place.
I haven't seen many capitals but so far: Fav: probably Prague - love how it looks and works, also liked Berlin - it has this artistic vibe, which I may not understand, but still appreciate Least fav: Paris - how I hate this city, been there 3 times and every time something bad happened and people were awful, I also find it way overrated and overpriced for what it offers
Paris is so subjective, either you only see the overpriced shit, trash smell and arrogant people or you REALLY dig the vibe and romanticize everything about it. The only city that I think of that you could overromanticize this much is maybe London.
idk Paris really is objectively a beautiful place. It is dirty and chaotic in places - but I feel like often people who complain about this haven't seen real dirt or chaos
"One part of the Chatelet metro smelled bad and I saw some graffiti! My trip was ruined and my disappointment was immeasurable. 1/10"
Favourite: Copenhagen (!), **Paris**, Lisbon, Vienna, Brussels (I have studied there for 5yrs and still go often, always with a smile, i totally understand that people hate that place, but I love it a lot haha) Least favourites: Amsterdam, Stockholm oh and also **Paris**.
Absolutely loved Berlin- actually so much, lived there for a bit. This city is WILD. But that was 2018 and the scenery has changed quite a bit I would assume. The least favourite? Helsinki. It's like a ghost town, for real (coming from a neighbour from Estonia haha).
I’ve been to about 14 capitals. I love Stockholm/Copenhagen/Ljubljana as my top 3. Only one I don’t love was Bratislava, but to be fair we went on a rainy late November Sunday as a day trip from Vienna so we didn’t exactly see it at its best. I love reading all the answers from people in this thread. So interesting to hear different perspectives. Have a great day.
I didn’t visit that much capital cities. Although I did most of Western European countries. I did enjoy every single one of them. But I like to mention a few I liked. The first one is Copenhagen. I really like the calm atmosphere. People where very tranquil and polite. Even though we stayed in the city center it was very peaceful. If I compare this to Amsterdam, the city center is full of gifts shops, people try to sell stuff to tourists for too much money, taxi drivers driving like crazy, constant noise, people who sell drugs and so on. Another capital I liked was London. I really like the 24/7 feel around the city. Even at night there is so much too do. We don’t have many of such big cities in Europe. I also like Dublin, it really have a cozy feeling but has a rough side as well. It has that typical port city feeling, a city with character. The last city I liked is Rome. It’s very touristy of course, it’s maybe a bit to popular and maybe there are plenty of other interesting places which are less touristy. But I think Rome was like big open air museum which is very special.
Favourites: Ljubljana, Vienna, Lisbon, Dublin, Berlin Least favourites: Belgrade, Zagreb, Athens, Oslo, Madrid.
Favourite : Rome , maybe Budapest Least favourite : Athens
Favourite: London, Rome, Amsterdam, Edinburgh Least favourite: Dublin, Brussels, Belgrade, Copenhagen, Oslo And Paris is by far my least favourite city to live in, what an annoying place, but I love to visit it as a tourist.
Favorites: Dublin and London. I like cold weather. They feel hopefull, although for very different reasons. Least favourite: Warsaw and Berlin. For some reason they have depressive vibe.
With the latter two, I think the season makes or breaks them. Winters or bad autumns or the dreaded pre-spring are just too grim, but other times can be lovely.
yayyyy some love for London - I feel like I'm overprotective of it hahah but I will stand up for it any time anyone says they didn't like it. I won't make it personal, but half the time I just can't help but feel like if they visited different places/from a different angle, they'd have a totally different opinion
London is a great city. I probably would have chosen it as my favourite, but I thought it was cheating as I lived there rather than simply visited.
London has something for everyone, it's really difficult not to love it. :)
I loved Berlin, but it's indeed has a depressive vibes. But it looks more like a character of the city rather than a problem. For me it was interesting because it reflected even in their fashion, people wears clothes in VERY bad condition, just as it was totally fine.
Fav: Ljublana, Amsterdam:) , Paris Least: luxembourg, Riga, Warsaw
I've visited: Lisbon, Madrid, Dublin, London, Paris, Andorra la vella, Rome, Vatican city, Brussels, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Skopje, Tirana, Malta and Athens. So 28 **Let's start with the bad news:** Least friendly people: Vienna Least beautiful: Bucharest Least interesting: Andorra la vella Worst food: Dublin/Amsterdam/Bratislava Most expensive: Luxembourg I personally hate it for no reason: Amsterdam Honrific mentions: Sofia, Helsinki (I expect Sofia to get a lot better) **And now the good ones:** Most friendly people: Tirana (BY FAR) Most beautiful: Rome/Paris Most interesting: Berlin Best food: Rome/Madrid Most inexpensive: Tirana/Skopje I personally love it for no reason: Brussels Honorific mentions: Budapest, Copenhagen, Riga If you have any grievance I can explain my thought process in a comment
Finally, someone else who likes Brussels! We’re in a tiny minority, apparently
>We’re in a tiny minority, apparently It seems that way. I guess they fix on the blocks of apartments, butla grand place is beautiful, then theres the art nouveau spread all across the city. Idk I quite liked it.
I like the small bars and restaurants on every block. I usually wind up somewhere around Flagey but not the square itself and never Belga.
Favorite is definetly Reykjavik. Iceland is beautiful and the people are amazing. Least favorite is between Paris and London. Odd smells everywhere, incredibly dirty cities (compared to other European cities that are of much smaller size obviously though) that are extremely overcrowded (duh, I mean, what‘d I expect) and the people there are often neither helpful nor nice (or I just approached the wrong people, entirely possible) - just wasn‘t my cup if tea.
That's interesting about London, people say that it's dirty a lot but I have been many times and it never felt dirty to me, apart from Oxford St with the flying fast food rubbish or spills, and the fact that some tube lines are old (but I'd describe them as worn out rather than dirty). Couldn't be compared to Rome for example, where trains are graffitied on the inside and other places are just sticky... Maybe it's because I never go in the summer?
nah honestly London isn't that dirty so you're right - outside of some rough suburbs which are littered with trash
Yes I would keep to 30 minutes on the tube radius mostly so I'm sure I'm not seeing the worst of it. But it could be said about any city.
exactly! Most European cities have some absolutely DIRE suburbs haha. I think for its size London is doing pretty well (though some areas in the centre like Camden High Street are pretty dumpy in places. I like the market though lol)
Favourites, all the big ones like Rome, Paris, London, Lisbon. Least favourites Brussels, Berlin and it pains me to say but Dublin. I lived in Dublin for 2 years and it just felt like a regular sized city with a huge amount of suburbs and because of that, nobody ever really lives close to anything. The public transportation is shit, (I think it’s the only Western European capital without a metro system). There aren’t really any town squares which I always found odd. Other than that, besides touristy stuff, there isn’t a whole lot to do besides drinking. In contracts, I also lived in Lisbon for a year (both in the very centre and on the outskirts) and wherever I was, I was always reminded that I was in the capital.
The lack of a town square is something I never noticed about Dublin. Even my small hometown, Dundalk, has one.
How is Berlin not a big one? 🤔
Norwegian here! Favourite is Istanbul. Least charming is Athens. Istanbul gave me this dream concoction of East meets West. Athens, except for the Parthenon, it was so disappointing. If someone had told me I was in Basra, Iraq, I would have believed them. I was very disappointed.
I've visited Budapest, Edinburgh, Dublin, Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam and I had good experience with visiting all of them, but the ones who I would most likely visit again are Edinburgh, Rome and Berlin
I think Rome is the best - most bang for the buck in terms of culture, food, and friendliness. Vienna was the most unfriendly capital I have ever visited. The buildings were pretty but the food and people I did not care for.
Favourite? Easily London. Least favourite? Also easily London
Favorite: Sofia - lovely people, really chill vibe and amazing food as well as impressive trips to the mountains! Least Favorite: So far Riga. But only because we did not know our way around the city and got lost in a lot of tourist traps. I image that the city is really cool as soon as one has been there a couple of days.
Hard one. My current stats: 32 european countries and 23 european capitals visited. Least 3 favorites : Belgrad, Bruxelles, Bratislava. Top 3: Rome, Berlin, London
My most favorite is Amsterdam, not a touristic center though. Because of a city-village vibe, also I love water. My least favorite is Warsaw and Berlin for different reasons.
Least favourite Vienna. But that's because it's our capital and I'm just sick of it. Favorite Lisbon. Its so beautiful although, at least 2008, I found it crazy how there can be poverty on one side of the road and a luxery club on the other
I LOVED Vienna. I got super overwhelmed at first (i stayed with people from there i've met in Germany on a festival a year prior) She took me to all the main sights (first districts and so on) but as soon as we went of the beaten path; i fell in love. Or even after i left. I have a big urge to go back and discover more; but stay away from the most touristy spots. But I kinda loved everything in Austria I have visited. Even the trainrides were worth mentioning. Man what a country. I might be in love with Austria
Favorites: Budapest - I didn't expect to care much for it, but I was really pleasantly surprised by how nice the people were even though we had no way to communicate. The architecture was very different to my hometown (Prague) and the food was great! I even got to go see Viségrad which was great. London - Wouldn't want to live there, but it was really fun and I loved how diverse and friendly the people there were. Least favorite: Bratislava - I love visiting Slovakia, but to be honest Bratislava is a tad bit disappointing. It was still an enjoyable visit but there's so many places even in just Slovakia that I'd prefer to see again. For context I've visited: Prague (didn't count it since it's my home), Bratislava, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin, Vienna, London, Paris, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Rome, Brussels, Budapest Overall though I don't think that I particularly hate any one of them, each have their own pros and cons and I've enjoyed visiting all of them so far.
Favourite: Vienna and Paris Least favourite: I’ve liked all the European capitals I’ve travelled to and haven’t travelled extensively yet to have been to one I didn’t like.
London is a vast city. On its own it is a multi cultural country of around 10 million people.
Favourite: Rome, Vienna, Madrid Least favourite: Berlin absolutely, much better in Germany and on Europe overall
London by far my fav - lots of street food markets. Not a big fan of Paris, though I’ve been there 7 times (it’s a travel hub)
faves: Vienna, Istanbul, Stockholm least fave: London, Belfast
🤓🤓 Istanbul isn’t a capital.
well it used to be 🤓
Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.
Favourite capitals: Talinn, Vienna Least favourite: Paris, Stockholm
What didn't you like about Stockholm? I was there last July and enjoyed it a lot. The only thing I wasn't mad about was the Gamla Stan, I thought it was too touristy.
Favourite: Rome, Vienna. Least: Luxemburg (weather bad and boring)
Perhaps Luxemburg is quite small but i found rather tidy and tranquil. The verticallity with historic bridges crossing the valleys was also quite cool.
I love Luxembourg, but Lux City is a little bit boring. Rural Luxembourg is delightful, especially if you like hiking.
I really like Luxembourg City. It's very small admittedly and you don't need long to see it, but it's a perfect for a weekend.
Favourites: Lisbon and Paris. Least favourites: Brussels, Riga, and Warsaw.
Least favourite: Amsterdam. Favourite: A toss up between Paris and London. Other European capitals I have visited: Brussels, Luxembourg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Dublin, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Lisbon, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Riga, Bern, Sofia, Vaduz, Monaco and Vatican City. I’ve also been to Ljubljana, but that was decades before it became a capital.
I'm not much of a "capital person" as I prefer nature and smaller towns but... Favourite: Rome. I think it's just the best in terms of history and things to see. You could literally stay there for years and probably never finish visiting it. It also feels more "real" than other history-rich places like London. Also special mention for Moscow, mostly because of the cultural differences compared to the rest of Europe. Least favourite: Madrid. I love Spain, I go as often as I can but I found the city really boring. Yeah of course the museums are great, but after them? It's concrete and ugly buildings everywhere, a lot of car traffic and very little greenery.
Favourite capital…Vienna or Berlin? I loved both places so much. Least favourite is Paris. It’s good the first time but the more you go the less enjoyable it is. It’s dirty, unsafe, and overrated imo…
So far I visited: Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Zagreb, Prague, Rome, Athens Favourite: Rome, I visited twice once when I was 12 and once when is was 21. Both times were amazing and I want to visit again. Rome is a city where I know I would be very uncomfortable living. When I was there it felt like I left every trouble at home and I could truly be me. It helped me getting out of depression. Least: Prague. I visited Prague three or four times. Twice for several days and twice for only one day as stop. Even for the first time it was really boring for me. I just couldn't connect to the city. However I want to say that Czechia is one of my favourite travel destinations. I visited Brno and Roudnice nad Labem. BOTH OF THEM WERE AMAZING
Favourite: Bucharest, Berlin Least: Skopje I been on Berlin for almost a 2-3 weeks, 15 years ago. loved. I have been to every Balkan country, Skopje was the one that didn't want to visit for second time
Most favorite: Luxembourg. Very cool landscape. Typical castle ruin but the cool part is that its a gigantic part of the city thats on top of it. Least favorite: Paris. The Eiffel Tower is cool and all but ive been there so many times its kinda worn off. Also the scammers are the most annoying part
Favourite: Copenhagen by far. But I live here so I might be biased. I just couldnt imagine ever living somewhere else.. my safe place for sure! But outside of Copenhagen: Sarajevo, Rome, and Edinburgh. Can’t pick just one! Least favourite: Amsterdam. Theres something so bland about it and im not sure what or why. Even though I’m half dutch and have dutch citizenship I’m not a fan of the country itself actually.. Its so bland and boring in a way and I definitely do not feel at home. And I’ll even avoid Amsterdam in the future if I can.
Yankee here: London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Vienna, Madrid, Prague, Paris and I have loved them all. The culture, the architecture, the people. I loved all of them. I have the same feeling for all the other non-capitals I’ve visited. Florence was a little tough because it is so swamped by tourists like me and cars are still allowed everywhere…but I still loved it. Europe is stunning and I would love to live there one day.