Best Places To Visit In Europe For First-time Travelers

First-time visitors find Europe to be a fantastic place. Particularly if you are first-time solo travel, Europe is the ideal starting point. At every border crossing, this corner of the globe presents fresh cultures, languages, and food. For your first trip in Europe, then, are you unsure where to visit? We have you taken care of.

While some of these places you might have heard of previously could be fresh to you. For their own reason, every city on the bucket list is bucket list destination. Even if this is your first journey alone, some provide more of a challenge and others are quite pleasant for single travel.

Travelling over the past eight years, I have seen more of Europe than any other continent. Beyond this list, there are plenty more places in Europe from as far West as Lisbon and as far East as Moscow for first visitors. If you are seeking for additional off-the-beaten-path locations, check out my guides for Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Europe.

Best Places To Visit In Europe For First-time Travelers

L Greenwich

Should you be heading from Australia or the United States to Europe, London is most likely your least expensive choice for arrival (or one of them). London is still a fantastic city to begin your travels in Europe and among the most fascinating cultural hubs in the world; Brexit occurred and the UK is no longer a part of the EU, but cannot be ignored.

Should this be your first trip to London, I advise staying at least three nights to really see the city. Not to miss famous places and attractions like Tower Bridge, Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the vibrancy of Piccadilly Circus.

Though if you want cosy interiors there are some fantastic pubs and cafés to hide away from the rain, winter in London may be a touch gloomy in the meteorological sense.

If you have time to visit, several of my fave bakeries are in London and will most certainly become yours as well. Peggy Porschen in Belgravia presents a lovely pink show with more flowers than you have probably found in your yard at home!

Read also: The Best Places to Start a Business in Europe

Paris

Though I have visited Paris more times than I can count, I will always treasure my first visit. Every girl's fantasy, visiting Paris is not disappointing. On foot, there are countless arrondissements to discover; my favorites by far are Montmartre, Le Marais, and Saint Germain.

Though Paris is the city of love, I have visited Paris alone year after year and it is a fantastic place to enjoy on your own. If you enjoy Parisian culture, I would strongly advise highly enough attending a pastry lesson in Paris. Learning how to create French delicacies at home and picking a new ability to bring with you when you go will help you much.

From Paris, a 2.5-hour train trip is all that separates Paris from a short flight. Training between London and Paris is a far better choice when you consider the time to reach the airport, check in, travel, disembark, gather luggage, and enter the city. Though travel is easy, rail travel is usually more costly than grabbing a short trip to Paris. Airlines such as Easy Jet and RyanAir fly multiple times a day between London airports and Paris airports; so, if you book at least two months in advance, you will be able to get a really excellent bargain. Just be sure to provide enough time to go from the city to the airport as some of these budget airline airports are totally outside of the city and may take up to two hours to reach.

Amsteerdam

Under three and a half hours, a fast train from Paris to Amsterdam will bring you between the cities. There are 31 trains running between the two cities on an average week; if you would want to go more slowly, you may stop in Brussels to divide the trip. Should time be on your favor, you may even think about spending a few days seeing Belgium. My three favorite cities are Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges.

Now more about Amsterdam! Renowned as a cultural center with fun, elegant façade and 17th century architecture is the capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is first known for its canals, red light area, and bicycle scene. However, the city offers much more the more you start to investigate the areas outside of the canal ring.

If you are flying alone, Amsterdam is also a fantastic place. If you are on a budget or if you are searching for something more local, this city is almost designed for travelers; there are tons of AirBnB options here. Conversely, one of my favourite design hotels worldwide is The Pulitzer Amsterdam on the other side of the scale.

The cost of lodging in Amsterdam may turn off budget tourists right away, but if you know where to go, Amsterdam has a tremendous array of reasonably priced restaurants and inexpensive happy hours from an overstock of pubs. Amsterdam has several of my fave vegan eateries as well, namely Vegan Junk Food! 

Read also: Start a Business in Europe 2024: A Complete Guide

Beringlin

Berlin is an edgy metropolis never at rest. Popular among expatriates, the direct Intercity connection train between Amsterdam and Berlin can get you to the German capital in little under 6.5 hours.

Berlin is quite affordable and offers many of fantastic free activities. One of my favourite cities to walk about on foot is Prenzlauerberg, which also boasts several of Berlin's top coffee shops.

MUnich

Munich is a quite good train ride from Berlin, yet in the same nation. The fastest train trip takes six hours and fifteen minutes; the average is seven hours and fifteen minutes. You could decide to bypass Munich and head straight to Prague or visit Prague first and then Munich. Alternatively, you could decide to see the German countryside and pause at little towns en route.

Many visitors stop in Munich for the well-known annual Oktoberfest, which actually falls in September. Whether or not you make it to the event, Munich boasts a large year-round beer hall with a similar atmosphere but less costumes!

Pangest

You therefore find yourself contemplating where to spend your first trip around Europe. For many first-time visitors to Europe, Prague is a favourite because of its distinctive architectural mix, active night scene and reasonable cost. Prague has surged in popularity during the previous five to ten years, therefore be sure you will find lots of people.

Particularly if this is your first trip to Prague, walking is the best way to appreciate it. Be sure to stray from the map and find hidden riches as the Old Town is lots of secret lanes and nook to investigate. Starting your search, the Jewish Quarter is a fantastic place as it has so many vintage boutiques providing a window into the past.