Large metropolises can overwhelm travelers: they offer museums, photo attractions, districts where one can get lost, and around forty-seven cafes worth visiting. However, after several days spent in crowds and on public transport, the opportunity to relax a bit is very welcome.
Fortunately, some of Europe's most interesting small towns are surprisingly close to major cities. These destinations allow for easy day trips or overnight stays, enabling visitors to combine a visit to a famous city with a more relaxed, local side of the country.
Amsterdam is famous for its canals, bicycles, and a suspicious ability to convince everyone that they immediately need to buy a bike. Nearby is Broek in Waterland, which offers a much calmer version of Dutch life. This village is known for its wooden houses, waterways, and small bridges, and the surrounding landscape gives an idea of the Netherlands outside the bustling capital.
Broek in Waterland is close enough to Amsterdam for a simple trip by public transport, yet it feels like purely rural countryside. The official Amsterdam tourism website mentions Broek in Waterland alongside nearby places like Volendam and Purmerend as easy escapes from the city.
Kutná Hora is about an hour's drive from Prague. This town is small enough to explore at a relaxed pace but is rich in history that justifies the trip. The historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage site, featuring the impressive Gothic Church of St. Barbara and the former silver mining heritage that helped make Kutná Hora one of Bohemia's richest medieval towns.
This is especially good for travelers who want to see the history and architecture of Prague without spending another day traveling through the crowds in the capital.
London is one of Europe's great cities, but sometimes the best thing to do after several days in the capital is to leave it. The historic town of Rye in East Sussex is a particularly charming option for a break. Its cobbled streets, timber-framed buildings, independent shops, and old pubs give it a distinctly old-fashioned character. The town is also located near the coast, making it suitable for those who want to combine history with fresh sea air.
Rye can be reached by train from London, allowing it to be visited as a day trip, although an overnight stay allows one to enjoy the place after the daytime tourists have left.
Rome is filled with ancient monuments that can occupy you for weeks, but the surrounding Lazio countryside offers another side of Italy. Frascati, located in the hills of Alba southeast of Rome, is particularly appealing to travelers seeking a small-town atmosphere without straying far from the capital. The town is known for its villas, historic center, and local wine traditions. It is also part of the Castelli Romani area, a group of towns and countryside south of Rome, providing an easy escape from the capital.
For sunny weather and sea views, Sitges is an easy escape from Barcelona. Located southwest of the city on the Mediterranean coast, Sitges combines beaches with a historic center, colorful streets, restaurants, and vibrant cultural life. It has long attracted artists and visitors looking for coastal relaxation, and its compact center allows for easy walking. The main advantage is that one can substitute the noisy streets of Barcelona with a beach without undertaking a complicated journey across Spain.
Paris attracts the most attention, but if you travel about 80 kilometers southeast, the medieval town of Provence seems far from the French capital. Provence, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is surrounded by medieval fortifications and has a historic center filled with narrow streets, old houses, and imposing gates. Its history is closely linked to great medieval fairs that attracted traders from all over Europe to this town. It is also very easy to reach from Paris by train, making it a good choice if you want your French getaway to involve fewer queues and significantly fewer people taking selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower.
To find a different pace of life, you don't have to travel far from Copenhagen. Dragør is located on Amager island and is easily accessible from the Danish capital by public transport. This historic fishing town is known for its narrow streets, yellow houses, and harbor. Many of its buildings date back centuries, lending the town an old-fashioned maritime atmosphere that contrasts beautifully with the glamorous urban appearance of Copenhagen. It is a place where the itinerary can be simple: take a walk, eat something, wander a bit more, and look at the water. Sometimes that is exactly what a vacation requires.
The appeal of these towns is not necessarily that they are completely unknown. Some of them are well-established tourist destinations in their own right. The trick is that they allow travelers to create a more diverse itinerary.