Like Emily Jane Cooper, I’m one of the lucky few millennials who call Paris home. I may not exactly share the love for matcha drinks or the designer wardrobe, but just like that Netflix heroine, I do get around like a pro.
Europe’s my backyard, and exploring the Old Continent is a piece of cake these days compared to what it’d be like from the Western Hemisphere.
A weekend away sun-bathing and eating my way around Barcelona? I’m sure I can find cheap €50 return flights for that. Watching a musical in London? That’s only about 2h17, and a not-so-exciting-as-you-might-think underwater tunnel crossing away.
Christmas market-hopping around Germany? Hey, you can easily just walk across the border in Strasbourg, France, straight into Germany, and it won’t take you more than an hour on foot.
I’ve been to (almost) every European country at this point, except three (Andorra, Belarus, Moldova), and I’ve counted over 100 European cities under my belt—many of which I’ve visited multiple times—and what can I say?
100+ cities in, I was bound to have my favorites, and least favorites to put it mildly. I’ve had the time to gush over my heart-throb cities already, but it just hit me that, aside from the odd snarky remark hither and thither, I’ve never been straight-up honest with you about the European spots that rub me the wrong way.
Well, it’s high time I set the record straight once and for all:
5 European Cities I Won’t Be Rushing Back To In The Near Future
Dublin, Ireland
Temple Bar pub crawling, River Liffey strolls, quirky Leprechaun museums, and landmark university buildings housing centuries-old gospels: Dublin could make for solid weekend getaway material, were it not for the unjustifiably high prices and the staggering lack of safety.
Not sure about you, but there’s nothing that gets the blood pressure up quite like watching your wallet bleed out an average €20 every time you step into an alehouse and order a couple of Guinness pints.
It’s not the end of the world, sure, but then again, walking around toon on your way to hit the pubs shouldn’t make you wish you’d packed a stab vest in your carry-on, know what I’m saying?
Have I mentioned the gloomy weather and incessant rain yet? Those may be overused, reheated clichés, but it only takes 2 consecutive days under Dublin’s constant rain and heavy clouds to start questioning your life choices… and what on earth possessed you to fly there in the first place.
Instead Of Dublin, Try Edinburgh, Scotland
Looking for Celtic heritage and the kind of Old World charm good old Dublin can only dream of offering?
Try instead Edinburgh, the picture-perfect medieval capital of Scotland, complete with a hilltop castle, cobbled streets lined with brick buildings, and the kind of fairytale-like townscape that is actually worth spending a pretty penny on.
Bratislava, Slovakia
Bratislava is one of those places to pass through rather than your final destination. It’s an oddly compact national capital lying on the borderline with neighboring Austria, and perhaps that’s why it feels secondary to, and a tad underwhelming when mighty Vienna is a 50-minute train ride away.
And listen, it’s not like it did anything wrong, per se: the walled Old Town, with its cobbled streets, church towers, and Slovak restaurants dishing out hearty Slavic grub, is worth a quick glance, but only if you’re already in the area, and I wouldn’t be hanging around longer than 4–5 hours.
Unless I suddenly develop a newfound soft spot for communist-era apartment blocks, I can’t see myself ever going back to explore more of Bratislava beyond the medieval core—which, again, is cute enough, but not like it sits among the most impressive I’ve ever seen.
Instead Of Bratislava, Try Ljubljana, Slovenia
Speaking of compact Slavic capitals that actually pack a punch, Ljubljana boasts a monumental castle overlooking red gable roofs, a historic dragon-guarded bridge spanning the scenic Ljubljanica River, and a timeless Old Town dotted with ornate Austro-Hungarian buildings.
It’s also the gateway to the Julian Alps, with iconic Lake Bled just a quick 39 min train ride northwest.
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki is one of those cities I’ve never quite understood the hype about. It’s perpetually gray, lacks the medieval charm most European capitals flaunt, and it’s only found its footing as a Baltic hub relatively late in history. Its biggest claim to fame? Roughly one public sauna for every few square miles.
If submerging yourself in the Baltic Sea, feeling your soul temporarily exit your body, and then rushing into a searing-hot sauna where your flesh threatens to melt off your bones—all while paying a small fortune for the privilege—is your idea of fun, then Helsinki’s right up your alley.
Other than self-inflicted torture sessions, it is the proud home of Temppeliaukio, a modernist church carved into solid rock, looking more like a municipal auditorium than a house of God, though it does say something about the Finnish relationship with faith.
A 20-minute ferry from Helsinki Port, Suomenlinna might be the one spot worthy of praise. It’s an actually impressive sea fortress sprawled across eight islands, connected by pedestrian bridges, though to be fair, it was built by the Swedes, so it’s not like the Finns can brag about it, either.
Instead Of Helsinki, Try Tallinn, Estonia
Just across the Baltic from Finland lies Helsinki’s more offbeat, and arguably prettier sister, Tallinn.
It’s the kind of UNESCO-protected medieval gem you’d think only existed in a Disney movie: cobblestone alleys, a 14th-century town hall presiding over a lively market square, and stout conical towers that look custom-built to imprison a cursed princess. Industrial-looking Hell-sinki could never.
Zurich, Switzerland
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to correct people who confidently name-drop Zurich as Switzerland’s capital, or fight the urge to argue with starry-eyed first-timers to Europe, fresh out of American suburbia, who are convinced it is some divine revelation.
For starters, Switzerland doesn’t actually have a capital city (and no, it’s not Bern either). And really, the only reason someone might adore Zurich is that they haven’t yet discovered the many other lake cities in Europe: more beautiful, calmer, and far less likely to drain their savings.
On top of that, it’s not like Zurich and ‘exciting’ ever belong in the same sentence.
Between silently downing ₣8 pints beside indifferent locals in one of those pretentious, flag-draped Kreis 1 bars that just try too hard to attract foreigners, and tossing the remnants of the most expensive croissant you’ve ever bought to the lone swan drifting across Lake Zurich on a rare sunny day, it’s hardly the kind of place that stirs much inspiration.
Instead Of Zurich, Try Lindau, Germany
Few tourists realize that just 1h25 east of Zurich lies Lindau, a small German city set on a crystal-clear lake. Like Switzerland’s non-capital, it boasts an Old Town lined with colorful half-timbered façades, except crowds are nowhere to be seen, and the pastries here come fresh from the oven, at a fraction of Zurich’s prices.
Bucharest, Romania
Coming from Paris myself, I had high expectations for the so-called “Paris of the East”. But as the plane descended, and all that unfolded below was a sprawl of Brutalist housing blocks and hulking concrete towers stretching to the horizon, I knew something was off.
Nothing could have prepared me for what came next, though.
I’d picked out the cutest little vintage Airbnb in the Old Town, furnished à la 19th-century, which, as I soon learned, in Bucharest usually just means dusty and in desperate need of renovations. It might have still charmed me, had I not had to step over people injecting themselves in the building’s open-to-all courtyard every time I went up to my room.
The gongshow that ensued involved being handed flyers for sketchy strip shows every 5 steps along Strada Șelari, getting trailed by relentless beggars around city parks, and realizing that the most exciting thing about Bucharest is watching its Soviet-style architectural beasts compete for the title of Tallest, Most Colossal, Ugliest Concrete Behemoth.
The most ‘Paris’ thing about Bucharest consists of a shabby little center, with only a handful of pedestrianized lanes and fin-de-siècle buildings spared by the communist regime, that still can’t hold a hammer (or sickle) to Paris’ pomp and circumstance.
But hey, at least Bucharest is indeed dirt cheap? Emphasis on dirt.
Instead Of Bucharest, Try Brașov, Romania
The real fairytale Romania you see on travel brochures is Brașov, a postcard-perfect medieval city in the heart of Transylvania. It features an intact 15th‑century skyline, crowned by a soaring Gothic-style Black Church, and set against the densely forested slopes of Mount Tâmpa.
The main square is an obvious highlight, ranking among the most atmospheric in Europe, the café scene is nothing short of superb, and if you’re asking me, the city’s access to nature is hard to beat.
What can I say? Sometimes, capitals are overrated.
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