Too many travellers overlook small towns in Europe. When it comes to European holidays, big culture-driven cities like Rome and Paris tend to get all the attention. But between all the landmarks and selfie-taking tourists, you’ll find some of the prettiest places in Europe with populations smaller than the line for the Eiffel Tower. And despite their petite size, they still offer the same great architecture and beautiful natural surroundings as their metropolitan counterparts.
Whether it’s a lakeside hamlet in Austria or a hauntingly beautiful village in Romania, these storybook towns are the stuff European dreams are made of. Often, it’s these small towns that capture our imaginations. They’re not typically the stuff of bucket lists – big-hitting attractions are usually the stuff of capital cities – but they can ignite the same, if not higher, levels of wanderlust. It’s the storied cobbled backstreets, the smiley, grateful faces found in bakeries and tiny boutiques, and selfie-stick-free views that have us zooming in on our smartphone maps in search of the next off-the-beaten-track adventure.