I don’t know if it’s just me, but haven’t all these overhyped, over-Instagrammed, rinse-and-repeat European capitals been flogged to death? Whether it’s the ‘gorgeous, aesthetic’ Haussmann streets of Paris, the ‘open-air museum’ that is Paris, or the ‘Victorian-elegance’ of London, it’s a movie we’ve seen (quite literally) a million times before. Everyone loves to joke …

A cheeky Aperol Spritz and carbonara pasta on a terrace overlooking that imposing Duomo, the winding cobbled lanes and beautiful pastel buildings that look like a movie set, and that glittery, azure Mediterranean to top it off: Southern Italy is nothing short of the quintessential Mediterranean experience, and there’s nowhere we’d rather kick off our …

When you think of France, I bet it’s probably places like Paris, Nice, Lyon, Marseille that come to mind. The touristy quartet, and hey, no shame in loving them, by the way: I’m a proud adopted Parisian myself. What can start getting on your nerves, however, especially if you’re here in the frog-eating heartland for …

Let’s cut right to the chase: yeah, that headline is a bold claim. Visiting 100+ medieval European towns takes years of obsessive travel, and a borderline-nerdy passion for Gothic history that’d make most big-brained Oxford scholars jealous. I’m no prof, but I’ve always loved getting lost in the shadowy alleys of a 15th-century walled town. …

Whitewashed towns clinging vertiginously to rugged coastal cliffs, bright-blue church domes against blood-orange Aegean sunsets, and every postcard-ready pebbly paralia hugged by turquoise seas you can fit in between: Italy, Spain, and France may have their charm, but as far as Mediterranean getaways go, no country can touch a 227-island-strong Greece. I’m sure you’ve all …

Dreaming of medieval towns frozen in time, storybook castles straight out of a Disney sketch, and that slow-paced way of life that feels downright impossible on this side of the pond? Europe isn’t called the Old World for no reason, but sometimes, those dreamy vibes can take a somewhat… nightmarish turn. Trust me, there’s nothing …

I was only born in 1997, so I never got to experience the world beyond the Berlin Wall while it was still up, nor travel around Yugoslavia while it was still, well, a country, but the stories we were drip-fed through the media told tales of bleak, wintry landscapes and limited freedoms. Living in the …

Can’t cope with the Lisbon crowds anymore? The jam-packed praças, narrow alleys where you’re practically standing shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow tourists, and those reheated pastéis de nata that taste industrial, yet are charged as if they’re freshly-made? There are always exceptions to the rule, of course, but let’s not sit here and pretend that, undeniably stunning …

Last year, the European Union took Americans by surprise when it started rolling out a new Entry-Exit System (EES) that involves fingerprinting all foreign visitors to ensure they comply with visitor rules. For context, as a tourist, you only get 90 days (out of any 180-day period) across the border-free Schengen Area, which comprises most …

Is it just me, or has all this talk of “hidden gems” and “undiscovered spots” become a bit too… trivial, if not outright nonsensical? Whether they’re doing it for the Instagram algorithm or simply because they’re clueless enough to think an extremely popular European city that’s been flogged to death can still fit that criteria, …

There’s nothing we love more than a little Mediterranean escapade ourselves. Pistacchio gelato by a colorful harbor, peppered with slender, pastel-colored buildings, fresh fruit from local mercatini, outside lunch with cathedral views, and vespa rides into scarlet sunsets. There’s just one complaint: Is it just us, or do you also find pebblestones and shingles a …

I remember just stopping short of bashing Zurich, the largest city and financial heart of Switzerland, just a few weeks ago in my 5 European Cities I’ll Never Get Back To feature. Harsh as I might have been, I stand by every word: from the overpolished Old Town and its inflated restaurant prices, to the …