Right now, all we can do is stay at home, twiddle our thumbs, and flatten the curve. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make plans of where to travel once this pandemic is over. Here are five of the best spots to visit in Europe either alone or with friends.
Paris
Paris is the perfect place for any kind of getaway whether it be for a weekend away or a month-long trip over summer. Full of culture and life there’s no shortage of things to do. For example, you could spend an entire day roaming around the Musee d’Orsay, taking in some of the most stunning art and sculpture from all over history, including works from Edouard Manet and Vincent Van Gogh to name a few. Likewise, you can spend hours wandering around the city itself be it strolling down the river Seine toward the Eiffel tower, or simply getting lost in the many backstreets. Don’t be afraid to go off the beaten track. Some of the best places I found in Paris were after I’d gotten hopelessly lost aimlessly meandering.
Personal recommendation: Café Panis
No doubt you’ll get peckish at some point and this lovely little bistro is just across the river from the Gothically magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral. This little gem has a wonderful atmosphere and is perfect for a quick lunch. Not to mention it serves some of the best pasta in the city, which is no small feat.
Barcelona
Barcelona is a city that has everything. If you want to soak in a little bit of culture, head over to the Sagrada Familia or up to the Park Güell. If you want to relax and just soak up the sun instead, spend a day on the beach and watch the no-existent clouds go by. Feeling hungry? Find one of the countless tapas bars serving delicious and authentic Spanish Cuisine but be careful here not to fall into one of the many tourist traps down Las Ramblas. And if you want to go out, Barcelona is rife with bars and clubs of every shape and size. The possibilities are so vast in Barcelona once you’ve been once, you’ll want to go back every year.
Personal recommendation: Belushi’s
Belushi’s is directly below one of the best-rated hostels in the city which makes it ideal if you want to meet like-minded travellers from all over the world. And, if you’re worried about being the first one to say hello, the two-for-one drinks and pitchers of sangria go a long way in solving this problem, though they may get you in some other trouble down the line.
Venice
Venice is a city that deserves to be on every traveller’s list as there’s no place like it. Small enough to walk across in an hour but packed with so much you could walk for days and still only know half of it. With centuries of history behind it, every nook and cranny likely has a story to tell. There is nothing quite like having a coffee outside St Mark’s Basilica whilst the house band plays in the back. If you can put up with mass crowds of tourists, that is. If you can’t get past the tourists though, pool together with a few friends and take a gondola ride down the Grand Canal. Venice is just as beautiful from on the water as it is on land.
Personal recommendation: The Leonardo Da Vinci Museum
The famous artist and inventor was ahead of his time in so many ways, which is plain to see if you visit this two-floor museum just on the eastern side of Venice. With working recreations of some of his famous inventions and interactive info graphs concerning his life and some of his finer artworks. If you want to find out how ingenious Da Vinci truly was, this is a sure stop.
Budapest
Budapest is the perfect city if you’re looking for cheap drinks, lively bars, and all-round wild nights out. This is the kind of city where if a club closes at four, it’s considered early. Grab a few friends and head out to anyone of the dozens of ruin bars – the hidden bars that built into the old abandoned ruins in the city, hence the name. Once you’ve crawled out of your last one for the night, sleep it off in a seven quid a night hostel and then sweat the alcohol out at the Széchenyi Thermal Baths the next day, until you’re ready to repeat the whole process all over again.
Personal recommendation: Szimpla Kert
Located on Budapest’s ‘street of culture’, Kazinczy Street, Szimpla Kert is the oldest ruin bar in Budapest and is like an explosion of clubs, bars, shisha cafes, and even a pizza shop if you dive deep enough into its mazelike madness. This spot is a must on any trip to Budapest, no matter what day of the week.
Interlaken
Maybe city breaks aren’t for you. In that case, Interlaken in Switzerland is a gorgeous alternative. In the middle of two lakes and otherwise surrounded by picturesque mountains, this place could be the embodiment of paradise on earth. Take a short trip in one of the trains to take you to the top of the mountains and do a little bit of hiking, or, skip the train and walk up there by foot if you really want to punish yourself. Either way, you’ll be getting some of the views that leave you speechless. If the view from the mountains still isn’t high enough for you, Interlaken has loads of extreme sports going on so you can hang-glide, paraglide, or base-jump to really see some views.
Personal recommendation: St Christopher’s Hostel
One of a chain of hostels, St Christopher’s consistently gives amazing experiences all over Europe. This is no exception in their Interlaken branch where they give you a perfect respite from all your day’s activities either in their hammock room if you want to settle down and read a book for a while, or in their attached bar if you want to chat and get a little bit tipsy over some card games with strangers. Careful though, if you go down that path, you may end up finding yourself jumping into one of the lakes at two in the morning.
Words by Dominic Smith
Credit for all images: Unsplash
Feature image credit: Unsplash