Inside today European backwaters
Ditch the hoards for small-town charm
Novi Sad, Serbia
This Serbian city on the Danube River will be the European Capital of Culture in 2021, so make haste now before the rest of the world discovers its delights. It’s a typical European city, big enough for laneway bars, art galleries, music festivals, cafe terraces, and parks, but small enough to avoid urban annoyances. See novisad.travel.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Slovenian capital proves that small cities can pack a punch. The old town offers medieval and art nouveau buildings, fine museums and lively theatres, with hundreds of annual cultural events. Little squares host more cafes than you could visit in a month. The beer is Germanic in quality, the icecream Italian, and the rustic street market food is Central European. See visitljubljana.com.
Poznan, Poland
This lively, youthful university town flies almost completely under the tourist radar, and yet is a Krakow in miniature, centred on a huge main square surrounded by tall, 16th-century merchants’ houses picked out in lurid colours.
It has a friendly, arty, student vibe and, despite being a millennium old, still has abundant energy, especially in the evenings when the whole town comes out to eat and drink. See poznan.travel.
Bratislava, Slovakia
OK, there are no big-name palaces, cathedrals or museums here, and the hilltop castle underwhelms, though it does have fine Danube River views. Yet this means you can abandon your sightseeing duties to simply enjoy the relaxed buzz of this capital’s delightfully petite and mostly pedestrianised old town. Its graceful medieval and renaissance buildings now house lively bars and eateries, making Bratislava a lovely destination with a great vibe. See visitbratislava.com.
Brasov, Romania
Once you penetrate the concrete, Soviet-era outskirts of this once-prominent and proud AustroHungarian
trading city, you’ll find a lovingly renovated baroque town picked out in pink and yellow, festooned with flowerboxes, and centred on elegant Piata Sfatului square, where kids skip and locals slurp icecreams around a fountain. On the hillside above, a leafy esplanade has views over pepper-pot towers, medieval church spires and tiled rooftops. See romaniatourism.com.
Hvar, Croatia
This Renaissance gem on an island of the same name has marble-paved piazzas, shady alleys, dim chapels, and a fortress above overlooking a turquoise Adriatic Sea. Even better, Hvar has a contemporary buzz thanks to its yachting and bar scene, which has turned it into the Saint-Tropez of
Croatia. Don your designer duds, stroll the promenades and tuck into seafood. See tzhvar.hr.
Szeged, Hungary
A devastating flood in 1879 saw this town rebuilt in art nouveau style, bequeathing it a wonderful architectural uniformity and some of the era’s best buildings, such as the town hall and the Reok and Grof palaces. You’ll also find one of Europe’s most beautiful synagogues. Add a sunny climate, riverside location and energetic student life for a perfect little destination. See szegedtourism.hu.
Kotor, Montenegro
Founded by the Romans, emblazoned with Venetian lions, rich in maritime history, and World Heritage listed for its medieval architecture and fine fortifications, this car-free old town feels like a mini Dubrovnik, though it isn’t nearly as busy. Its setting at the end of a 30-kilometre, fjordlike sunken valley is as superb: stroll beyond the walls for Midori-blue water and rugged mountains sometimes dusted with snow. See touristiko.me.
Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic
This renowned 19th-century spa destination, formerly known as Marienbad, which Mark Twain called the most charming town on the Continent, retains much of its sedate, buttercup-yellow, fin-desiecle architecture, perfectly set off by dark pinecovered hills, flower beds and manicured lawns. Visitors soak in fizzy water, take forest rambles and eat cream buns under the colonnade. A prestigious Chopin festival is held each August. See marianskelazne.cz.
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
The one-time capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire (and now a university town), sits high above a curl of the Yantra River in northern Bulgaria’s mountains. Though not striking apart from its huge ruined Tsarevets fortress, the town has considerable charm thanks to its setting, genteel architecture, Byzantine-influenced churches, and agreeably slow pace. In the evening, swallows swoop above the limestone cliffs and rooftops. See kws.go.ke.