Five Underrated European Cities For A Weekend Jaunt

Eurotrips can fall into a tried, trusted and tired formula – ricocheting between the selfie-brigade on the Charles Bridge, paying €6 for a bad coffee in Florence and being contrary about not having wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower anyway, after realising you’re two months late buying a ticket.

Having long been intrigued by airline and train maps with cities I can’t pronounce or have only vaguely heard of, I’ve been lucky enough to visit a whole host of cities that defied my expectation and became firm favourites.

Picking five underrated European cities is a fool’s errand but these are among the best.  They offer everything I love in a destination - history, charm, great food and drink and an unpretentious air whilst skipping my pet peeves – unnecessary crowds, laminated six-language menus and selfie-stick incidents. You’ll still find beauty and culture in all of these, just with more elbow room.

1.     Brno, Czech Republic

Flights: Tiny airport with regular service to London Stansted (2.5hrs) and seasonal flights.

Train: Prague (from 2hrs 30mins), Vienna (from 1hr 30mins)

Prague’s lesser known and decided untouristed little sibling, Brno is a thriving university city with a flair for the unexpected. The centre is compact, lively, and full of excellent bars and quirky cafés - many of them underground, in old nuclear fallout shelters.  The dark beer flight and tabletop curling competition in Lucky Bastard Beerhouse (as good as its unlikely namesake in Nashville) was a memorable Friday night and the nitrogen infused cocktails at the wonderfully bizarre Sugar Panda Circus down a quiet sidestreet would feature on my Top 5 cocktails in Europe.

Back to culture - the Špilberk Castle looms above the city, once a prison, now a museum, and the Villa Tugendhat, a UNESCO-listed modernist masterpiece, offers a complete contrast. There’s even a labyrinth of tunnels under the vegetable market. Don’t miss the Brno Ossuary, a small but eerie bone house under St. James Church, the second-largest of its kind in Europe – pillars of skulls will never be anything other than surrel. If you time it right, you might catch one of the many film or theatre festivals, which tend to feature less red carpet and more homemade plum brandy.

If that weren't enough, Disney fans have have ample opportunity for 'We Don't Talk About Brno' gags

2.     Ghent, Belgium

Fly: Brussels or Amsterdam are your best bets

Train:  Brussels (from 30 mins), Brugges (from 25 mins), Amsterdam (from 2hrs 25mins)

Drive: Calais (Eurotunnel) (1hr 35mins)

If Bruges is the fairy-tale city that knows and flaunts it, Ghent is the temptress that doesn’t care what you think but knows you'll fall in love regardless . It’s medieval, moody, and impossibly cool - specially after dark, when the canals are dramatically lit and the Trippel beers start flowing. The stroll along the canal is with the old guild houses as backdrop is atmospheric and romantic in the same breath and the regular boat trips are an excellent way to understand the history, architecture and modernity of this thriving city.

Visit the Gravensteen Castle, climb the belfry for a panoramic view, or marvel at The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb in St. Bavo’s Cathedral, which is exactly as intense as it sounds – the forest of real trees they plant inside every Christmas has to be seen to be believed.

The STAM city museum gives great context to Ghent’s mercantile past and a boat tour along the cities canals is an extremely pleasant way to pass a summer’s afternoon. Ghent is also home to the East Flanders field-to-fork food movement which results in surprisingly delicious charcuterie and cheese – the food tour we did here is one of my all-time favourites. The beer, waffles and chocolate are also excellent (and featured on the tour) but you probably didn't need me to tell you that.

3. Bologna, Italy

Flights: All over Europe (thanks Ryanair ;-) so easy peasy

Train: Florence (40 minutes), Venice (1hr 15 mins), Rome (from 2hrs 5mins)

Yes, everyone loves Rome and Florence and rightly so.  But Bologna is where Italians go to eat…that should tell you all you need to know.

Known as ‘il grosso, il rosso, il dotto’ (the fat, the red, the learned), Bologna is home to the oldest university in the Western world, no less) and is bursting with culture everywhere you look, but it's the food that steals the show: tagliatelle al ragù, mortadella, tortellini in brodo. Join a food tour (my recommendation here) or just follow the locals in heading to the Quadrilatero for an aperitivo in a deli which double as a wine bars.  You’ll never want to leave.

To get your circulation going again, stroll the ochre arcades – Bologna has more porticos than any city in Europe - climb the leaning Asinelli Tower (before food!) for views and stop into Archiginnasio, once the heart of Bologna’s university. Amongst its many attractions is the marble table used for medieval dissections of human cadavers for anatomy students.  Again, a good stop before you start eating.

If they’re at home during the August-May season, catch a Bologna FC game at the magnificently retro Stadio Renato Dell'Ara (Italia ’90 devotees will be in heaven) and if all the indulging is too much, catch the San Luca Express tourist train up the hill to Basilica Santa Luca. It takes about one hour return and you’ll be deposited back in the city, by which time you'll be ready for your next snack!

4. Wexford, Ireland

Fly: Dublin then due south (direct buses – 3hrs – from outside the terminal)

Train: Dublin (from 2hrs 25 mins)

Drive:  Dublin (2hrs), Cork (2hrs 30 mins)

Most tourists only stay in Dublin (no, no, NO!) or head immediately West to Cork or Galway but 2hrs south of Dublin is the wonderful city of Wexford.  Gateway to Ireland’s sunny South East, Wexford has quietly become one of Ireland’s most charming coastal escapes. The beaches around Curracloe are vast, clean, and blissfully underpopulated, making for a atmospheric winter’s stroll or an old-fashioned seaside day out in summer.

The town’s Viking roots are still visible and more recent history can be found at nearby Johnstown Castle, together with its strutting resident peacocks. In autumn, the town hosts Wexford Festival Opera, one of the premium opera festivals in Europe.  The harbour is eminently strollable and dotted with attractive pubs and restaurants, whether you’re fancying seafood chowder or a Guinness with exactly the right amount of head. 

Picking up a rental car allows you to explore the region – the atmospheric Hook Lighthouse - one of the oldest working lighthouses in the world and the Copper Coast, a beautiful 20-mile drive of evocative beaches, sharp cliffs – the beach and rock formations at  .  Start or finish at the atmospheric harbour at Killmore Quay and don’t even think about missing the world-class, best in show, A+ etc...fish and chips at Mary Barry’s in Killmore village. Book in advance and thank me later.

5. Tours, France

Fly: Small number of direct routes, including London Stansted, Porto, Nice, Geneva.  Easily reachable from other French cities.

Train: Paris (from 1hr), Nantes (from 1hr 30mins), Bordeaux (from 1hr 50 mins)

Deep in the Loire Valley and surrounded by châteaux that make Versailles look an exercise in modesty, Tours blends medieval charm with modern flair.

The half-timbered houses of the old town are the stuff of postcards, and the Saint-Gatien Cathedral is vastly under-visited and atmospheric – on a summer’s day you’ll be glad of the cool interior.  Tours also houses the excellent Musée des Beaux-Arts, featuring Delacroix and Rodin in a lovely former bishop’s palace, complete with a stuffed elephant in the courtyard (long story…but one you’ll like).  Les Halles de Tours is a must for local cheeses, wines, and pastries – which you’ll need when you start chateau hopping, which is the prime attraction of the region. 

Tours is the optimum home base for some of the region’s biggest hitters, fantasy Chenonceau perched on a bridge (book to arrive early, it gets packed), enormous fairytale Chambord (hire a golf buggy and zip around the vast grounds) and the glorious gardens of Villandry, all reachable within an hour (by car or public transport).  Picnic in the grounds and pretend just for a second that all this is yours.

Go Where Other’s Don’t

I’m not one who insists you shouldn’t travel to popular cities.  Venice, Paris and Prague are all marvellous – and frankly provide enough content for bloggers to fill a career!  That said, venturing slightly further afield reaps ridiculous benefits - castles and canals, architecture and aperitifs - just with fewer elbows and more local accents.  These aren’t exactly the ‘hidden gems’ your guidebook promises you – try getting into Chenonceau car park on a July Saturday afternoon – but they are trips I began with low expectations and ended as a paid up member of the fan club!