15 must see places in Europe - my recommendations

15. Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria’s capital, lies in the country’s east on the Danube River. Its artistic and intellectual legacy was shaped by residents including Mozart, Beethoven and Sigmund Freud. The city is also known for its Imperial palaces, including Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs’ summer residence. In the Museums Quartier district, historic and contemporary buildings display works by Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and other artists.

14. Lofoten Islands, Norway

Lofoten is an archipelago in Norway. Its known for its dramatic scenery, with peaks like the Svolværgeita pinnacle jutting up into the sky. Himmeltindan Mountain sits on Vestvågøya Island. The nearby Lofotr Viking Museum features a Viking longhouse reconstruction. Cycle routes cover the islands, passing through fishing villages like Henningsvær, which has colorful buildings lining its waterways.

13. Faroe Islands, Denmark

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean, connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. Hikers and bird-watchers are drawn to the islands’ mountains, valleys and grassy heathland, and steep coastal cliffs that harbor thousands of seabirds. It is one of the loneliest and beautiful part of Europe.

12. Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

The Bay of Kotor, also known as the Boka, is the winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. The bay has been inhabited since antiquity. It is the largest Adriatic bay between Montenegro and Croatia. The Bay of Kotor is sometimes called Europe’s southernmost fjord, an inlet formed by a partial submergence of a river valley.

11. Trolltunga, Norway

Trolltunga is a rock formation situated about 1,100 metres above sea level in Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The cliff juts horizontally out from the mountain, about 700 metres above the north side of the lake Ringedalsvatne. It is commonly known among trekkers as The Edge of the World. Trolltunga is a very challenging route. The hike starts in Skjeggedal and goes through the high mountains, takes 10-12 hours (27,5 kilometers / 17 miles in total to Trolltunga and return) and the ascent is about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet)

10. Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, the cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region, is known for its art and architecture. The fantastical Sagrada Família church (which is an unfinished construction started in 1882) and other modernist landmarks designed by Antoni Gaudí dot the city. Museu Picasso and Fundació Joan Miró feature modern art by their namesakes. City history museum MUHBA, includes several Roman archaeological sites.

9. Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is a major city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. Its Old City reflects cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot races, and Egyptian obelisks also remain. The iconic Byzantine Hagia Sophia features a soaring 6th-century dome and rare Christian mosaics

8. Moscow, Russia

Moscow, on the Moskva River in western Russia, is the nation’s cosmopolitan capital. In its historic core is the Kremlin, a complex that’s home to the president and tsarist treasures in the Armoury. Outside its walls is Red Square, Russia’s symbolic center. It’s home to Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum’s comprehensive collection and St. Basil’s Cathedral, known for its colorful, onion-shaped domes.

7. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled facades, legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. Its Museum District houses the Van Gogh Museum, works by Rembrandt and Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum, and modern art at the Stedelijk. Cycling is key to the city’s character, and there are numerous bike paths.

6. London, England

London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, is a 21st-century city with history stretching back to Roman times. At its centre stand the imposing Houses of Parliament, the iconic ‘Big Ben’ clock tower and Westminster Abbey, site of British monarch coronations. Across the Thames River, the London Eye observation wheel provides panoramic views of the South Bank cultural complex, and the entire city.

5. Santorini Islands, Greece

Santorini is one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea in the South of Greece. The whitewashed, cubiform houses of its 2 principal towns, Fira and Oia, cling to cliffs above an underwater caldera (crater). They overlook the sea, small islands to the west and beaches made up of black, red and white lava pebbles. The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption (sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred about 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization.

4. Interlaken, Switzerland

Interlaken is a traditional resort town in the mountainous Bernese Oberland region of central Switzerland. Built on a narrow stretch of valley, between the emerald-colored waters of Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, it has old timber houses and parkland on either side of the Aare River. Its surrounding mountains, with dense forests, alpine meadows and glaciers, has numerous hiking and skiing trails. It is one of the most picturesque regions of Switzerland.

3. Prague, Czech Republic

Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, is bisected by the Vltava River. Nicknamed “the City of a Hundred Spires,” it’s known for its Old Town Square, the heart of its historic core, with colorful baroque buildings, Gothic churches and the medieval Astronomical Clock, which gives an animated hourly show. Completed in 1402, pedestrian Charles Bridge is lined with statues of Catholic saints.

2. Paris, France

Paris, France’s capital, is one of the oldest European cities and a global center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture. Its 19th-century cityscape is crisscrossed by wide boulevards and the River Seine. Beyond such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and the 12th-century, Gothic Notre-Dame cathedral, the city is known for its cafe culture and designer boutiques along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

1. Rome, Italy

Rome is the capital city and a special comune of Italy as well as the capital of the Lazio region. The city has been a major human settlement for over two millennia. Rome, the “Eternal City,” brims with ancient history, from the Colosseum to the port of Ostia Antica to majestic Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. Because of its history, art, architecture, and beauty – and perhaps its gelato and pasta! – Rome is the most popular city in Europe.