Last fall, I studied abroad in Milan, Italy for the semester. From the very beginning, I definitely planned to do more of the ‘abroad’ than the ‘study’ part, and that is shown through the amount of cities I ended up visiting during my time in Europe.
Some cities were much better than others, but I don’t think there was a place that I genuinely disliked—each one had their own personal experiences and quirks which affected my ratings.
Also, I am only ranking the cities that I purposefully visited, not a place that I traveled through or randomly ended at.
Disclaimer: Some of these places aren’t actually defined as cities, I am using this term interchangeably with a town. I am also not including Milan, the city I stayed in during my time abroad.
32. Vatican City
I was in Vatican city for approximately two hours, and while it was cool, it’s small. The worst part was that all the museums and sites were closed since my friend and I went on a Sunday, which definitely hindered the experience. The cool thing, however, was that we got to watch the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, which was incredible.
31. Pisa, Italy
This trip was one of the last Italian cities I went to during my time abroad, and while it was cool, it was starting to look like everything else. The main attraction is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and once my friend and I saw that, we still had another 24 hours to spend. There just wasn’t much to do as we thought.
30. Venice, Italy
I heard many mixed opinions about Venice before I went, and I agree with just about every opinion: it’s beautiful, unique, small, busy, loud and filled with tourists. I remember stepping out of the train station and seeing all the canals and thinking, wow, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. But after 20 minutes of walking around and constantly losing my bearings, it wasn’t so entertaining anymore.
29. Sliema, Malta
My friend and I stayed in Sliema while in Malta since it had the cheapest AirBnb. I absolutely loved Malta when we visited, but the best part of the trip were the attractions outside of any city. Sliema was crowded and clearly created for tourists, which gave a weird atmosphere for such a tiny country.
28. Paris, France
While I genuinely enjoyed every activity I did in Paris, everything else during my visit seemed to work against me. I went right when a heat wave was in full effect, slept on the wood floor of my sister’s non-air-conditioned hotel room, and then got super sick afterwards. My sister and I were in full-tourist mode, walking 30 thousand steps a day and only stopping to eat food. The city was also much dirtier than I thought it would be.
27. Marsaskala, Malta
This trip was a last add-in since my friend and I still had a few hours to kill before our flight. Our Uber driver dropped us far out from the city, so we walked for a half hour or so to find the middle of the city (and also some food). Unlike other cities in Malta, there were no tourists at all and a lot of the buildings were abandoned and unoccupied. The harbor was really beautiful, but the whole city had a very weird aura.
26. St. Paul’s Bay, Malta
St. Paul’s Bay is where most tourists end up; it was a place of resorts and glass buildings. My friend and I went to walk around and it had some insanely blue water and beautiful coastline, but it was easy to tell that there were no actual Maltese citizens in sight.
25. Brunate, Italy
Brunate is right above the city of Como, and you have to take a funicular in order to get up there. There is an incredible view of Lake Como down below and some cool walking paths around the mountain, but overall the town was quite small and there wasn’t much to do there.
24. Lecco, Italy
I was only in the actual town of Lecco for a short time since we originally went there for a hike on the outskirts of town. The hike was one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever been on, but Lecco was another standard Italian mountain town (which is still, to preface, incredible).
23. Lugano, Switzerland
I went to Lugano with my parents while they were in Milan for Thanksgiving break, and it was a very cool city. There is a lot of culture clash between Swiss and Italian since Lugano is so close to the Italian border, and the mountains surrounding it added a lot to the mountain ‘vibe.’ The only thing was that this was a very vertical city, and I was out of breath walking anywhere.
22. Bologna, Italy
Bologna was one of the first places I traveled to, only a week after arriving in Italy. It felt so special at the time since I hadn’t seen other places in Italy or Europe, and there was so much old history to take in and enjoy in the city. I learned that Bologna is home to the first university in the world, so that’s quite cool.
21. Stresa, Italy
Stresa is on Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy. I went to Stresa on a day trip with the whole purpose to study for my midterms. I arrived in the morning and it never stopped raining the entire day that I was there. It made everything much greener, however, so I enjoyed walking around during my study breaks and checking out all the foliage and water.
20. Drobak, Norway
My friend and I visited Drobak for the same reason as I visited Stresa: even though we were traveling, we didn’t want to fail our midterms. We took a bus to the town after a recommendation from a friend and spent a little bit of time walking around and embracing the very small feel of a Norwegian town. We then posted up at a coffee shop and were there for the next three hours.
19. Monteveglio, Italy
Monteveglio was the only Italian town I went to that felt authentically not tourist-y. It was super tiny; you could walk around the entire town within an hour. This is the town where a friend of mine grew up, and it was special to meet her family and stay in her house during this trip. The only downfall was getting eaten to death by mosquitoes.
18. Brussels, Belgium
I found Brussels to be really interesting since the city had a lot of old buildings and historical sites while also incorporating modern architecture. The best part about this trip was simply looking at everything, and the hot chocolate was truly to die for.
17. Bratislava, Slovakia
Bratislava was one of the cities I visited during my solo trip, and it was easily the smallest despite being the capital of Slovakia. I enjoyed the change of pace with the size since it didn’t feel overwhelming and I was able to explore everything I wanted without rushing. I also had this potato pancake at the Christmas market, and it was without a doubt the best thing I had during that solo trip.
16. Prague, Czech Republic
Everyone raves about Prague when they go; while I thought it was really cool, I didn’t think it was the best place I’d ever been to. I had some amazing food, got to visit a lot of sites, and everything was super inexpensive, so this experience was certainly worth it.
15. Como, Italy
Despite being only 25 minutes from Como, I only made it there once through an organized trip. That being said, that goes to show how beautiful the town and its surroundings were. Going on a boat around Lake Como was a study abroad highlight, and it was surprisingly not too busy while we were there. No wonder every celebrity has a house around Como.
14. Oslo, Norway
Even though we went in October, Norway was already averaging below-freezing temperatures. This was quite a shock for my friend and I, where it was still averaging 60s in Milan. That being said, I fell in love with Oslo (and Norway). Everything is so clean, orderly and established. I know Norway pays a ton of individual taxes, but I would definitely be willing to do the same thing if I got all the social services Norwegians do.
13. Valletta, Malta
Valletta is the capital of Malta and even though our AirBnb was in Sliema, we were in Valletta for most of our trip. The architecture of the city is incredibly interesting—all the buildings are built with limestone—showing a mixture of English and Middle Eastern influences. There are a ton of historical war sites to visit, and I learned how much Malta was involved in World War II. With how warm the weather was in November, it felt like a limestone paradise.
12. Budapest, Hungary
Budapest easily had the most impressive ‘standard’ buildings of anywhere I had been in Europe. Their government building looked like a giant palace and their shopping centers were stunning. I was especially surprised by how good the public transportation system was in Budapest, it was definitely one of the best from all the places I went to.
11. Florence, Italy
Florence was a spur of the moment trip at the very beginning of my time abroad. I was completely blown away by the architecture of the city: red roofs and the huge church in the middle of the city. It’s known for being the arts capital of the world, and I definitely believed that while we were walking around famous sculptures and outdoor museums.
10. Barcelona, Spain
I bet Barcelona would have a more youthful energy in the summer rather than when we went in December, but I absolutely loved this city. It was super easy to get around and there were endless things to do. I understand why so many students go to Barcelona to study abroad, it’s a great location with even better food.
9. Bern, Switzerland
Even though Bern is the capital of Switzerland, it felt quaint and small. My sister and I were able to travel around thinking that we were the only tourists, and everyone was very friendly. The river that flows through the city was the most poignant blue I had ever seen, and I also had the best Indian food of my life in Bern. The only downfall was how expensive Switzerland is; I blew through quite a lot of money within a few days.
8. Vienna, Austria
I was in Vienna for only two days, but definitely needed a week if I wanted to have a chance at seeing all the big sites and museums. I loved how many areas of the city there were to explore, and how easy it was to get around with public transportation. My only quarrel with Vienna was how many people there were, even I was getting overwhelmed with the crowds.
7. Genova, Italy
Genova is the only city on this list that I ended up visiting twice: once with a friend and once with my parents. Genova has the perfect balance of a seaside town and historical site, where it’s been there for hundreds of years. The downtown area is super unique with all the buildings being incredibly close to each other, and the city is home to the best pesto in the world.
6, 5, 4, 3. Cinque Terre (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Riomaggiore), Italy
I’m putting the Cinque Terre towns all together, as I can say without a doubt that this was the most beautiful place I visited while abroad. Cinque Terre means ‘five towns’ in Italian, and they’re spread across the west coast of Italy, only a few minutes apart from each other. Each town is unique to the next, and it’s against some beautiful coastline and water. The buildings are colorful and sprawled across a mountain, making it very fun to go up and down stairs exploring. I definitely want to go back and spend more time in each town.
2. Rome, Italy
Rome was the only city where I felt small with how… old everything was. You come across ruins from thousands of years ago casually in the city and learn about people who influenced the entire Western world. It was transformative in a way, thinking how big our world is. I went during a beautifully warm October weekend, and stayed with a friend who was living there. The food was amazing, and there’s so much to do as well. I highly recommend going to Rome if you can!
1. Berlin, Germany
Berlin was the last city I visited, and it just happened to be my favorite. Everything was against me: it was freezing, it didn’t stop raining once, and I nearly missed my flight back to Milan because of multiple missed trains. Despite everything, I absolutely loved my time in Berlin. It was the historical aspect of the city—knowing that so much happened between East and West Germany—and you’re able to notice little differences as you’re exploring. I went on a walking tour around the city and was given another dozen things to do next time, and there definitely will be a next time. In fact, I might even live here at some point in my life.