Europe, who doesn’t love it?
The culture, the food, the people, the landscape. It is varied, fun, colourful,
educating, Europe and its hundreds of towns, places, villages, beaches, and mountains.
All that comes with this variety is just what everyone dreams of experiencing
at least once in their lifetimes. Here comes a choice of places, always one to
visit, for every month of the year. These are all tried and tested, many
several times and in any case, tested in the month they are recommended here.
England - Visit London in January
Whenever I am in London, I
think it is a shit hole of a place. There is lots of dirt. It is loud and it is
grubby. There are many drunks at night, and I can’t stand that they look for a
fight. You wait for public transport together with countless rodents big and
small. Jumping onto the tube or a bus at rush hour makes you feel like wearing
a too-tight sweater under a big winter coat. One has to queue for literally
everything from money to coffee. The positives - think culture, art, coffee- and
bookshops - outweigh the negatives. That is why I love London so much. London,
the capital city of the United Kingdom is worth a trip at any time of the year.
No matter why or when you visit, you are going to love it too. If you visit in
January, it is quieter than in all other months. Locals are still recovering
from the festive season. Most tourists stay at home, still planning where to
travel to next. January is the ideal month to visit the capital of England.
The Netherlands - Visit Rotterdam in February
Rotterdam is the second
biggest town in the Netherlands. It is only 90 kilometres away from
picture-perfect, everybody’s darling capital Amsterdam. Remember to never call
the country Holland. It is The Netherlands. Rotterdam’s city centre was
destroyed by Germans in WW2. There was no other option for the Rotterdammers as
to rebuild from scratch. Rotterdam that is breathtakingly beautiful modern
architecture, trendy coffee shops and relaxed locals. Relaxed, that is so
Dutch, right?
Poland - Visit Gdansk in March
A restored pastel-coloured old
town. A maritime river embankment. This town is one of Poland’s treasures. It
is here where World War 2 started on 1st September 1939. These days there is
hardly any trace that it was severely damaged by Germans in the war. On some
corners, it happens that it feels like walking through a fairy-tale.
The physicist Daniel Gabriel
Fahrenheit and the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer were both born in Gdańsk.
The Pomeranian town by the River Motlawa was first mentioned and founded in the
10th century. Gdańsk with its thousand-year-old history was controlled by
different nations. It is tough work to come to terms with its surely strenuous
history.
It is here, where Lech Walesa
founded the Solidarity movement in the 1980s. That step brought the world closer
to the end of communism. What a town.
Italy - Visit Positano in April
A tiny village on the
Mediterranean Sea hugged by massive mountains. Tiny cobblestoned lanes.
Colourful buildings. Fiat 500s parked on the roadside of the narrow main road.
The smell of lemons and freshly baked bread hanging in the air. Curious cats.
People browsing the small shops. Positano on the Amalfi Coast in Campania in
Italy is sort of too enchanting to be true. Thousands of people love to visit
this place. It is not as busy in April and the weather is already warm-ish and
mild enough to make the most of it. Visitors from all over the world flock to
this place. I love that the people living here managed to keep its charm and
not turn it into Disneyworld.
Croatia - Visit Split in May
This goes way back, as so
often in Europe. Strictly speaking, Split the result of a rather mundane
property project. Once upon a time, 1700 years ago, the Roman Emperor
Diocletian built a palace as a retirement home. Over time, it turned into the
lively town of Split.
Split is UNESCO heritage
listed; the old town remains fully intact. Shops, restaurants, bars, and
museums moved into the roman architecture structures. They moved into the
gothic parts of town. They moved into renaissance buildings. They moved into
the properties with baroque facades. The layout hasn't changed. Locals go on
with their day to day lives and hang out with friends and family. Tourists do
what tourists do, they buy souvenirs, eat and take photos. There even is street
art and modern brutalist-style architecture in the modern parts of town. And,
you can go swimming in the Adriatic Sea and go for hikes in the nearby
countryside. What is not to love?
Norway - Visit Eidfjord in June
June in Europe. Pictures of
wildflowers, days spent hiking in the sunshine and evenings spent dining on
terraces. In Norway, it is not as summery as you might expect it to be at this
time of the year. Mind you, it is warm enough already. The Kingdom of Norway,
the country of mountains, glaciers and coastal fjords shares borders with
Sweden, Finland, Russia and Denmark. Its extensive coastline runs along the
North Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and the Barents Sea.
Fjords (1,190 of them), lush
valleys, blue rivers and lakes and a sea of green made from pine trees. Go on a
road trip, and you drive for hours and seemingly endlessly through thick
forests and along rivers, and fjord after fjord, after fjord. Find funny
looking trolls living on trees and in between rocks and cliffs. People say one
can find them all over Norway's wild and isolated mountainous plateaus.
Eidfjord is an ideal base for
some remarkable excursions in Norway's south region. The 900 souls strong
Eidfjord in Hordaland county sits at the end of the Eid Fjord. That one is an
arm of the great Hardanger Fjord. From here you can visit the picturesque
Måbødalen valley, the mighty Vøringsfossen waterfall, the icy-cold but magical
Hardangervidda National Park, and colourful Bergen.
Austria - Visit Kühtai in July
The village in the
municipality of Silz, right in the heart of the Stubai Alps lies in the
magnificent Sellrain valley in Austria. Kühtai, with only ten permanent
inhabitants, is one of the smallest villages in the whole of Tyrol. It sits at
an elevation over 2,000 meters. I wonder where all the other tourists are, it
is so quiet. I ask a shop owner from whom I buy locally made honey. He tells me
that there aren’t many visitors around in summer. It is what it is. As far back
as 1288, there was a cow alpine pasture, and that is where the village (maybe)
got its name from. The idea to design a holiday resort already came up
centuries ago. In the 17th century, an old farmhouse was transformed into a
hunting lodge. Later, in the 19th century, into a hotel.
Kühtai's mountain climate
is heaven for allergy sufferers and asthmatics. Pure mountain air. Long summer
days. A fantastic view of the alpine scenery. Kühtai has everything one needs
to recharge the batteries.
Germany - Visit Friedrichstadt in August
Do you dream of walking
through a town as pretty as a photo in a coffee table book? I found it for you.
Friedrichstadt is a town in the district of Northern Frisia, in the German
state of Sleswick-Holsatia. The town named after Duke Friedrich III. from
Schleswig-Gottorp is a dream come true. In the 17th century, the duke needed
people with expertise in designing towns by the water. Who is an expert in it?
Exactly, the Dutch. The ever so clever duke managed to lure them over. He could
also make use of their trade relations with partners as far away as Spain.
When you visit, you see that
the Dutch created a true masterpiece of a town. Here, the rivers Eider, Treene
and Sorge cross the hinterland of the North Sea coast. The Dutch made use of
the water from the rivers Eider and Treene to fill the canals. After a few
moments, you understand why this town is also known as 'Little Amsterdam.'
Narrow canals, 18 bridges, gabled houses, and straight cobblestoned streets.
Friedrichstadt is a piece of the Netherlands in Germany. In August,
Friedrichstadt is crazy busy, but still, it is probably one of the best months
to visit. It is a town by the North-Sea and the climate is accordingly wet and
rather nippy. Visit in the early morning or in the late afternoon. That is when
you can spend some alone time. Any other time is great to enjoy the busy
atmosphere and to people watch.
Italy - Visit Elba in September
Elba, the biggest island in
the Tuscan archipelago. The island in the shape of a fish is roughly 220
kilometres to the south (-west) from the ever so trendy Florence. Mountains,
the Mediterranean Sea, small villages with cute pastel-coloured houses, and
glorious fresh food. The 30,000 residents who call Elba home live mostly in the
capital Portoferraio. To avoid the summer crowds, visit Elba in September. You
can still swim in the Tyrrhenian Sea and drink Prosecco on alfresco terraces in
peace. It feels like summer compared to other parts of Europe.
Finland - Visit Rovaniemi in October
Where is Finland? The Republic
of Finland in Northern Europe shares a border with Norway in the north, Sweden
in the northwest, and Russia in the east. Finland became independent from
Russia as recently as in 1917. It is so sparsely populated, that one might say
Finland is in Europe what Namibia is in Africa.
Rovaniemi, the capital of
Lapland is only six kilometres south of the Arctic Circle. The town in
Finland's northernmost province is spread out over 8,016.75 square kilometres.
That makes it the largest one in the European Union. There is more than enough
space to play under the midnight sun or in the snow. In summer you pick
berries, go hiking and breathe fresh air. The country has a great environmental
policy. Women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities. The Finns have a
beautiful work-life balance. One can say they enjoy a good quality of life.
Visiting Rovaniemi in October you can expect to see the Northern lights and some
snow.
France - Visit Paris in November
Paris
is always a good idea. Right. It somehow feels as if everything has been said
about the capital of France already. Rest assured, this will never become true.
The city changes all the time, Parisians change, and we as visitors change too,
probably every day. No matter how often I visit Paris, I find something
exciting and inspiring. Isn't that what makes towns like Paris so unique? The
certainty that there will always be something new to see on future visits. In
any case, as Marcel Proust said, "The real voyage of discovery consists
not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Paris is super
busy with visitors in early autumn and in spring. Visit in November to find the
city as good as deserted from tourists. Even the queue at the Louvre is not
that long. It can be foggy, rainy, the weather can be outright miserable, or it
can be sunny, you never know. It is November.
Austria - Visit Vienna in December
Vienna, the capital of
Austria sits in the east of the country. Known the world over for Mozart and
Beethoven. For ballroom dancing and museums. For the Hapsburg monarchy and Art
Nouveau architecture. Known for chocolaty Sacher Torte and Apple Strudel.
Vienna dressed in sparkly Christmas lights welcomes fans of the festive season.
Millions of lights are lavishly sprinkled all over the city. For all, who are
hungry for mulled wine and gingerbread this is the most magical time of the
year. The atmosphere in Vienna during Christmas time is unbeatable.
