Ten underrated European cities, from Gjirokastër's stone roofs to Lecce's carved baroque, ranked by how much more they give than their visitor numbers suggest.
Most Europe trips run Paris, Rome, Prague, Barcelona and Dubrovnik. These ten sit a train or a bus ride off that circuit. We ranked them by the gap between how good the place is and how few visitors it gets, the same basis as our global hidden gems list.
An Ottoman hill town of tower houses roofed in grey stone slabs, on the UNESCO list since 2005. Climb to the castle above the bazaar, then cross the valley to the Greek-speaking Dropull villages.
Bulgaria's second city keeps a 2nd-century Roman theatre that still stages summer opera and concerts. Above it, the old town's painted Revival houses; below, the bars and studios of the Kapana quarter.
Prague's baroque at a fraction of the crowds, around a Holy Trinity Column on the UNESCO list since 2000. The town hall clock, rebuilt in 1955, shows workers where the saints used to be.
A town of Byzantine churches on a lake UNESCO lists for both its nature and its culture. Walk the shore path to St John at Kaneo on its cliff, and swim off the pebble beaches in July.
Lithuania's interwar capital, whose 1919 to 1939 modernist centre joined the UNESCO list in 2023. Walk Laisvės alėja to the Central Post Office, then take the funicular up to Žaliakalnis.
A Mediterranean-feeling university city under the Mecsek hills, with painted 4th-century Christian tombs on the UNESCO list. The domed mosque of Pasha Qasim still crowns the main square, now a church.
Kosovo's best-kept Ottoman town, where the Sinan Pasha Mosque of 1615 stands over a stone bridge on the Bistrica. Climb to the fortress at dusk; in August, Dokufest fills the town with documentary screenings.
A walled Alentejo town on the UNESCO list since 1986, around a Roman temple and a chapel lined with monks' bones. It is European Capital of Culture in 2027; go before then, and stay the night.
A Gothic brick town on the Vistula, on the UNESCO list since 1997 and the birthplace of Copernicus in 1473. Bake your own at the Living Museum of Gingerbread, then walk the river wall at dusk.
The baroque capital of the heel of Italy, carved from soft golden local stone, with a Roman amphitheatre half dug out of Piazza Sant'Oronzo. Two seas and the Salento beaches are a short drive.
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