Charming old-world towns, around the world.
Walls, towers, narrow streets — and not always on the postcard rack.
What are some less-touristed old-world towns around the world, for travelers seeking beautiful places with fewer crowds? Answer
Options include Castelmezzano (Italy), a village above the rock formations of the Dolomiti Lucane; Mauterndorf (Austria), an Alpine valley village below a white hilltop castle; and Polperro (United Kingdom), a fishing village around a compact harbour in south Cornwall. This page includes more than 3,000 options in 145 countries and territories. Click here to see which are close enough to be day trips from major cities like Prague, Porto or Bath.
Castelmezzano
Above the jagged rock formations of the Dolomiti Lucane, Castelmezzano is a particularly photogenic village in Basilicata's Potenza province, recognised in I…
Mauterndorf
A compact Alpine village in Austria's Salzburg region, where traditional timber-and-plaster houses spread across a green valley floor beneath forested peaks,…
Polperro
This particularly photogenic fishing village on the south Cornwall coast, Polperro is built around a compact harbour with tightly-packed historic fishermen's…
Clusone
Particularly photogenic small town in Lombardy's Val Seriana, Clusone sits along the River Serio in mountain country with scenic viewpoints and a compact his…
Vielha
Capital of the Val d'Aran in the Pyrenees, Vielha sits at the confluence of the Garona river and its tributary the Riu Negre, with a café and restaurant scen…
Třebíč
Třebíč, a town in Czechia's Vysočina Region, holds a UNESCO World Heritage Site that pairs two rarely combined landmarks: a medieval Jewish Quarter and the R…
Corciano
This hill village in Umbria recognised as one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia, Corciano preserves a medieval centre of almost circular shape, partly still enc…
Weilburg
A photogenic pocket-sized town in Hesse set on the Lahn river between the Westerwald and Taunus uplands, Weilburg was for centuries the residence of the Nass…
Conques
This tiny village in Aveyron whose Romanesque abbey church and its treasury — including a gold statue of Sainte Foy — earned UNESCO World Heritage status in…
Vogogna
This photogenic village in the Val d'Ossola, Piedmont, sits at the water's edge with mountain terrain rising behind it, partly within the Val Grande National…
Monaco-Ville
Set on a Mediterranean headland known as The Rock, Monaco-Ville is the historic core of the Principality of Monaco — a compact, photogenic village dense with…
Peniche
This photogenic Atlantic-facing town on the Portuguese coast in the Oeste region, Peniche has a walkable centre with a real food-and-drink scene and water vi…
Pacentro
This particularly photogenic medieval village in Abruzzo's Maiella National Park, Pacentro sits a short distance from Sulmona and holds a concentration of hi…
Gisors
Gisors, a compact Norman town in the Eure department within easy reach of Paris, is dominated by a medieval castle that has stood on its mound since the Midd…
Lamego
This compact city in Portugal's Douro wine country, Lamego sits on the Balsemão River with an unusual concentration of churches for its size, a real café and…
Ragusa
A Sicilian city rebuilt in baroque style after a devastating 1693 earthquake, Ragusa sits on a limestone hill between two deep valleys and divides into two d…
Conwy
Conwy Castle and the medieval town walls — both on the UNESCO World Heritage List — anchor this small walled town on the River Conwy in North Wales, where mo…
Eibenstock
A compact Saxon town in the forested Ore Mountains, Eibenstock pairs a Gothic church spire and ornate 19th-century civic buildings with a broad reservoir bac…
Vigevano
Vigevano's Renaissance Piazza Ducale anchors a heritage-dense, walkable centre in Lombardy's Pavia province, with historic churches, cafés, and listed buildi…
Lerma
A pocket-sized Castilian village above the Arlanza river valley, Lerma is the headquarters of the Arlanza DOP wine denomination and holds a historic centre —…
Alanya
A Mediterranean resort city on Turkey's southern coast where a Seljuk-era citadel dominates a modest peninsula backed by the Taurus Mountains, Alanya combine…
Saluzzo
A medieval hill town in Piedmont's Cuneo province, Saluzzo served as capital of its own marquisate for over four centuries — from 1142 to 1548 — and retains…
Larochette
This compact stone village in a forested valley in Luxembourg, where medieval castle ruins rise dramatically from a rocky outcrop directly above the tightly…
Aire-sur-la-Lys
A fortified town on the River Lys in northern France's Pas-de-Calais, Aire-sur-la-Lys has a photogenic centre with cafés and restaurants along the waterfront…
Saint-Pierre
A medieval castle rises dramatically above this compact Alpine valley village in Italy's Aosta Valley, where snow-dusted terraced hillsides, a lively café sc…
Vianden
Medieval castle rises dramatically above this compact Luxembourg river valley village, its stone towers overlooking densely wooded hillsides, a winding river…
Karlovy Vary
Founded in the 14th century by Charles IV and built around a cluster of hot springs, Karlovy Vary is Czechia's most visited spa town, set at the confluence o…
Bevagna
A flat Umbrian town in the Topino river plain — unusual among the hill towns of the region — Bevagna is listed among Italy's most beautiful borghi and carrie…
Modane
Compact town in the Maurienne Valley of Savoie, Modane sits within the Vanoise National Park close to the Italian border, with mountain scenery on all sides…
Judenburg
Photogenic compact town on the Mur river in Styria's mountain terrain, Judenburg carries a medieval trading history visible in the burgher houses and churche…
Nicosia
This small Sicilian hill town in the province of Enna rises across four rocky hills, with the ruins of a medieval castle visible from below and an unusual co…
Nyon
This lakeside town on the western shore of Lake Geneva, Nyon sits in the heart of Swiss wine country with a walkable centre, a solid food-and-drink scene, an…
Rocamadour
Medieval pilgrimage village in the Lot département of southwestern France, Rocamadour clings to a cliff face rising steeply above the Alzou valley, with a co…
Narni
An ancient hill town in Umbria that claims to sit at the geographical centre of Italy — a spot marked by a stone — Narni overhangs a narrow gorge of the Rive…
Queralbs
Small Pyrenean hamlet in Catalonia's Ripollès comarca, Queralbs is the gateway to Vall de Núria, reached by rack railway from nearby Ribes de Freser.
Kingswear
Right on the east bank of the tidal River Dart near its mouth, Kingswear is a photogenic Devon village sitting within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Nat…
Sellano
A tiny Umbrian village in the Vigi valley, Sellano is listed among I Borghi più belli d'Italia and since 2024 has been connected to the Castello di Montesant…
Estremoz
Large white palace-castle with medieval battlements crowns the hilltop above this Alentejo town, whose whitewashed streets, multiple churches, and surroundin…
Ilfracombe
A photogenic harbour town on the North Devon coast, Ilfracombe sits among cliffs and hills with scenic views in multiple directions.
Caltabellotta
This hilltop town in Sicily's Agrigento province sits high above surrounding valleys, olive groves, and distant views of the Mediterranean, making it one of…
Donzy
A compact Burgundian village of terracotta rooftops and stone-built streets, dominated by a tall Gothic church tower, with a river meadow landscape spreading…
Solothurn
Solothurn's pedestrian-only old town, built largely between 1520 and 1790, is one of Switzerland's most concentrated displays of Baroque architecture, blendi…
Picerno
A compact hilltop town in Basilicata's Potenza province, Picerno rises above rolling green valleys with a bell tower and medieval stone tower at its core, su…
Moulins
This heritage-dense town on the river Allier in central France, Moulins is the historic capital of the Bourbonnais province and holds a walkable centre with…
Bad Ragaz
A spa and health resort in the canton of St.
Bagnara Calabra
This small Tyrrhenian coast town in Calabria's southernmost stretch, Bagnara Calabra sits directly on the water with vineyards in the surrounding hills and v…
Fortuneswell
A small conservation-area town on the steep northern slopes of the Isle of Portland in Dorset, Fortuneswell sits where Chesil Beach connects the island to th…
Ubrique
Leather craftsmanship defines Ubrique, a white-walled Andalusian town in the Sierra de Cádiz known as the cradle of Andalusian leatherwork.
Anghiari
A particularly photogenic hill village in Tuscany's Arezzo province, Anghiari has an unusual concentration of churches and cafés for its size, along with sce…
Batalha
A pocket-sized Portuguese town in the Leiria region whose skyline is dominated by an elaborate Gothic and Manueline monastery — all soaring pinnacles, lace-l…
Bad Goisern am Hallstättersee
A modest market town in Austria's Salzkammergut region, sitting at the water's edge in mountain terrain with scenic viewpoints in the surrounding hills.
Lauria
A medieval hilltop town in Basilicata's mountains, Lauria stacks stone and render buildings up a steep wooded ridge, crowned by a ruined fortress and a hillt…
Bad Reichenhall
Salt production with a history stretching back four thousand years defines Bad Reichenhall, a spa town in the Bavarian Alps of Upper Bavaria whose Alpine sal…
Cremieu
A little medieval town in Isère, southeastern France, Crémieu has preserved its historic centre largely intact and hosts an annual September festival, Les Mé…
Brisighella
Three rocky spurs rise above this little Emilia-Romagna town, each topped by a landmark: the 14th-century Rocca Manfrediana fortress, an 18th-century sanctua…
Ontinyent
This walkable town on the banks of the Clarià River in Valencia's Vall d'Albaida comarca, Ontinyent has a centre with cafés and restaurants alongside baroque…
Joinville
This small town on the water in Haute-Marne, north-eastern France, Joinville carries a layered medieval history: it was the seat of a lordship in the county…
Lovere
At the northwest tip of Lake Iseo in Lombardy, Lovere is a particularly photogenic small town whose streetscape blends overhanging wooden roofs with heavy st…
Cumberland
A photogenic city on the Potomac River in Western Maryland, Cumberland has a compact centre with a concentration of cafés, restaurants, and historic churches.
Montefrío
Named by National Geographic as one of the ten best views in the world, this tiny Andalusian town in Granada's northern hills earns that recognition through…
Kastelruth
Photogenic village in the South Tyrolean Dolomites, Kastelruth sits at around 1,000 metres elevation near the Seiser Alm alpine meadow and is a recognised me…
Saorge
Particularly photogenic and a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association, Saorge is a compact hilltop village in the Alpes-Maritimes with an…
Marbella
This Mediterranean city on Spain's Costa del Sol with a dense café and restaurant scene, a photogenic old quarter, and a seafront backed by the Sierra Blanca…
Città della Pieve
This photogenic hilltop town in Umbria, Città della Pieve sits on a ridge overlooking the Val di Chiana near the Umbria-Tuscany border, built largely from ex…
Terrasson-Lavilledieu
This small town on the Vézère river in the Dordogne, Terrasson-Lavilledieu is known for its Jardins de l'Imaginaire, a medieval-origin market trading in truf…
Amarante
A particularly photogenic small city on the Tâmega River in northern Portugal, Amarante sits in deep wine country with a strong café and restaurant scene for…
Domodossola
A walkable town in Piedmont's Ossola valley with a centre full of cafés and historic churches, Domodossola is the main hub of the Val d'Ossola, sitting at th…
Jaén
Jaén, in Andalusia, is self-styled the world capital of olive oil — the surrounding province is the largest olive oil producer on earth, and the city has hos…
Queluz
Queluz National Palace, an 18th-century royal pleasure palace in the Lisbon metropolitan area, is the main draw of this city within Sintra Municipality on th…
Belluno
A walkable town in the Veneto where the Ardo stream meets the Piave river, Belluno sits at the gateway to the Eastern Dolomites — a UNESCO-listed landscape s…
Moguer
Birthplace of Nobel Prize-winning poet Juan Ramón Jiménez and a key stop on the lugares colombinos route tracing Christopher Columbus's first voyage, Moguer…
Salcombe
Photogenic little resort town on Devon's south coast, Salcombe sits along the steep western bank of the Kingsbridge Estuary — a sheltered ria that historical…
Vietri sul Mare
Polychrome ceramics have been made in Vietri sul Mare since at least the 15th century, and the tradition remains central to this little Campanian town at the…
Estaing
Estaing, a modest village on the Lot river in Aveyron, is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries an unusual concentration of protected his…
Ochsenfurt
A well-preserved medieval town wall with numerous towers and gates rings the historic centre of this little Franconian town on the River Main, set deep in th…
Bertinoro
A hilltop wine-country village in Emilia-Romagna with an unusually lively café and restaurant scene for its size, Bertinoro sits atop Monte Cesubeo with view…
Niort
Walkable town in western France's Deux-Sèvres department, Niort sits on the Sèvre Niortaise river and serves as the eastern gateway to the Marais Poitevin re…
Bellinzona
Three medieval castles — Castelgrande, Montebello, and Sasso Corbaro — crown the hills above this Italian-speaking Swiss town, earning Bellinzona a UNESCO Wo…
Trevi
Commanding views across the Umbrian plain — said to extend over much of the valley in westerly directions — this medieval hill town on the lower flank of Mou…
Frohnleiten
A compact Styrian town where pastel-fronted historic buildings and a prominent church rise directly above a broad river, backed by forested hills and served…
Bocairent
Dense cluster of pale stone houses crowns a rocky hilltop above an old arched bridge in this small Valencian town, with a church tower at the summit and a ca…
Cortona
A photogenic hilltop town in Tuscany's Val di Chiana, Cortona sits high enough to offer panoramic views in every direction and holds an unusual concentration…
Friesach
Claimed as the oldest town in Carinthia, Friesach dates to at least 860 and retains a well-preserved medieval centre — including a town wall and a water-fill…
Ávila City
Enclosed by medieval walls and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, Ávila's old town is one of the best-preserved in Spain, earning the city the ni…
Maratea
Basilicata's only town on the Tyrrhenian coast, Maratea is a particularly photogenic pocket-sized town with an unusual concentration of churches and chapels…
Naumburg
Naumburg Cathedral, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018 for its role in shaping medieval European culture, anchors this walkable town in southe…
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux
A walkable town on the river Scarpe in northern France's Nord department, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux has a centre with a real café and restaurant scene and sits on…
Noto
Rebuilt in the early 18th century after a devastating earthquake, Noto is one of eight Late Baroque towns in Sicily's Val di Noto declared a UNESCO World Her…
Kufstein
Kufstein Fortress, first mentioned in the 13th century, dominates this photogenic Tyrolean town on the River Inn, flanked by the Brandenberg Alps and the Kai…
Forcalquier
Once the capital of a flourishing county in medieval Haute-Provence, Forcalquier is a tiny town in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence sitting between the Lure and L…
Minervino Murge
Known locally as the "Balcone delle Puglie" (Balcony of Puglia) for its elevated position on the western flank of the Murgia Barese mountain chain, Minervino…
Cazorla
Small Andalusian town in Jaén's Sierra de Cazorla, with a café and restaurant scene that punches well above its size, multiple scenic viewpoints into mountai…
Senlis
This compact historic town in the Oise department north of Paris, Senlis preserves a medieval old quarter of ancient lanes and houses enclosed within Gallo-R…
Carrara
Marble has defined Carrara since ancient times — the white and blue-grey stone quarried from the Apuan Alps above this Tuscan town has supplied sculptors and…
Ponte da Barca
Sitting on the Lima River in northern Portugal's deep Vinho Verde country, Ponte da Barca is a particularly photogenic small town with a café and restaurant…
Colmars
A small fortified village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Colmars-les-Alpes holds membership in the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, a recognit…
Sant'Agnello
A pocket-sized town on the Sorrentine Coast between Piano di Sorrento and Sorrento, Sant'Agnello sits right at the water with scenic viewpoints nearby and a…
Sinop
Sinop sits on a narrow isthmus at the northernmost point of Turkey's Black Sea coast, giving the town water on nearly every side and a compact centre with a…
Mondsee
A modest lakeside town in Upper Austria's Salzkammergut region, Mondsee is best known for the medieval Mondsee Abbey, whose church served as the wedding loca…
Real Sitio de San Ildefonso
Home to the Royal Palace of La Granja and the Royal Glass Factory, this small town in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama is a short drive from Segovia…
Vimperk
Vimperk is a tiny South Bohemian town at the foot of the Šumava mountains, long known for its glass-making and printing traditions and its position on the hi…
Bra
Birthplace of Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, Bra is a gastronomically focused town in Piedmont's Roero area whose main claim to fame exten…
Zahara de la Sierra
A white-walled Andalusian village in the Sierra de Grazalema natural park, Zahara de la Sierra sits above the Embalse de Zahara reservoir with panoramic view…
Swidnica
A Lower Silesian town in south-western Poland with nearly a thousand years of history, Świdnica is home to the Church of Peace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site,…
Fiumalbo
This small Emilian village in the Modena Apennines holds membership in I Borghi più belli d'Italia — Italy's register of its most beautiful villages — and dr…
Zuheros
This pocket-sized whitewashed village in the Subbética mountains of Córdoba province, Zuheros is part of Andalusia's White Towns and has been recognised by t…
Espalion
A little town in the Aveyron department of southern France, Espalion sits directly on the Lot river, with a café and restaurant scene in its compact centre a…
Chacas
Founded in 1572 in the Conchucos zone of Ancash, Chacas is a high-altitude Peruvian town whose colonial centre has kept its original Andean-Andalusian archit…
Gaeta
A seaside town on a promontory between Rome and Naples, Gaeta combines sandy beaches on its western coast with a layered military history — its walls date to…
Murau
Compact Austrian town where a Gothic church and a hilltop manor anchor a dense cluster of orange-roofed buildings along a fast-flowing river, backed by fores…
Schmalkalden
Town on the Schmalkalde river at the southern edge of the Thuringian Forest, Schmalkalden sits in mountain terrain with scenic viewpoints across the surround…
Foligno
This walkable Umbrian town on the Topino river where it meets the plain of the Clitunno, Foligno has a food-and-drink scene and a concentration of medieval c…
Obidos
Compact walled town in Portugal's Oeste region, its dense cluster of white-walled, terracotta-roofed houses crowned by a medieval castle and dotted with chur…
Calatayud
Calatayud, a town in Aragón on the river Jalón, is known for the Mudéjar towers of its old-town churches and a castle whose origins date to around 850 AD.
Sala Comacina
Colorful ochre and terracotta houses rise directly from Lake Como's waterfront here, climbing wooded terraced hillsides past a bell tower, with a small but w…
Neuchâtel
A lakeside town in French-speaking western Switzerland, Neuchâtel sits directly on Lake Neuchâtel with vineyards in the surrounding hills and a walkable cent…
Dendermonde
Sitting at the confluence of the Dender and Scheldt rivers in East Flanders, Dendermonde is a Belgian town with a walkable, café-lined centre, a concentratio…
Matelica
This modest wine-country town in the Marche region of central Italy, Matelica sits alongside water and has a compact historic centre with cafés, restaurants,…
Landshut
Every four years, Landshut stages the Landshuter Hochzeit, a large-scale re-enactment of the 1475 wedding of Bavarian Duke Georg the Rich to Polish princess…
Huy
Walkable Wallonian town on the river Meuse, Huy has a centre dense with historic churches, cafés, and restaurants, with vineyards in the surrounding countrys…
Arrone
Small Umbrian village on the Nera river in the Valnerina, Arrone holds several historic churches and scenic viewpoints for its size, along with a handful of…
Quimper
Quimper faience — white glazed pottery with colourful painted designs — is the signature craft of this Breton town, the prefecture of Finistère in northweste…
Grund
A river-level quarter of Luxembourg City where a stone bridge crosses calm water below a dramatically lit old town rising on rocky cliffs, with cafés, church…
Pergola
This small town in the Marche region of Italy, Pergola holds a museum displaying the Gilt Bronzes of Cartoceto di Pergola, a set of ancient gilded bronze fig…
Pesmes
This village on the banks of the Ognon river in Haute-Saône holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries a dense concentration of listed…
Ruurlo
Ruurlo Castle, a former town hall that now houses museum MORE, a modern art museum, is the main draw of this little Gelderland village in the eastern Netherl…
Pastrana
Declared a historic-artistic ensemble in 1966, Pastrana is a small village in Guadalajara's La Alcarria region whose medieval and Renaissance character remai…
Foix
The castle of the Counts of Foix, classified as a historic monument since 1840, rises on a rock above this modest medieval town at the foot of the Pyrenees i…
Kolín
This walkable Central Bohemian town on the Elbe River with a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument reservation, Kolín sits roughly an…
Morcote
This photogenic village on the shore of Lake Lugano in Switzerland's Ticino canton, Morcote pairs its waterfront arcades and Renaissance church with a monume…
Toul
This compact town in Lorraine where an ornate Gothic cathedral with twin towers and intricate stone lacework dominates the old centre, set alongside a river…
Persenbeug
Persenbeug sits on the bank of the Danube in Lower Austria, anchored by a listed castle that rises above the river.
Castletown
This compact Isle of Man harbour town where sailboats rest on tidal mud flats at low water, overlooked by a substantial medieval stone castle with battlement…
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer gives its name to the surrounding wine region and sits on a bay at the southern end of France's Mediterranean coast, making it the country's…
Sondrio
Walkable wine-country town at the heart of the Valtellina valley in Lombardy, Sondrio serves as the provincial capital and was named Alpine Town of the Year…
Vélez-Blanco
The Cave of the Signboards (Cueva de los Letreros), declared a National Historic Monument in 1924 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, sits just outside…
Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
Village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence with an unusual density of cafés and restaurants for its size, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie sits against a rocky escarpment…
Massa Marittima
Small Tuscan hill town in the Metalliferous Hills of Grosseto, Massa Marittima sits at the centre of a mining region historically rich in iron, mercury, copp…
Imst
Heritage-dense modest town on the River Inn in western Tyrol, Imst sits close to the mountains with scenic viewpoints in the surrounding area and a café and…
Frías
Claimed since 1435 to be the smallest city in Spain, Frías is a medieval hill village in Burgos province rising above the river Ebro, where a castle and a 12…
Sansepolcro
Birthplace of the Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca and the mathematician Luca Pacioli, Sansepolcro is a compact Tuscan town on the upper Tiber, near…
Traunkirchen
This pocket-sized Upper Austrian village sits directly on the Traunsee lake, surrounded by mountain terrain, with several historic churches and a handful of…
Saint-Imier
This pocket-sized Swiss town in the Bernese Jura mountains, Saint-Imier is known as the site of the 1872 Saint-Imier Congress, widely regarded as the foundin…
Pinerolo
A walkable town in Piedmont, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone, with a centre full of cafés, restaurants, and historic churches.
Pasaia
A working port town on the Bay of Pasaia in Spain's Basque Country, spread across four distinct districts around a natural harbour where the Oyarzun river me…
Veere
This little historic town on the former island of Walcheren in Zeeland sits along the Kanaal door Walcheren and the Veerse Meer, with a waterfront setting, a…
Fénis
Fénis Castle, a well-preserved medieval fortress in the Aosta Valley of north-western Italy, is the main draw to this small village, which also sits in wine…
Moclín
Compact Andalusian municipality in Granada's mountain country, Moclín was the site of the Battle of Moclín in 1280 and sits alongside the Velillos river.
Vorselaar
This tiny Belgian town in Antwerp province where a moat-encircled stone castle with conical towers and Gothic detailing reflects in still water, set among ma…
Bosa
Sitting on the north bank of the Temo River — the only river-built town on Sardinia — Bosa is a little Sardinian settlement with a strong café and restaurant…
Oviedo City
Oviedo, the capital of Asturias in northern Spain, has a dense café and restaurant scene in its historic centre, which holds a concentration of old churches…
Ehnen
This compact Luxembourg village where working vineyards press right up against stone houses and a medieval church tower, with rolling wine-country hills abov…
Pieve Tesino
Birthplace of Alcide De Gasperi — Italy's first post-war prime minister, born here on 3 April 1881 — this small mountain village in Trentino sits at the geog…
Sainte-Enimie
This photogenic village in the Gorges du Tarn in southern France's Lozère, Sainte-Enimie sits directly on the river and holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Vi…
Zvornik
Sitting on the Drina River at the foot of Majevica mountain in Republika Srpska, Zvornik offers a compact centre with cafés and restaurants alongside scenic…
Alassio
A sandy-beached resort town on the Italian Riviera in Liguria, Alassio draws visitors year-round — as a bathing destination in summer and a health resort in…
Saint-Céré
This compact town in the Lot department of southern France, Saint-Céré sits on the River Bave with vineyards in the surrounding countryside and scenic views…
Leiria
A dense sea of terracotta rooftops spreads across this mid-sized Portuguese city, with a walkable historic centre, an exceptionally lively café and restauran…
Setenil de las Bodegas
Houses built directly into the overhanging rock face of the Río Guadalporcún gorge make Setenil de las Bodegas one of Andalusia's most photographed compact t…
Rosazza
This tiny Piedmontese hamlet in the Valle Cervo sits in mountain terrain along the water, with a striking number of churches for its size and strong scenic a…
Thun
A walkable Swiss town where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun, with a food-and-drink scene packed into the centre, historic churches, and scenic viewpoints ove…
Segura de la Sierra
A photogenic hilltop village in eastern Andalusia, Segura de la Sierra sits within the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park and was admitted…
Susa
This little town in the Susa Valley west of Turin, at the foot of the Cottian Alps, with a concentration of Roman and medieval monuments that reflects its an…
Sangerhausen
Town in Saxony-Anhalt at the southeastern edge of the Harz mountains, Sangerhausen served for several centuries as a centre of non-ferrous metal mining — cop…
Aubusson
Tapestry-making has defined Aubusson for centuries, earning this modest town in France's Creuse department a reputation that extends well beyond its size.
Verucchio
Sitting on a spur above the Marecchia river valley, this compact Emilia-Romagna village has earned a place in Italy's official register of its most beautiful…
Hausach-Dorf
A compact Black Forest town in a forested valley, with a large Gothic sandstone church anchoring its red-tile rooftops, half-timbered streetfronts, and woode…
Chenonceaux
Château de Chenonceau, built across the River Cher and the most visited château in France after Versailles, sits at the edge of this little hamlet in the Ind…
Barga
A medieval hill town in the Serchio valley of Tuscany, Barga holds an unusual concentration of historic churches for its size, a small central core with café…
Lunenburg
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, Lunenburg is a port town on Nova Scotia's South Shore whose original 1753 street layout and wooden vernacular archit…
La Roque-Gageac
Sitting directly on the Dordogne river in southwestern France, this tiny village carries membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and a strong reputat…
Moltrasio
Pocket-sized village on the western shore of Lake Como, Moltrasio draws on a heritage-dense streetscape, scenic lake views, and a concentration of churches a…
Fribourg
Founded in 1157 on a rocky spur above the Sarine River, Fribourg is a Swiss town whose Old City holds Switzerland's best-preserved medieval fortifications, m…
Decize
This stone arched bridge crosses a wide river into this compact Burgundian town, where a Romanesque church tower and slate-roofed buildings rise above a live…
Sutri
Sutri's ancient remains — a Roman amphitheatre carved directly into tuff rock, an Etruscan necropolis of rock-cut tombs, and a Mithraeum embedded in the cryp…
Saint-Maurice
This small Swiss town in the canton of Valais where the Rhône valley narrows to a pass, Saint-Maurice has been a strategic gateway since antiquity — the site…
Corte
Corte served as the capital of independent Corsica under Pascal Paoli between 1755 and 1769, and the town still carries that history at its centre — the cita…
Muro Lucano
A pocket-sized Basilicata hill town in southern Italy's Potenza province, Muro Lucano rises dramatically on a rocky spur, its pale stone buildings climbing t…
Meissen
Meissen porcelain — the first European porcelain, produced here since 1708 — is the defining reason to visit this Saxon town on the River Elbe, a short dista…
Gruyères
This medieval Swiss village on a hill above the Saane Valley and the Lake of Gruyère lends its name to Gruyère cheese and is anchored by a castle that draws…
Ivrea
Ivrea earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 2018 for its mid-20th-century Olivetti complex — factories, headquarters, and surrounding modernist buildings th…
Kronach
Birthplace of the Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder, Kronach is a town in Upper Franconia where three rivers meet at the edge of the Franconian For…
Saint-Lary-Soulan
This dual-season mountain resort village in the Hautes-Pyrénées, Saint-Lary-Soulan draws skiers in winter to its slopes at Pla d'Adet and Espiaube, and hiker…
Bagnone
This little Tuscan village in the Lunigiana, Bagnone sits alongside the Bagnone torrent with views toward the high Apennine peaks and an unusual concentratio…
Guarda
This broad granite square fronts a massive Gothic cathedral with ornate pinnacles in this upland Portuguese town, where a walkable centre, café culture, and…
Alcalá la Real
The Fortaleza de La Mota, a well-documented hilltop castle, dominates this walkable Andalusian town in Jaén province, positioned at the southwestern edge of…
Ostuni
Widely known as "the White Town" for its whitewashed houses and medieval walls, Ostuni is a walkable Apulian hill town in the province of Brindisi with a den…
Olsztyn
This walkable city in northern Poland with a Gothic Old Town at its centre, Olsztyn is known for its medieval Castle of the Warmian Cathedral Chapter and St.
Cuenca
Cuenca's old town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, occupies a narrow escarpment between the Júcar and Huécar rivers, with the famous Casas Col…
Castiglione di Garfagnana
This medieval walled village in Tuscany's Garfagnana valley, Castiglione di Garfagnana sits above the river Esarulo and holds an unusual number of churches f…
Oberstein
The Felsenkirche — a late 15th-century church built directly into a vertical rock face above the old town — is the defining landmark of Idar-Oberstein, a gem…
Joigny
A tiny wine-country town on the river Yonne in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Joigny has a medieval old town that has earned the Pays d'art et d'histoire designati…
Frauenfeld
Frauenfeld, the cantonal capital of Thurgau in Switzerland, sits where a plateau drops sharply to the Thur valley and the rocky banks of the Murg river, givi…
Annaberg-Buchholz
A mountain town in Saxony's Ore Mountains whose historic old town has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2019, alongside the surrounding histori…
Montauban
Founded in 1144 by the Count of Toulouse, Montauban is a reddish-brick town on the Tarn river in southern France, known as the birthplace of the 19th-century…
Tywyn
Home to the Talyllyn Railway and the Cadfan Stone — an early medieval cross bearing the oldest known written Welsh — this small seaside town sits on the Card…
Cherasco
Cherasco is a compact Piedmontese town in the Province of Cuneo with an unusual concentration of historic churches for its size, a Baroque synagogue built in…
Stepantsminda
This small Georgian mountain town in the north of the country, Stepantsminda draws trekkers to the surrounding peaks and offers striking views of Mount Kazbe…
Newlyn
England's largest fishing port sits on the shore of Mount's Bay in south-west Cornwall, where Newlyn's medieval quay — long a subject for the Newlyn School p…
Roccalbegna
Two medieval fortifications — the Rocca Aldobrandesca and the Cassero Senese — crown the twin rocky crags rising above this little Tuscan village in the uppe…
Loket
Loket Castle, a Gothic fortress dating to the 12th century, rises on a rocky spur above a meander of the Ohře River in this modest Bohemian town in the Karlo…
Kulmbach
Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier collection in the world, rises above this Bavarian town on the Main river in Franconia, a short dist…
Dronero
A compact Piedmontese town at the entrance to the Valle Maira, Dronero sits on a rocky spur at the confluence of two waterways, with panoramic views stretchi…
Cangas del Narcea
A compact Asturian town on the Narcea river, with vineyards in the surrounding hills and a compact centre of cafés and restaurants.
's-Heerenberg
Huis Bergh, one of the Netherlands' most significant castles, anchors this little Gelderland town on the Dutch-German border, where city rights date to 1379.
Pennabilli
A modest village in the Montefeltro area of Emilia-Romagna, Pennabilli holds an unusually dense cluster of churches for its size, a handful of cafés and rest…
Montargis
Laced with canals and bridges along the Loing and several other waterways, Montargis is a walkable town in the Loiret that markets itself as the "Venice of t…
Chur
Reputedly the oldest town in Switzerland, Chur sits on the Rhine in the canton of Graubünden, with a walkable centre dense with food and drink options and vi…
Campiglia Marittima
This hilltop Tuscan town in the Province of Livorno with scenic views across the Maremma coastal plain, Campiglia Marittima sits within the "Borghi più belli…
Dawson City
Dawson City, at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers in Canada's Yukon territory, is defined by its role in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899, w…
Úbeda
Úbeda's Renaissance historic centre, jointly declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 alongside neighbouring Baeza, draws visitors to a walkable concent…
Rieti
Traditionally called the "umbilicus Italiae" — the navel of Italy — Rieti is a walkable hilltop town in Lazio whose centre is dense with historic churches an…
Rochlitz
Since June 2024, Rochlitz in Saxony has carried the official designation "Town of Red Porphyry," a nod to the distinctive volcanic stone that defines the area.
Scuol
This mountain village in Switzerland's Lower Engadin valley serves as the main tourist hub for the region, sitting alongside the water with scenic surrounds…
Santa Lucia del Mela
This densely built hilltop town in Sicily's Messina province, its stone houses climbing toward a medieval fortress above tree-covered slopes, with surroundin…
Josselin
A multi-turreted medieval castle rises directly from the riverbank in this tiny Breton village, its grey stone towers reflected in the calm water below, with…
Goes
This walkable town in the Dutch province of Zeeland, on the Zuid-Beveland peninsula, Goes has a compact historic centre dense with listed buildings, multiple…
Thiene
This walkable Veneto town in the province of Vicenza, Thiene sits close to the mountains and within reach of the wine country that defines much of the surrou…
Ménerbes
This walled hilltop village in the Luberon mountains of Provence, Ménerbes holds membership in the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France association and sits in…
Elburg
This compact Dutch Hanseatic town on the Veluwemeer in Gelderland is known for its medieval fortified centre, which retains an almost perfectly intact grid s…
Srodmiescie
Broad pedestrian boulevard lined with ornate Hanseatic-style facades and a soaring red-brick clock tower forms the walkable heart of Gdańsk, Poland's Baltic…
Bischofshofen
A little Austrian town in the Salzburg state's St.
Bad Neustadt an der Saale
This walkable Bavarian spa town where the Franconian Saale and Brend rivers meet, Bad Neustadt an der Saale has a centre with several historic churches, café…
Ardales
This small Andalusian village in the mountains of Málaga province, Ardales sits beside the Guadalhorce reservoirs and offers striking views across the surrou…
Alcobaça
The Monastery of Alcobaça, built on the orders of Portugal's first king to mark the 1147 Conquest of Santarém from the Moors, is one of the country's great G…
Pontremoli
A heritage-dense tiny town in Tuscany's northernmost corner, Pontremoli sits on the Magra river — its name meaning "Trembling Bridge," after a prominent cros…
Auch
This walkable Gascon town in southwestern France's Gers department, Auch sits on the River Gers and is known for its gastronomic scene, its cathedral, and a…
Sittard
A walkable town in the southern Dutch province of Limburg, Sittard has a heritage-dense centre thick with listed buildings, historic churches, and cafés.
Orvinio
This small hilltop village in the Rieti province of Lazio, northeast of Rome, is listed among I Borghi più belli d'Italia — Italy's register of its most beau…
Beaune
Widely regarded as the wine capital of Burgundy, Beaune is a walled town in eastern France whose historic centre holds the cellars and facilities of wine pro…
Sot de Chera
Compact white-walled village in Valencia's Los Serranos hills, viewed from above as terrace-farmed slopes and citrus groves wrap around its tight cluster of…
Tenno
A small Trentino village a few kilometres from Riva del Garda, Tenno sits on the slopes above Lake Garda and is home to Lake Tenno, known for its vivid blue-…
Vitrac
A small Dordogne village on the water in southwestern France, with a photogenic setting and a handful of cafés and restaurants that punch above its size.
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov fills a horseshoe meander of the Vltava in the Bohemian Forest foothills, with the old town inside the bend and the Latrán quarter and castle c…
Seravezza
This compact Tuscan town sits where the Apuan Alps meet the Versilia plain, offering mountain scenery, scenic viewpoints, and a compact centre with cafés and…
Perleberg
A compact Brandenburg town with a walkable central core of cafés and restaurants, Perleberg has held city rights since 1239 and serves as the district capita…
Hluboka nad Vltavou
Hluboká Castle draws visitors to this little South Bohemian town on the Vltava river, a short distance north of České Budějovice.
Gallipoli
A historic town on the western coast of Salento in Apulia, Gallipoli is built around a limestone island connected to the newer mainland district by a 17th-ce…
Cordes-sur-Ciel
Built in 1222 by Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, on a ridge high enough above the Cérou valley to earn the name "sur-Ciel" (above the sky), this medieval for…
Küssnacht
Sitting on the north shore of Lake Lucerne at the foot of Mount Rigi, Küssnacht is a pocket-sized Swiss town with a café and restaurant scene that outpaces t…
Tachov
Tachov, a pocket-sized town in the Plzeň Region of Czechia, sits on the Mže River in hilly terrain and holds one of the best-preserved medieval town wall sys…
Westerlo
Belgian town in Antwerp province where a grand red-brick civic building with ornate stepped gables and onion-domed towers anchors a green, walkable centre wi…
Guadix
Cave houses are among the most distinctive features of Guadix, a town on a high plain at the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Granada province.
Oberndorf bei Salzburg
"Silent Night" was first performed in Oberndorf bei Salzburg in 1818, at the Nikolauskirche, making this tiny Austrian town on the River Salzach a draw for a…
Maintenon
The Château de Maintenon, built across several centuries from the 12th to the 18th and enlarged by Madame de Maintenon with gardens laid out by Le Nôtre, anc…
Amatrice
This village in Lazio's Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, Amatrice carries a heritage-dense streetscape and an unusual concentration of churches f…
Sanok
Historic town on the San River in southeastern Poland, Sanok holds a refurbished castle, an open-air Museum of Folk Architecture, and a walkable Old Town wit…
Le Puy-en-Velay
One of the principal starting points for the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, Le Puy-en-Velay is a heritage-dense town in south-central France's A…
Mudanya district
A compact seafront town on the Gulf of Gemlik along Turkey's southern Marmara coast, Mudanya has a walkable centre with cafés and restaurants and a photogeni…
Llanes
Little coastal town on Asturias's eastern Costa Verde, Llanes sits between the Cantabrian Sea and the limestone ridge of the Sierra del Cuera, with the Picos…
Militello in Val di Catania
One of eight Sicilian towns granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2002 for their late Baroque architecture, Militello in Val di Catania sits on the lower s…
Kazimierz Dolny
Photogenic little town on the Vistula river in eastern Poland, Kazimierz Dolny owes its Renaissance streetscape to a grain-trade boom in the 16th and early 1…
Castropol
This small Asturian village sits on the Eo estuary where Asturias meets Galicia, with waterfront views across to Ribadeo and a concentration of scenic viewpo…
Bobbio
Founded around the Abbey of San Colombano in 614, Bobbio is a medieval village in the Trebbia River valley in Piacenza province, with a historic centre that…
Townsville
This coastal city in tropical north Queensland, Townsville sits beside the central section of the Great Barrier Reef and faces Magnetic Island, most of which…
Laxenburg
This compact Austrian village south of Vienna is best known for the Laxenburg castles and their surrounding park, which served as the Habsburg monarchs' most…
Sachseln
A white-towered baroque church with an onion dome anchors this compact Swiss lakeside town, where calm water reflections, traditional timber-framed buildings…
Tursi
Tursi is a little city in Basilicata's Matera province with scenic views over the surrounding landscape and a strong visual character that rewards photography.
San Carlos
On the Sea of Cortez coast in Sonora, Mexico, San Carlos is a tiny beach town designated a Pueblo Mágico in 2023, known for clear, warm water in its shallow…
Priego de Córdoba
Known as the "city of water" for the many springs that rise around it, Priego de Córdoba is also celebrated as the jewel of Cordovan Baroque for its concentr…
Castiglion Fiorentino
A walled Tuscan hill town in the province of Arezzo, Castiglion Fiorentino sits between Arezzo and Cortona in wine-growing country, with an Etruscan archaeol…
Sandomierz
Spread across seven hills above the Vistula River in south-eastern Poland, Sandomierz is a royal town whose preserved Old Town — declared a National Monument…
Mondonedo
This modest Galician town in a sheltered valley among the northern outliers of the Cantabrian Mountains, Mondoñedo has an unusually high concentration of his…
Castel San Pietro Romano
Small hilltop village east of Rome recognised among Italy's most beautiful villages and, since 2019, named the most beautiful village in the Mediterranean —…
Morlaix
Walkable Breton town in Finistère whose centre sits at the confluence of two rivers, Morlaix is defined by its 19th-century viaduct rising through the heart…
Giornico
A tiny Swiss village in the mountain terrain of Ticino's Leventina district, Giornico sits on the water and holds a striking number of churches for its size,…
Nardò
A Baroque town on the Ionian coast of Salento, Nardò has a walkable historic centre dense with palaces, churches, and chapels built in the ornate local style…
Bavay
Once the capital of the Nervii during the Roman Empire, Bavay is a compact town in northern France's Nord department whose Gallo-Roman forum and departmental…
Torres Novas
This compact Portuguese town of whitewashed buildings and terracotta rooftops spreading across gentle hills, Torres Novas offers a walkable central square, a…
Tagliacozzo
This broad cobblestone piazza lined with colourful Renaissance-era facades, outdoor café terraces, and a central stone column monument sits at the heart of t…
Pont-Audemer
This small Normandy town where tall half-timbered buildings line waterside streets, Pont-Audemer rewards a stroll with its well-preserved medieval architectu…
Lienz
A heritage-dense medieval town in East Tyrol, Austria, Lienz sits at the confluence of the Isel and Drau rivers with a well-preserved historic centre, an unu…
Sperlonga
This photogenic coastal town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, roughly midway between Rome and Naples, Sperlonga is best known for the ancient Roman sea grotto found wi…
Tarazona
Tarazona, on the river Queiles in Aragon, packs an unusual concentration of historic churches and medieval architecture into a modest centre shaped by centur…
Mühlhausen
One of the largest surviving medieval city centres in Germany, Mühlhausen is a Thuringian town on the Unstrut river with eleven Gothic churches, a nearly com…
Aieta
A village in Calabria's Pollino National Park whose historic centre is dominated by a baronial palace considered a rare example of Renaissance architecture i…
Saranac Lake
The largest community within New York's Adirondack Park, Saranac Lake sits on Lake Flower — a wide stretch of the Saranac River — with mountain terrain on al…
Einbeck
Bock beer takes its name from this former Hanseatic town in southern Lower Saxony, where a brewing tradition centuries old still defines the local identity.
Castellammare del Golfo
A seafront town in Sicily's Trapani province, Castellammare del Golfo takes its name from the medieval fortress in its harbour — "Sea Fortress on the Gulf" —…
Wałbrzych
Książ Castle, the largest castle in Lower Silesia and the third-largest in Poland, anchors this industrial city in the Sudeten foothills of southwestern Poland.
Deutschlandsberg
A small Styrian town in Austria's southern wine country, Deutschlandsberg sits close to the Slovenian border and a short drive from Graz, with a café and res…
Rovito
A compact hilltop village in Calabria's Cosenza province, Rovito clusters stone and terracotta-roofed houses around a prominent church facade, with densely f…
Sevnica
A little town on the left bank of the Sava River in central Slovenia, Sevnica sits in wine country with a café-and-restaurant core and mountain terrain close…
Rodes
This compact stone village in southern France's Pyrénées-Orientales, where red-tile rooftops and a brick clock tower rise toward dramatic rocky outcrops topp…
Forza d'Agrò
Built on a spur below the ruins of a Norman castle, Forza d'Agrò holds a Byzantine-era monastery and the Cathedral of Santissima Annunziata at its core.
Wasserburg am Inn
This modest Bavarian town whose historic centre occupies a peninsula formed by a loop of the river Inn, Wasserburg am Inn has a strong café and restaurant sc…
Bergen op Zoom
A walkable Dutch town in North Brabant with a dense concentration of listed historic buildings in its centre, Bergen op Zoom sits on the hills of the Brabant…
Soissons
One of France's most ancient towns, Soissons sits on the river Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region, with a walkable centre full of cafés and a strong archite…
Apricale
A small hilltop village in Liguria's Imperia province, Apricale sits in mountain country with scenic viewpoints, surrounding vineyards, and a striking number…
Monção
Wine-country town on the southern bank of the Minho River, where Portugal meets Spain, Monção pairs a walkable centre with a dense food-and-drink scene and s…
Coesfeld
A compact Westphalian town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Coesfeld's red-brick centre radiates outward from a prominent twin-towered church, with tree-lined stre…
Cisterna d'Asti
A small hilltop village in Piedmont's wine country, Cisterna d'Asti is shaped by two landmarks that have defined it since medieval times: an 11th- or 12th-ce…
Banská Štiavnica
This UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, Banská Štiavnica is a modest medieval mining town in central Slovakia set within the caldera of an ancient volcan…
Děčín
Sitting at the confluence of the Elbe and Ploučnice rivers in North Bohemia, Děčín is a photogenic Czech town with a walkable centre, a castle, and a zoo, ri…
Canelli
Canelli, on a bend of the river Belbo in Piedmont's Alto Monferrato, is widely regarded as the birthplace of Italian sparkling wine: the Moscato grape used t…
Sandusky
Cedar Point, one of the world's most visited amusement parks, sits on a peninsula just outside this Lake Erie port city in Erie County, Ohio.
Köpenick
A historic district in southeast Berlin where the rivers Dahme and Spree meet, Köpenick has a well-preserved medieval old town and a Baroque palace, both sit…
Scalea
A tiny coastal town on Calabria's Tyrrhenian shore, Scalea pairs a modern beach resort strip — developed since the 1960s along the Riviera dei Cedri — with a…
Laufenburg
Sitting on the Swiss bank of the Rhine directly across from its German twin, Laufenburg (Baden), this small Aargau town was once a single city until Napoleon…
Béthune
A walkable town in northern France's Pas-de-Calais with a café-filled centre and a strong photographic profile, Béthune sits between the hills of Artois and…
Sciacca
This coastal Sicilian town on the south-western shore of the island, Sciacca is known for its historic carnival, its ceramics tradition, and a walkable centr…
Wolfhagen
A small town in Hesse with a historic half-timbered centre, Wolfhagen carries the official designation "Hans-Staden-Stadt" — named after the German mercenary…
Nonza
Small Corsican hillside village of stone and pastel houses, crowned by a watchtower, with dramatic mountain ridges behind and the sea close below.
Atrani
Tiny village on the Amalfi Coast, Atrani sits right at the water's edge just a short walk from Amalfi itself, with a heritage-dense streetscape, a striking n…
Antequera
An Andalusian town whose UNESCO-listed dolmens — Menga, Viera, and El Romeral — date back more than 6,000 years, Antequera also sits beside El Torcal, a kars…
Rožmitál pod Třemšínem
This tiny Bohemian town in the foothills of the Brdy hills, Rožmitál pod Třemšínem has a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument zone,…
Victoria de Durango
Founded in 1563 by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Ibarra, Victoria de Durango is the highland capital of Mexico's Durango state, set in the Valley of Guad…
Aguilar de Campoo
A small town in northern Palencia where the River Pisuerga runs through the historic centre, Aguilar de Campoo has an unusually dense concentration of histor…
Amersfoort
This medieval Dutch city with a well-preserved historic centre of canals, city walls, and old fortifications, Amersfoort sits in the middle of the Netherland…
Lichfield
Birthplace of Samuel Johnson — who compiled the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language — and home to a three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichf…
Talavera de la Reina
Talavera de la Reina's pottery tradition, declared UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2019, has defined this Castile–La Mancha city for centuries.
Caprarola
Villa Farnese dominates this compact Lazio town in the Cimini volcanic hills, a large Renaissance mansion begun in 1530 as a fortress for Cardinal Alessandro…
Château-Verdun
A hamlet in the upper Ariège valley of southwestern France, Château-Verdun sits beside the Aston river in mountain country and holds a nationally listed monu…
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is the capital of La Mancha — the Castilian plain made famous by Cervantes, whose fictional knight Don Quixote wanders its landscapes tilting at…
Martina Franca
Baroque architecture defines the walkable centre of this Apulian town in the province of Taranto, where churches, palaces, and piazzas cluster within easy re…
Jelenia Góra
A gateway city to the Karkonosze mountains in southwestern Poland, Jelenia Góra has a walkable historic centre with a restored baroque marketplace, 17th-cent…
Almodóvar del Río
A well-preserved medieval castle crowns a rocky outcrop above this Andalusian town of whitewashed houses along the Guadalquivir River, offering dramatic elev…
Pignola
Known locally as "il paese dei portali" — the town of doorways — Pignola is a small mountain town in Basilicata's Potenza province, where the historic centre…
Česká Lípa
This town on the Ploučnice river in the Liberec Region, Česká Lípa has a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument zone, with a walkable…
Orce
A compact Andalusian village of whitewashed houses crowned by a medieval castle tower and a substantial church, set against an arid, eroded badlands landscap…
Châteaudun
A heritage-dense town on the Loir river in Eure-et-Loir, Châteaudun has a compact centre with a strong concentration of listed buildings — among them a 1938…
Rivello
A compact hillside village in Basilicata, Rivello stacks white and stone houses with terracotta roofs up a forested ridge, with a church tower crowning the u…
Wetteren
A walkable East Flemish town on the River Schelde, Wetteren sits a short distance east of Ghent with a centre that offers a real café and restaurant scene.
Cassel
Perched on a prominent hill above French Flanders, Cassel is a modest commune in the Nord department with panoramic views from the summit of Mont Cassel and…
Castelsardo
A photogenic coastal town on Sardinia's northwest shore, at the eastern end of the Gulf of Asinara, Castelsardo sits right on the water with scenic viewpoint…
Alcoy
Known as "the city of bridges" for the ravines that cut through its terrain and shaped its urban layout, Alcoy is an industrial town in Alicante province wit…
Škofja Loka
A medieval town in northwestern Slovenia, Škofja Loka sits at the confluence of two rivers against a mountain backdrop, with a well-preserved historic core d…
Latera
A small hill village in Viterbo's province, Latera sits on volcanic terrain near both Lake Bolsena and Lake Mezzano, close to the Tuscan border.
Sancerre
Sancerre is a medieval hilltop village in the Cher département of Centre-Val de Loire, overlooking the Loire river and recognized as one of France's most bea…
Cholula
Cholula's Great Pyramid — the largest pyramid by volume in the world, with the colonial Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios built on its summit — ancho…
Carovilli
A snow-dusted Molise village in the upland hills of Isernia, Carovilli clusters stone buildings and a medieval church tower against forested slopes, offering…
Gaillon
A compact Norman town of half-timbered houses and slate rooftops rising above a river valley, Gaillon pairs a walkable central core of cafés with vineyard su…
Blandford Forum
A remarkably intact Georgian town on the River Stour in Dorset, Blandford Forum owes its architectural coherence to a devastating fire in 1731, after which i…
Varallo Sesia
Dominated by the Sacro Monte di Varallo — one of the major Catholic pilgrimage sites in Piedmont — this compact town in Valsesia sits along the Sesia river,…
Cluny
Founded in 910 by Duke William I of Aquitaine, the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny shaped this little Burgundian town into one of medieval Europe's great centres…
Peñafiel
Peñafiel Castle, visible from miles around and now housing the Wine Museum of Valladolid, crowns this pocket-sized Castilian town at the heart of the Ribera…
Castelnuovo Don Bosco
This small Piedmontese hill village near the confluence of the Nevissano and Bardella rivers, Castelnuovo Don Bosco sits in deep wine country east of Turin w…
Castres
Castres, a town in southern France's Tarn department, is the birthplace of socialist leader Jean Jaurès and home to the Goya Museum, one of France's leading…
Felgueiras
This compact Portuguese town in the Tâmega e Sousa uplands, with a broad formal garden boulevard at its centre, a hilltop sanctuary visible above the red-til…
Spello
This small walled hill town on the southern flank of Monte Subasio in Umbria, Spello has an unusually dense concentration of historic churches and a café and…
Nafpaktos
Known in the West as Lepanto, this modest Greek town on the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth was the site of the 1571 Battle of Lepanto, the decisive Holy…
Herzberg
A cobblestone market square anchors this small Brandenburg town, where a grand red-brick Gothic church and a stepped-gable Renaissance town hall face each ot…
Zierikzee
This modest Zeeland town in the southwest Netherlands holds an unusually dense concentration of listed historic buildings and churches for its size, with a w…
Tricarico
This modest Basilicata town in the province of Matera holds one of the best-preserved medieval historic centres in Lucania, shaped by an Arab-Norman past and…
Dietkirchen
The Basilica of St.
Trenčín
Trenčín Castle rises from a rock above this western Slovak city on the Váh River, one of the oldest towns in the country and named a European Capital of Cult…
Cantalice
This dramatically stacked stone village in Lazio's upland country, its medieval houses and churches climbing a forested hillside above the Rieti valley, with…
Oschatz
A Saxon town between Leipzig and Dresden, Oschatz centres on a broad cobbled market square framed by a Renaissance town hall with stepped gables, an ornate f…
Romorantin-Lanthenay
A compact French town where a flower-lined weir and stone arched bridge span a calm river, with a church steeple and cream-rendered townhouses forming the ba…
Norcia
Norcia, a small Umbrian town on the edge of the Monti Sibillini mountains, is widely known across Italy for its cured meats and sausages — so much so that th…
Bad Langensalza
This German spa town in Thuringia where a walkable old centre of half-timbered buildings and a tall church tower rising above cobbled streets meets riverside…
Douarnenez
This photogenic port town on Douarnenez Bay in Brittany, long famous for sardine fishing and canning, with a walkable centre and a food-and-drink scene to ma…
Morano Calabro
A particularly photogenic hill town in Calabria's Pollino National Park, Morano Calabro is listed among I Borghi più belli d'Italia — Italy's most beautiful…
Jindřichův Hradec
Walkable South Bohemian town set on the shore of Vajgar pond, Jindřichův Hradec has a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument reservati…
Marvejols
This little town in the Lozère department of southern France, Marvejols sits on the Colagne river in mountain terrain and served as a royal town and capital…
Opi
This tiny hamlet in the Abruzzo region of central Italy sits within the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, offering mountain scenery and multiple scen…
Castelo Branco
Compact Portuguese town in central Beira Baixa, where a dense roofscape of terracotta tiles surrounds a stone baroque church, with a walkable centre full of…
Eggenburg
This compact Lower Austrian town where a broad historic main square, red-tile baroque facades, a twin-towered Gothic church, and rolling vineyard country bey…
Olargues
A medieval village on the Jaur river in southern France's Hérault, Olargues sits within the Haut-Languedoc regional nature park and carries a listing among L…
Shuzenji
A Japanese hot-spring town on the Izu Peninsula where a rocky river rushes through a compact centre of traditional inns, autumn-coloured maples, and wooded h…
Teggiano
A tiny hilltop town in Campania's Salerno province, Teggiano preserves the street plan of a Roman oppidum — its ancient cardo and decumanus still legible in…
Saint-Beauzély
This village in Aveyron's Grands Causses regional nature park, Saint-Beauzély sits on the right bank of the Muze river on the southern slopes of the Lévézou…
Almansa
Moorish castle crowns the white limestone crag above Almansa, a wine-country town in Albacete province where vineyards spread across the surrounding plain.
Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar's most striking landmark is its ancient citadel, built around 1350 BC on a black volcanic crag rising above the city, with a cluster of mosque…
Cluses
Sitting on the Arve river in the Alps of Haute-Savoie, Cluses is a town with a walkable centre, a café scene, and steep mountain slopes rising on either side.
Riegersburg
This small Austrian village in the wine country of southeastern Styria, set among hills with scenic viewpoints and a café scene that punches above its size.
Bílina
A spa town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of Czechia, Bílina is known for its mineral spring water, Bílinská kyselka, and a well-preserved historic centre prot…
Lods
This tiny hamlet on the Loue river in eastern France's Doubs département sits among vineyards and carries membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, th…
Grottammare
A walkable Adriatic beach town in the Marche region, Grottammare pairs a seafront café and restaurant scene with a medieval hilltop quarter that belongs to t…
La Chaux-de-Fonds
Watchmaking shaped La Chaux-de-Fonds so completely that the town was rebuilt after an 1794 fire on a grid street plan designed to serve the industry — a layo…
Angles-sur-lAnglin
This small village on the Anglin river in the Vienne département, Angles-sur-l'Anglin is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries a strong p…
Conca dei Marini
A compact village on the Amalfi Coast between Amalfi and Furore, sitting directly on the water with scenic viewpoints nearby and an unusually dense cluster o…
Rattenberg
Austria's smallest city sits on the Inn River in Tyrol, and its compact historic centre — dense with listed buildings, churches, and cafés — punches well abo…
Sagunto
The ruins of ancient Saguntum, the Iberian and Roman city whose siege in 219 BC triggered the Second Punic War, are the defining reason to visit this Mediter…
Cerreto Sannita
Ceramics have defined Cerreto Sannita for centuries, and the village's planned grid of streets — rebuilt from scratch after a devastating earthquake on 5 Jun…
Stargard
One of the oldest cities in Poland, Stargard sits on the Ina River in northwestern Poland with a walkable centre and a concentration of medieval Gothic landm…
Labruja
A small village in northern Portugal's Ponte de Lima municipality, dominated by a grand baroque church with twin bell towers, ornate stone statuary, and a sw…
Becov nad Teplou
A small Czech town in mountain terrain along the Teplá river, Bečov nad Teplou has a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument zone, scen…
Dinan
A walled Breton town in the Côtes-d'Armor department of northwestern France, Dinan sits on a hill above the Rance river, its medieval ramparts and château fo…
Anversa degli Abruzzi
This little Abruzzo village in the province of L'Aquila sits alongside the Sagittario Gorges nature reserve, a dramatic river canyon that gives the surroundi…
Sikinos
This quiet Cycladic island between Ios and Folegandros was known in antiquity as Oenoe — Island of Wine — and carries an unusual density of religious archite…
Harlingen
A waterfront town in the Dutch province of Friesland, Harlingen has a walkable centre dense with listed historic buildings, a working harbour that is the pro…
Bitonto
Olive cultivation has defined Bitonto since at least the 13th century — the town west of Bari even lends its name to a local cultivar, cima di Bitonto — and…
La Ferté-Bernard
Tiny French town in the Sarthe where a grand Gothic church with flying buttresses and intricate stone carvings dominates the centre, complemented by watersid…
Zamora de Hidalgo
The Santuario Guadalupano, a neo-Gothic church said to be the tallest in Mexico and among the tallest in the Americas, dominates the skyline of this mid-size…
Iglesias
A walkable town in southwestern Sardinia with a centre dense with historic churches, cafés, and restaurants, Iglesias was one of the most important royal cit…
Yvoire
A medieval village on the shore of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie, Yvoire holds a strong visual appeal — its flower-filled streets have earned it a place among…
Woudsend
This tiny Frisian village on the water in the Netherlands, Woudsend has a café and restaurant scene that is well stocked for its size, making it a reasonable…
Civitanova del Sannio
This compact hillside village in Molise's upland interior, its terracotta-roofed stone houses climbing toward a central church tower, backed by forested lime…
Chelva
This compact hilltop village in Valencia's Los Serranos comarca, Chelva rises above dry scrubland with warm stone buildings, a prominent baroque church tower…
Delémont
A tiny Swiss town with a notably lively café and restaurant scene, Delémont sits on the water with vineyards in the surrounding countryside and scenic viewpo…
Corropoli
A warm-toned stone bell tower rises above palm trees under a clear Abruzzo sky in this small hilltop town near Teramo, where heritage architecture and rollin…
Mirepoix
A heritage-dense tiny town in the Ariège department of southwestern France, Mirepoix sits on the River Hers-Vif with a café and restaurant scene that punches…
Archidona
Declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1980 for its Baroque urban heritage, Archidona is a tiny Andalusian town in the foothills of the Sierra de Gracia, with…
Lüneburg
This heritage-dense Hanseatic town on the River Ilmenau in Lower Saxony, Lüneburg carries a well-preserved medieval streetscape and a walkable centre with a…
Nantua
Sitting directly on the glacial Lac de Nantua in the southern foothills of the Jura Mountains, this small French town in the Ain département is known for its…
Mariembourg
Founded in 1542 on the orders of Mary of Hungary, governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, Mariembourg is a small Belgian village in the Province of Namur whose…
Pirna
This sweep of red-tile rooftops and a commanding Gothic church tower define this Saxon town on the Elbe, set in hill country near Dresden with vineyards clos…
Jihlava
The oldest mining settlement in the Czech Republic, Jihlava was also the first city in Central Europe to codify mining law, a history that shaped its well-pr…
Brousse-le-Château
This compact Aveyron hamlet sits at the confluence of two rivers and holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, the association recognising Franc…
Fossombrone
Compact Marche town where a river curves through a red-tile historic centre, backed by vineyard-covered hills, with a good café and restaurant scene and a no…
Frauenstein
A pocket-sized town in the eastern Ore Mountains of Saxony, Frauenstein sits in mountain terrain with scenic viewpoints and a castle northeast of the town ce…
Kelowna
This walkable city on the shores of Okanagan Lake in southern British Columbia, Kelowna sits at the heart of BC's wine country and draws visitors with a live…
Ouro Preto
This UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains of Minas Gerais, Ouro Preto is a former colonial gold-mining town whose Baroque churches,…
Kruibeke
This tiny East Flemish town in Belgium's Waasland region sits alongside the River Schelde, offering waterside scenery and a photogenic setting.
Saintes
Sitting on the Charente river in western France, Saintes carries one of the region's most substantial Gallo-Roman, medieval, and classical heritage records —…
Villafranca Montes de Oca
This little Burgos hamlet lies directly on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago, making it a natural stop for pilgrims crossing the Montes de Oca in Cast…
Moritzburg
The Baroque hunting castle Schloss Moritzburg is the centrepiece of this tiny Saxon town between Meissen and Dresden, set on a lake and reached by a narrow-g…
Cléron
Sitting on the left bank of the Loue river in the Jura massif's first plateau, this little village in the Doubs is dominated by a 13th- and 14th-century cast…
Scanno
A modest Abruzzo village with a strong photographic reputation, Scanno sits beside a lake in the mountains of the L'Aquila province, partly within the bounda…
Peníscola
This small Mediterranean coastal town in Castellón, Peníscola sits on a rocky promontory jutting into the sea, giving it strong photographic appeal and sceni…
Vecrīga
Vecrīga (Old Riga) is the medieval historic core of Latvia's capital, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 and awarded the European Heritage Lab…
Bytów
14th-century Teutonic Knights castle is the centrepiece of this compact town in Poland's Gdańsk Pomerania region, set on a lake and two rivers in the Bytów L…
Nant
This little village in eastern Aveyron sits alongside a river with mountain views in the distance, and carries an unusually dense architectural record for it…
Oetz
Modest Tyrolean village at the foot of Acherkogel mountain in Austria's Ötztal valley, Oetz sits alongside the Ötztaler Ache river and offers scenic viewpoin…
Cagli
Small town in the Marche region of central Italy, Cagli sits alongside the Burano river with an unusually dense concentration of churches for its size and a…
Aiguèze
Sitting on the Ardèche river in southern France's Gard department, this modest village has been a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France since 2005 — th…
Yverdon-les-Bains
A thermal spa town on the southern shore of Lake Neuchâtel, Yverdon-les-Bains has been known for its sulphurous springs since Roman times, when it was called…
Salemi
A medieval hill town in western Sicily's Trapani province, Salemi clusters around a castle whose battlemented tower offers wide views across the landscape to…
Bazas
Bazas, a small town in Gironde in southwestern France, was an episcopal seat until the French Revolution and retains a substantial collection of medieval mon…
Guisando
Small village on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Gredos in Ávila, Guisando sits within the regional park's protected zone and offers scenic mountain sur…
Avigliana
Two volcanic maar lakes — Lago Grande and Lago Piccolo — sit at the edge of this modest Piedmontese town in the Susa valley, west of Turin, with the medieval…
Le Malzieu-Ville
This member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France since 2021, this compact village in the Lozère department of southern France sits along the river Truyère in…
Elassona
This tiny Greek town at the foot of Mount Olympus, Elassona sits alongside a river with a compact centre of cafés and restaurants.
Dornbirn
Vorarlberg's largest city, Dornbirn sits in Austria's westernmost state with a walkable centre dense with listed historic buildings, cafés, and churches.
Murol
Grey-stone village in the volcanic uplands of Auvergne, seen here from a high vantage point above dense forest, with a lakeside setting, nearby scenic viewpo…
Kremnica
Home to the oldest continuously operating mint in the world, Kremnica is a modest medieval town in central Slovakia where gold and silver have been mined sin…
Herisau
This walkable Swiss town serves as the seat of government and parliament for the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, with a centre that includes a Protestant c…
Bourg-en-Bresse
A food-focused town in eastern France's Ain department, Bourg-en-Bresse is the historic capital of the Bresse region and sits within easy reach of both Lyon…
Baiersbronn
Baiersbronn, a town in Germany's Black Forest, holds an outsized reputation for haute cuisine — accumulating eight Michelin stars across its restaurants, a c…
Cividale del Friuli
Founded by Julius Caesar as Forum Iulii — the name that eventually gave the entire Friuli region its identity — Cividale del Friuli later became the capital…
Feuerthalen
This compact Swiss village on the Rhine, where red-tile rooftops and half-timbered houses line a broad river crossed by an iron rail bridge, with forested hi…
Kurozweki
A 14th-century palace open to visitors anchors this south-central Polish village on the Czarna Staszowska river, with a bison farm on the grounds and a 15th-…
Camerino
A little Apennine hill town in the Marche region of central-eastern Italy, Camerino is home to a medieval university and has a café and restaurant scene that…
Venlo
This Dutch city on a bend of the Maas river, Venlo has a walkable centre dense with listed buildings, cafés, and restaurants, and serves as a trading and tra…
Cuenca
Founded in 1557 on the ruins of the Inca city of Tomebamba, Cuenca is a large Andean city in Ecuador whose historic centre was declared a UNESCO World Herita…
Johnstown
Johnstown, a Pennsylvania steel town in Cambria County, is best known today for the catastrophic 1889 flood that devastated the city — an event commemorated…
Stříbro
Founded in the 12th century as a silver and later lead mining settlement, Stříbro is a compact town in the Plzeň Region of Czechia, set on the Mže River in t…
Camaiore
A Tuscan town in the Versilia region whose compact centre holds a concentration of historic churches and a real café and restaurant scene, Camaiore stretches…
Southport
Southport Pier, the second longest seaside pleasure pier in the British Isles, is the centrepiece of this Victorian coastal town in Merseyside, founded in 17…
Brugg
Sitting where the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat rivers meet — a confluence known in German as the Wasserschloss der Schweiz — Brugg is a little Swiss town in canto…
Kampen
One of the best-preserved old town centres in the Netherlands, Kampen sits on the lower IJssel river in Overijssel, its walkable historic core dense with lis…
Royal Tunbridge Wells
One of only three towns in England to hold the "Royal" prefix — granted by King Edward VII in 1909 — Tunbridge Wells in Kent built its reputation as a fashio…
Karviná
Karviná is a city in Czech Silesia, on the Olza River at the Polish border, with a well-preserved historic centre in the Fryštát district — a former Silesian…
Pilsrundale
Rundāle Palace, an 18th-century baroque residence set beside the Bērstele river confluence in the Semigallia region of Latvia, stands in this compact village…
Tripoli
Lebanon's second-largest city and its northernmost seaport, Tripoli sits on the eastern Mediterranean with a walkable centre dense with cafés and Mamluk arch…
Baeza
Baeza holds some of the best-preserved Italian Renaissance architecture in Spain, recognised alongside neighbouring Úbeda as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in…
Sint-Niklaas
Belgium's largest market square anchors Sint-Niklaas, a Flemish city in East Flanders between Antwerp and Ghent.
Aguiar da Beira Municipality
Granite medieval tower and crenellated stone manor house dominate the cobbled central square of this pocket-sized Portuguese town, set in upland Viseu countr…
Pécs
Pécs holds more Ottoman-era buildings than any other city in Central Europe, including the mosque of Gazi Kasim Pasha still standing on the main square — a l…
Arcidosso
This small Tuscan village on the slopes of Monte Amiata, Arcidosso draws visitors year-round with access to skiing in winter and mountain trails in summer, a…
Tomar
Founded within the walls of a Knights Templar fortress in the late 12th century, Tomar is a Portuguese town on the water with a walkable centre dense with hi…
Zülpich
This Roman-founded town in North Rhine-Westphalia between Aachen and Bonn, Zülpich traces its origins to the 1st century BC under the Latin name Tolbiacum an…
Lobbes
This compact Wallonian town on the Sambre river in Hainaut, Belgium, Lobbes grew up around an abbey established here around 650 AD.
Pérouges
This medieval walled village in the Ain department, northeast of Lyon, Pérouges is listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries one of the most…
Olinda
Founded in 1535, Olinda is one of Brazil's best-preserved colonial cities, with its historic centre — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982 — dense with ba…
Alcalá de Guadaíra
Once known as Alcalá de los Panaderos — the baker's town that supplied most of Seville's bread — this city on the Guadaíra River sits just southeast of Sevil…
Olette
A pocket-sized commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales whose village of Évol holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, Olette sits along the Têt rive…
Husum
Birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who called it "the grey town by the sea," Husum is a walkable North Sea town in Schleswig-Holstein with a café-fill…
Hartkirchen
Yellow baroque church with a dark onion-dome tower anchors this compact Upper Austrian village, set among gently rolling hills and close to the Danube, with…
Ribeira de Pena
Small town in northern Portugal's Vila Real District, Ribeira de Pena sits in transition country between the mountainous Trás-os-Montes and the greener Minho…
Bakuriani
A small ski and mountain resort village in Georgia's Borjomi municipality, Bakuriani sits at the end of the Borjomi–Bakuriani railway line and is connected b…
Korneuburg
This heritage-dense tiny town on the Danube a short distance northwest of Vienna, Korneuburg pairs a colourful main square — dominated by a neo-Gothic town h…
Civita
Founded in the 15th century by Albanian refugees fleeing the Ottoman invasion, Civita is a hill village in Calabria's Pollino National Park whose Albanian-or…
Baena
Baena is an Andalusian town in the province of Córdoba known for its olive oil production, which carries its own denominación de origen.
Altdorf
Altdorf, the cantonal capital of Uri in the Swiss Alps, is best known as the setting of the William Tell legend — the compact town where Tell is said to have…
Matrei am Brenner
This pocket-sized Tyrolean village on the Sill river, south of Innsbruck, with a striking number of churches for its size and scenic mountain surrounds.
Ryn
Sitting between two lakes in the Masurian region of northeastern Poland, Ryn is a modest town with a photogenic waterside setting and a 14th-century Teutonic…
Ostana
This compact hamlet in Piedmont's Valle Po, Ostana sits on the south-facing slopes of the valley beneath the dramatic mass of the Monviso mountain group.
Deventer
A heritage-dense city on the IJssel river in the Dutch province of Overijssel, Deventer has one of the oldest histories in the Netherlands — mentioned in 9th…
Benešov nad Ploučnicí
Tiny Czech town on the Ploučnice river in the Děčín District, Benešov nad Ploučnicí is built around a Renaissance castle complex whose well-preserved histori…
Andermatt
High-Alpine village in the canton of Uri, Andermatt sits at the historic crossroads of Switzerland's north-south and east-west mountain routes through the Sa…
Workum
One of the eleven historic cities of Friesland, Workum received its city rights in 1399 and retains a heritage-dense waterfront streetscape in the Dutch prov…
Trzebiatów
A little town on the Rega River in north-western Poland, Trzebiatów has a well-preserved medieval Old Town — registered as a protected historical monument —…
Salers
Salers, a tiny village in the Cantal department of south-central France, is the origin of both the Salers breed of cattle and the AOC-protected Salers cheese…
Rudolstadt
Castle Heidecksburg rises above the old town of Rudolstadt, a Thuringian town on the River Saale founded in 776 and once the capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Busca
This compact Piedmontese town of red-tile rooftops spread across a valley floor, Busca sits among vineyards and rolling hills with a walkable centre offering…
Llíber
This compact Valencian village of stone-roofed white houses spread across a valley floor, backed by pine-forested limestone hills, with surrounding vineyards…
Tamsweg
At over 1,000 metres elevation, Tamsweg is the highest-situated district administrative centre in Austria — a little market town in the Salzburg Lungau regio…
Zonza
A compact Corsican village of granite-stone houses and terracotta rooftops, dominated by a Gothic-arched church and tall clock tower, set against densely for…
Termoli
This coastal town on the Adriatic in Molise, Termoli holds a medieval walled quarter alongside a lively seafront promenade lined with restaurants.
Clacton-on-Sea
This seaside town on the Essex coast that developed as a resort from the 1870s, Clacton-on-Sea has a walkable centre with a concentrated food-and-drink scene…
Salmon Arm
Salmon Arm sits on the shores of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia's Southern Interior, home to the longest wooden freshwater wharf in North America.
Gmunden
Lakeside town in Upper Austria's Salzkammergut region, Gmunden sits on the northern shore of the Traunsee with mountain views, a walkable centre dense with l…
Tesanj
This compact Bosnian town where a cobblestone old quarter of Ottoman-influenced whitewashed buildings and a clock tower leads the eye uphill to a substantial…
Stein am Rhein
Stein am Rhein sits on the Rhine where Lower Lake Constance meets the river, and its medieval centre — pedestrianised, lined with half-timbered houses, and c…
Gjakova
A city in western Kosovo with a walkable historic centre built around the Çarshia e Madhe — the old bazaar that once made Gjakova one of the leading commerci…
Cehegín
Cehegín's old town, declared a historic-artistic ensemble by Spain's Ministry of Culture in 1982, makes for a walkable afternoon in the Murcia region, with a…
Milazzo
Founded by ancient Greeks around 716 BC, Milazzo is a Sicilian town on the north coast with a walkable centre dense with historic churches, cafés, and scenic…
Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt
This small Aveyron hamlet on the Lot river holds membership in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and carries two protected historic monuments: the church of…
Zofingen
Walled medieval town in the Swiss canton of Aargau, Zofingen has a well-preserved historic core with a medieval monastic settlement, a good spread of cafés a…
Civitella Messer Raimondo
A compact hilltop village in Abruzzo's Chieti province, its pale stone houses crowning a densely forested hill, with several churches for its size and easy a…
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
Clinging to a steep cliff above the Lot river in south-western France, this small Quercy village draws visitors with dramatic viewpoints, a strong café and r…
Jenbach
A compact Tyrolean market town of red-tile rooftops and a prominent church spire, Jenbach sits in a broad Alpine valley with upland country close at hand and…
Mulazzo
A compact hilltop stone village in Tuscany's Lunigiana area, Mulazzo rewards visitors with cobbled lanes, a medieval stone arch gateway, terracotta-roofed ho…
Autoire
This modest hamlet in the Lot department of southwestern France is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, set on the Causse de Gramat — the largest a…
Trbovlje
A Slovenian mining town in the Central Sava Valley known as the birthplace of Laibach, the industrial music group, Trbovlje sits along the Sava River in moun…
Dervio
This modest Lake Como village on Lombardy's eastern shore sits where the Varrone river valley meets the water, with several historic churches, a café and res…
Gimel-les-Cascades
A cluster of grey-stone houses and old fortified walls rises above a deep, densely wooded valley in Corrèze, where the village's namesake cascades draw walke…
Rumburk
Rumburk's Loreto Chapel, built in the early 18th century within a Capuchin monastery complex, is claimed to be the northernmost Marian pilgrimage site of its…
Dauwendaele
A compact Dutch town on the water, Dauwendaele sits within reach of Middelburg's ornate Gothic civic architecture — visible here in a grand stone town hall r…
Mariazell
Austria's most significant Catholic pilgrimage site, Mariazell is a small Styrian mountain village whose Basilica of the Nativity of Mary houses a lime-wood…
Poza de la Sal
A tightly packed old stone village in Burgos province, its terracotta-roofed historic core spreading across a hillside above green patchwork farmland, with e…
Morcone
This densely built hilltop town in Campania's Benevento province, Morcone rises dramatically above forested slopes with tightly packed white and pastel house…
Zagrad pri Otočcu
Small hamlet in the wine-country hills north of Otočcu, in southeastern Slovenia's City Municipality of Novo Mesto, Zagrad pri Otočcu is home to a historic c…
Port Angeles
A waterfront town on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles sits on the Strait of Juan de Fuca with ferry service to Victoria, British Columbia, and mo…
Itri
Sitting in a valley between the Monti Aurunci and the Gulf of Gaeta, Itri is a tiny agricultural town in Lazio's Latina province with a photogenic medieval c…
Steffisburg
Swiss town in the canton of Bern spread across a broad valley floor, with a castle-like church rising above red-tile rooftops and a dramatic wall of snow-cap…
Monsaraz
A walled hilltop village in Portugal's Alentejo region, Monsaraz sits above the Guadiana River near the Spanish border and deep in one of the country's most…
Buñol
Every August, tens of thousands of people descend on this modest Valencian town to hurl over 100,000 kilograms of tomatoes at each other in La Tomatina — a f…
Hunedoara
Hunyad Castle, the most important Gothic secular building in Transylvania, dominates this Romanian town in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mo…
Valladolid
Walkable Yucatán town with a dense food-and-drink scene, a concentration of historic churches, and strong photographic appeal, Valladolid sits in the eastern…
Molfetta
A walkable Apulian town on the Adriatic coast, Molfetta has a well-restored old city dense with historic churches and a lively café and restaurant scene.
Great Malvern
At the foot of the Malvern Hills — a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Worcestershire — Great Malvern grew from an 11th-century Benedictine pr…
Sabrosa
A sun-warmed central square of granite fountains and whitewashed manor houses with a Baroque church tower rising behind them sets the tone for this pocket-si…
Zutphen
A heritage-dense Hanseatic town on the eastern bank of the IJssel river in Gelderland, Zutphen has a walkable centre packed with listed historic buildings, m…
Villafranca del Bierzo
A small wine-country town in the El Bierzo comarca of León, Villafranca del Bierzo sits at the confluence of the Burbia and Valcarce rivers on the Camino de…
Uzzano
A compact Tuscan hillside village in Pistoia province, Uzzano stacks ochre-and-stone buildings up a green slope toward a crenellated bell tower, with vineyar…
Prudnik
Founded in 1255 on Magdeburg law, Prudnik is a historic Upper Silesian town in southern Poland where the Prudnik river meets its Złoty Potok tributary, on th…
Susice
A compact town in the Šumava foothills of the Plzeň Region, Sušice sits on the Otava River with two scenic lookout towers on the hills to the west, a well-pr…
Bonneville
This flower-filled stone fountain anchors Bonneville's cobbled main square, backed by a salmon-pink town hall and Alpine ridgelines, making this Haute-Savoie…
Gustavia
This little Caribbean capital on the island of Saint Barthélemy sits directly on the water, with a compact centre of cafés and restaurants and a strong visua…
Litoměřice
A walkable wine-country town at the confluence of the Elbe and Ohře rivers in northern Bohemia, Litoměřice has a well-preserved medieval centre — protected a…
Saint-Etienne-de-Baigorry
This little Basque village in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques sitting on the Nive des Aldudes river, Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry is the main gateway to the Aldudes va…
Marken
Photogenic former island in the Markermeer, Marken is a North Holland village whose wooden houses — many built on stilts or raised earthen mounds — have draw…
Valderrobres
Photogenic modest town in Aragon's Teruel province, Valderrobres sits directly on the Matarranya River with a Gothic church, a Gothic castle, and a Renaissan…
La Romieu
A member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, this small Gers village in southwestern France is anchored by the 14th-century Collégiale Saint-Pierre, whose…
Vercelli
One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, Vercelli traces its origins to around 600 BC and claims the world's first publicly funded university, establ…
Horgen
Lakeside town on the south bank of Lake Zurich, Horgen has a walkable centre with cafés and restaurants, scenic viewpoints in the surrounding hills, and dire…
Lorvao
Modest Portuguese town in upland country, Lorvão is dominated by a grand white baroque monastery with a domed church tower, set beside a tree-lined garden sq…
Greccio
Saint Francis of Assisi staged the first living Nativity scene here in December 1223, and the tradition continues in this little Lazio hilltown on a spur of…
Sarnen
This small Swiss town sits directly on the shore of Lake Sarnen, the cantonal capital of Obwalden, with vineyards and mountain scenery in the surrounding cou…
Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste
Walled medieval village in the French Pyrenees, Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste sits on the Tech river close to the Spanish border and belongs to the Les Plus Beaux…
Marostica
Every two years, on the second weekend of September in even-numbered years, Marostica's central square fills with costumed performers re-enacting a live ches…
Mata-Utu
This compact waterfront capital of Wallis and Futuna — a French overseas collectivity in the Pacific — sits on the island of Uvéa with mountains as a backdro…
Fayence
This hilltop village in the Var department of Provence, Fayence sits above the plain between the southern Alps and the Esterel massif, with cafés and restaur…
Kipfenberg
Claimed as the geographical centre of Bavaria, Kipfenberg is a tiny market town in the Eichstätt district where the Altmühl river runs through the centre and…
Râşnov
Râșnov's medieval citadel, Cetatea Râșnov, rises above this compact Transylvanian town in Brașov County, a short distance from both Brașov and Bran.
St. Gallen
The Abbey of Saint Gall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose library holds manuscripts dating to the 9th century, is the centrepiece of this eastern Swiss city.
Ayamonte
Sitting at the mouth of the Guadiana River on the Portuguese border, Ayamonte is a walkable Andalusian town with a café-filled centre, waterfront views, and…
Skalná
A little Czech town in the upland Karlovy Vary Region, where a bold Baroque church with an onion-domed tower rises above colourful townhouse facades and a da…
Nagold
This Black Forest-edge town in Baden-Württemberg where the River Nagold runs through a centre of half-timbered houses and modern architecture, with a walkabl…
Waihi
Gold-mining history defines this small North Island town at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, with a compact centre offering cafés, restaurants, and a co…
Douai
Douai's medieval belfry — one of the most impressive in northern France's Nord département — rises above a walkable town centre on the river Scarpe, with a r…
Barolo
Barolo, a little Piedmontese village in the Province of Cuneo, lends its name to one of Italy's most celebrated red wines, and the surrounding Langhe vineyar…
Kamieniec Zabkowicki
A small town in Lower Silesia whose abbey and palace together form a Historic Monument of Poland, Kamieniec Ząbkowicki sits on a river in the foothills of so…
Périgueux
Périgueux, the historic capital of the Périgord region in southwestern France's Dordogne, sits on the Isle river and holds a layered heritage running from Ro…
Fulpmes
Small market town in Austria's Stubaital valley, Fulpmes has served as the iron-working centre of the valley for generations and sits at the base of the Schl…
Vélez-Rubio
This sun-washed Andalusian town square anchored by a grand twin-towered baroque church with an ornate stone facade, surrounded by whitewashed buildings and s…
Thorn
Known as "the white city" for its whitewashed brick houses, this compact Limburg village on the Meuse sits at the heart of a former Imperial Abbey and packs…
Pescocostanzo
This photogenic village in Abruzzo's Maiella National Park, Pescocostanzo has an unusual concentration of historic churches and a pocket-sized but real café…
Trondheim
Founded in 997 as a trading post, Trondheim served as Norway's capital through the Viking Age and remains the site of Nidaros Cathedral, the country's great…
Dinkelsbühl
One of only four towns in Germany with completely intact medieval city walls, Dinkelsbühl sits on the River Wörnitz along the Romantic Road in Central Franco…
Pontelandolfo
A compact hilltop village in Campania's Sannio Hills, Pontelandolfo offers cobbled streets climbing toward a medieval round tower, colorful stone-built house…
Roermond
A historic Dutch town at the confluence of the Meuse and Roer rivers, Roermond has held town rights since 1231 and served as the seat of the Roman Catholic D…
Usk
A compact Welsh market town on the River Usk in Monmouthshire, with a ruined castle above the town and an arched stone bridge at its western entrance.
Rossano
The Codex Purpureus — one of the oldest illuminated Gospel books in the world and a UNESCO Memory of the World document — is held in Rossano's Diocesan Museu…
Xalapa
A mountain capital in central Veracruz state with one of Mexico's densest café and restaurant scenes and the oldest symphony orchestra in the country, Xalapa…
Viviers
This modest town on the Rhône in southern France's Ardèche, Viviers was once the capital of the historic Vivarais province — a name it gave to the entire reg…
Bad Aussee
This spa town at the confluence of the three source streams of the Traun River, Bad Aussee sits at the heart of the Styrian Salzkammergut in the Austrian Alp…
Nymburk
This modest Czech town on the Elbe River in Central Bohemia, Nymburk has a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument zone since 1992, wit…
Lussan
This compact village on a rocky outcrop above the garrigue scrubland of the Gard in southern France, Lussan was added to the Les Plus Beaux Villages de Franc…
San Severino Marche
This little town in the Marche region of central Italy carries an unusual concentration of historic churches for its size, set within a heritage-dense street…
Cheb
This walkable Czech town on the Ohře River with a well-preserved historic centre protected as an urban monument reservation, Cheb sits in the Karlovy Vary Re…
Lautrec
Lautrec, a village in the Tarn department of southern France, is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and the ancestral home of the Toulouse-Lautrec…
Piazza Armerina
The Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 celebrated for its extensive Roman mosaics, sits just outside this Sicilian hill town in…
Cromwell
Small Central Otago town on the shore of Lake Dunstan, Cromwell sits at the heart of New Zealand's Central Otago wine region and is surrounded by orchards kn…
Lenzburg
A medieval hill town in the Swiss canton of Aargau, Lenzburg is anchored by Schloss Lenzburg, a castle that grew from an 11th-century fortification on the Sc…
Borgomaro
Stone-built houses and a medieval bridge line a clear river in this pocket-sized Ligurian village, backed by forested hills, with a church spire rising above…
Freiberg
Freiberg's entire historic centre — known as the Silver City — has been under monument protection since long before the town's mining heritage earned UNESCO…
Tabernas
Tabernas sits on the edge of the only desert in continental Europe, a sun-scorched landscape that served as the backdrop for dozens of spaghetti westerns and…
Gazzaniga
This modest town in Lombardy's Val Seriana, Gazzaniga sits on the right bank of the Serio river northeast of Bergamo, with a café and restaurant scene and a…
Macao
Modest Portuguese village of white-walled, red-tile houses spread across forested hillsides in Santarém District, with a hilltop church as its focal point an…
Viveiro
This coastal town on Galicia's Cantabrian shore, Viveiro sits at the mouth of the Río Landro where it meets the Ría de Viveiro, with a walkable centre dense…
Benevento
Benevento is a heritage-dense hill town in Campania where the rivers Calore Irpino and Sabato meet, with a walkable centre thick with historic churches and c…
Naters
This small Swiss town in the canton of Valais, Naters sits in mountain terrain near Brig with vineyards in the surrounding area and scenic viewpoints within…
Retz
A compact Austrian market town in the Weinviertel wine region, Retz centres on a broad cobblestone square dominated by a tall baroque clock tower, surrounded…
Presicce-Acquarica
This tiny Apulian town in the Province of Lecce, formed in 2019 by the merger of Presicce and Acquarica del Capo, packs a notable number of historic churches…
Antoing
A tiny Wallonian town on the River Scheldt where a turreted castle rises above red-brick houses and a church spire, best viewed from the water's edge alongsi…
Almagro
Almagro, a little town in Ciudad Real, has hosted an International Festival of Classical Theater annually since 1978 and holds designation as one of Spain's…
San Lorenzo Maggiore
This compact hillside village in Campania's Benevento province, its terracotta rooftops and a golden-domed church tower rising above rolling green valleys, s…
Žilina
City on the Váh river in north-western Slovakia with a lively café scene and a historic centre whose arcaded main square is considered unique in the country.
Arlesheim
This small Swiss town near Basel, in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, is anchored by a Baroque cathedral dating to 1681 and rebuilt in 1761, whose organ — bui…
Enna
Italy's highest provincial capital, Enna sits atop a ridge at the centre of Sicily, earning it the nickname "Belvedere of Sicily" for its sweeping views acro…
Szprotawa
A small town in western Poland with a walkable centre on the water, Szprotawa carries a layered medieval heritage: remnants of defensive walls, Romanesque an…
Château-Chalon
Vin jaune — the prized yellow wine of the Jura — reaches its most celebrated expression in Château-Chalon, a little cliff-top village in eastern France whose…
Granville
Small Ohio village in the rolling Welsh Hills east of Columbus, Granville is home to Denison University and a walkable centre with cafés, restaurants, and a…
Brodnica
Founded by the Teutonic Order in the Middle Ages, Brodnica is a former royal town in northern Poland with a compact, walkable centre sitting on the water and…
Jonzac
A spa town in the Charente-Maritime since 1986, Jonzac sits on the Seugne river in the heart of Cognac wine country, with a café and restaurant scene that pu…
Valletta
Built by the Knights Hospitaller in the 16th century and named after Jean Parisot de Valette, who repelled the Ottoman siege of Malta, Valletta is the EU's s…
Schoonhoven
Silversmithing has defined Schoonhoven for centuries, and the little South Holland town remains known for its silver industry and craftspeople today.
Casoria
This dense Campanian town just outside Naples, where a skyline of baroque domes and bell towers rises above a lively street-level café and restaurant scene,…
Eger
Eger is a Hungarian wine town whose Egri Bikavér (Bull's Blood) red is known well beyond the country's borders, set among vineyards in the hills between the…
Celje
Slovenia's third-largest city, Celje sits at the confluence of several rivers in the lower Savinja Valley, with a walkable centre full of cafés and mountain…
Doorwerth
A large moated brick castle with onion-domed towers and stepped gables dominates this little Gelderland village, set among wooded hills near Arnhem with rive…
Macerata
This walkable hilltop town in Italy's Marche region holds one of Europe's oldest universities, founded in 1290, alongside the Sferisterio — a neoclassical op…
Wieliczka
The Wieliczka Salt Mine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978, draws well over a million visitors a year to this town in southern Poland's Kraków metropol…
Burg bei Magdeburg
Known as the "City of Towers" for its concentration of medieval churches and steeples, Burg bei Magdeburg sits on the Elbe–Havel Canal in Saxony-Anhalt, a sh…
Montbéliard
Montbéliard, in eastern France's Doubs department near the Swiss border and the Jura massif, is known across France for its Christmas market and carries the…
Ahmedpur East
Sadiq Garh Palace, a century-old residence of the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, stands in this Punjab city near the Cholistan Desert and once hosted guests ranging f…
That's the top 600 worldwide — the other 2,450 live on the country pages. Pick a country under “Where these live.”
Charming old-world towns around the world: quick answers
Which old-world towns can you visit on a day trip from a major city?
Our pages for day trips from Prague (53), day trips from Porto (43) and day trips from Bath (42) list the most, including Třebušín, Lamego and Montacute.
Which countries have the most?
Wandering Well lists 3,050 old-world towns in 145 countries and territories. The most are in Italy (380), France (307), Spain (166), Germany (158) and the United Kingdom (157).
Which are the highest-rated?
1,231 are rated gold, including Lagrasse (France), Friesach (Austria), Olinda (Brazil) and Hollókő (Hungary).
Which can you reach by train?
942 of the 3,050 have a railway station within a 10-minute drive.