Discover 10 Underrated European Cities to Explore in 2026

On 18 August 2026, Italy‘s Urban Mood Magazine published ‘10 Underrated European Cities to Visit in 2026 (Before Everyone Else Does)‘. I roamed the Trip By Trip archive to find ten other ‘not top op mind‘ cities in Europe to visit. Doing so, I stumbled upon a few one-day-cities which are best combined together.

For me, a one-day-city is a city you can easily visit in one full day (including getting up and going sleep there), and feel satisfied you have a decent idea what that city has to offer. Many cities are one-day-cities. My hometown Antwerp in Belgium can be explored in one day and you’ll be content. So it’s by no means an insult to be a one-day-city.

From Saxony to Bavaria: Leipzig, Nuremberg and Regensburg

Our 2020 Saxony, Bavaria and Tyrol Getaway was designed as a relatively safe way to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of heading further afield, we travelled through Germany and Austria, starting in Leipzig and continuing through Bavaria before eventually reaching Innsbruck for the ÖBB Nightjet back to Brussels.

Leipzig was our first stop. We had about a day and a half to explore the city, with the railway naturally playing a prominent role. Leipzig Hauptbahnhof was an attraction in its own right: the enormous terminus is one of Europe‘s largest railway stations by floor area, with 26 platforms and an extensive shopping and catering area. We also visited the historic Bayerischer Bahnhof, Germany’s oldest preserved railway station. Its former tracks have disappeared beneath the modern city, but the historic entrance survives, now alongside a restaurant where we had dinner.

Our Leipzig visit also focused heavily on the city’s more recent history. The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum provided an overview of the division of Germany, everyday life under the German Democratic Republic (GDR), also known as East Germany, dictatorship and the process of reunification. A planned visit to the Stasi Museum at the Runde Ecke was thwarted by pandemic opening restrictions, so we instead visited Leipzig’s city history museum, which proved more interesting than expected. We finished our Leipzig exploration at the monumental Völkerschlachtdenkmal, commemorating the 1813 Battle of Leipzig against Napoleon.

We stayed at the newly opened Hyperion Leipzig beside the main railway station. The modern hotel provided a convenient base, with a spacious Junior Suite and a particularly good breakfast, although COVID-19 restrictions meant the executive lounge was not operating normally.

From Leipzig we continued south by ICE to Nuremberg, travelling on an ICE 1 over the new high-speed route towards Erfurt before joining the classic railway line near Bamberg. The journey itself became part of the trip, fitting neatly into our preference for exploring Germany by train.

Nuremberg gave the trip a much stronger focus on both railway history and the darker chapters of 20th-century Germany. At the DB Museum / Nuremberg Transport Museum, we explored the development of German railways from the 19th century through the German Empire, Weimar Republic, Nazi period, post-war division and reunification. The collection includes full-size historic trains, including the opulent private train of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

The city’s Nazi-era heritage occupied another substantial part of our visit. At the Documentation Center Nazi Party Rallying Grounds, housed in the unfinished Congress Hall, we explored the permanent exhibition ‘Fascination and Terror‘. We found the exhibition comprehensive, although we would have liked it to say more about the Party Rally Grounds themselves and their later history.

We then walked through the Zeppelin Field, where the monumental grandstand survives as one of the most recognisable remnants of Nazi architecture. The site also has a very different contemporary function: the Norisring motor-racing circuit uses the grounds, creating an unusual juxtaposition between the site’s political history and modern motorsport.

The same day continued at the Memorium Nuremberg Trials in the Palace of Justice. The exhibition examines the trials, their organisation and their legacy for international justice. Being able to enter Courtroom 600, where the trials took place, made the visit particularly powerful.

After that dose of 20th-century history, the Nuremberg Imperial Castle offered a very different experience. We explored the medieval castle complex overlooking the city, jokingly comparing its imposing appearance with a real-life Playmobil castle. The contrast between the imperial heritage of the old city and the Nazi-era sites elsewhere in Nuremberg was striking.

Our conclusion was that Nuremberg deserved at least two full days. Between the railway museum, medieval city, Imperial Castle, Nazi Party Rallying Grounds and Nuremberg Trials, there was considerably more to see than could comfortably fit into a short stop.

We then took a DB Regio train to Regensburg (Ratisbonne). The journey continued the trip’s railway theme, but Regensburg shifted the focus back towards older Bavarian history.

One of the principal reasons for including Regensburg was Schloss Höfling, associated with the princely House of Thurn und Taxis. We visited the Thurn und Taxis princely palace museum and explored the family’s connection with European postal services, aristocratic life and the development of its extensive properties.

For our stay we chose the Eurostars Park Hotel Maximilian, conveniently located at the edge of Regensburg’s historic centre and close to the railway station. The hotel was particularly conscientious about COVID-19 measures, with sealed rooms, controlled breakfast times and an assisted buffet. Its location and spacious rooms made it a comfortable base for exploring the city.

Regensburg itself provided a welcome change of pace after Leipzig and Nuremberg. Its historic centre offered a more traditional Bavarian experience, with medieval architecture and the legacy of centuries as an important imperial and trading city.

Looking back, the journey worked particularly well because every stop offered a different perspective on Germany. Leipzig brought the history of East Germany and reunification; Nuremberg confronted the Nazi period, the Holocaust and the development of international justice; and Regensburg returned us to the medieval and aristocratic history of Bavaria.

The trip also demonstrated why travelling through Germany by train can be as interesting as the destinations themselves. From Europe’s enormous Leipzig Hauptbahnhof to an ICE crossing the new high-speed line and regional trains continuing into Bavaria, the railway was not simply our means of transport – it was one of the themes running through the entire journey.

‘Regional’ Germany: Dessau, Weimar, Coburg and Kassel

n October 2024, Danny and I set off on another railway trip through Germany. This time we deliberately avoided the country’s obvious tourist destinations and chose four smaller cities: Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt, Weimar in Thuringia, Coburg in Bavaria, and Kassel in Hesse.

The idea was to explore a different side of Germany. These are not necessarily places that feature on a first-time visitor’s itinerary, but each has a distinctive history and plenty to discover. We also wanted to travel differently. Rather than relying on Deutsche Bahn‘s long-distance ICE and Intercity trains, we deliberately travelled mainly on the red trains of DB Regio and other regional operators.

Germany is close enough to Belgium to feel familiar, but different enough to provide that sense of dépaysement. A change of surroundings and habits that makes a trip feel like a proper escape.

Our itinerary began in Dessau, where Danny particularly wanted to explore the city’s Bauhaus heritage. Dessau was one of the most important centres of the Bauhaus movement, and we visited the famous Bauhaus building, the Masters’ Houses and the Bauhaus Museum. The city itself was also interesting because of its very different appearance. Heavily damaged during World War II, Dessau has a distinctly modern, post-war character alongside its surviving historic buildings.

From Dessau we travelled to Weimar. This was a particularly important stop for me because of the city’s cultural and political history, while Danny was again interested in its Bauhaus connections. We visited the Bauhaus Museum and explored the city’s Classical heritage, including places associated with Goethe, Schiller and Duchess Anna Amalia. We also visited the Wittumspalais and the Weimar Haus Experience.

Weimar turned out to be one of the most historically layered places on the trip. The city’s reputation as the home of German Classicism sits alongside its importance as the birthplace of the Weimar Republic. We explored that political history as well as the city’s cultural heritage, making Weimar perhaps the most intellectually dense stop on our journey.

We then continued south to Coburg, where my interest was much more personal in the historical sense. Coburg was an ancestral home of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the dynasty from which the Belgian royal family descends.

We visited Ehrenburg Palace, where Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld – the future Leopold I, first King of the Belgians – was born in 1790. We also climbed up to Veste Coburg, the imposing fortress overlooking the city. The connection with European royal families was impossible to miss: Coburg’s history is intertwined with the Belgian and British monarchies, among others.

Coburg itself was one of the most charming cities of the trip. Its historic centre was considerably better preserved than Dessau and had a distinctly Franconian character. The contrast between the four destinations was already becoming apparent: Dessau felt largely modern, Weimar was shaped by culture and intellectual history, and Coburg by aristocratic and dynastic history.

Our final stop was Kassel. We originally added it because we had two days to fill and Kassel was conveniently located on our way home. It is considerably larger than Dessau, Weimar or Coburg and is best known internationally for documenta, the major contemporary art exhibition held every five years.

We spent time exploring Bad Wilhelmshöhe and the enormous Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, including Wilhelmshöhe Palace, Löwenburg and the Hercules monument. We also visited GRIMMWELT, dedicated to the Brothers Grimm, as well as the Technik-Museum and Stadtmuseum Kassel.

Kassel provided yet another contrast. Much of the city was destroyed during the Second World War, giving the centre a predominantly post-war appearance, but the monumental landscape around Wilhelmshöhe survived and provides an extraordinary historical and architectural counterpoint.

One of the pleasures of the trip was the food. German Brauhaus cuisine remains one of the country’s underrated attractions for us: substantial portions, rich sauces, potatoes, Knödel, sausages and generous desserts. We repeatedly found ourselves eating proper restaurant meals rather than the lighter lunches we might normally choose elsewhere.

That was actually one of the small cultural differences we noticed. Finding somewhere for a light lunch was surprisingly difficult. German restaurants tend to offer full meals, while sandwiches, salads or other quick but sit-down options were less common. In the evenings, meanwhile, the smaller cities could become remarkably quiet. After dinner, walking back to our hotels sometimes felt as if everyone else had simply disappeared indoors.

Language was another reminder that we were travelling beyond Germany’s major tourist centres. English was generally less useful than in Berlin, Munich or other international cities. Hotels and restaurants often catered primarily to German visitors, and some museums had little English-language information. Fortunately, we understand enough German to follow conversations and manage the essentials.

And then there was the railway itself.

As railway enthusiasts – and, in our case, people who know something about working on trains – we were struck by how quickly German regional trains stop at stations. Passengers are ready at the doors before the train arrives and board or alight immediately. There is little of the leisurely gathering of luggage and wandering towards the door that can happen on Belgian trains. You have to be ready because the train will not wait.

That became an appropriate theme for a trip deliberately built around regional trains. We travelled through parts of Germany that many international visitors would simply pass through, but that was precisely the point.

Dessau, Weimar, Coburg and Kassel are not Germany’s headline destinations. Yet together they offered an unusually broad cross-section of the country: Bauhaus and modernism, German Classicism, the Weimar Republic, royal dynasties, medieval fortresses, post-war reconstruction, contemporary art, the Brothers Grimm and German industrial history.

For us, that variety was the real success of the trip. Rather than visiting Germany’s biggest cities yet again, we discovered four places with very different identities; and demonstrated once more that travelling by regional train can be a great way of seeing the country beyond the usual tourist circuit.

Christmas market cities: Bonn, Münster, Koblenz

Christmas markets have become something of a tradition for Dennis and me. What started with a weekend in Bonn in 2023 turned into a trilogy: Münster in 2024 and Koblenz in 2025. Each year we deliberately chose a different city, looking for a Christmas market that would give us more than just rows of stalls selling the same decorations and Glühwein.

We also wanted to avoid the biggest and most touristy markets. Cologne and Aachen, for example, are impressive but can feel like mass-tourism events. Bonn seemed a better choice for our first outing: smaller, more manageable and, we hoped, more local.

Bonn, 2023

Dennis came up with the idea of spending a December weekend in Bonn. We arrived on Friday evening and left on Sunday, giving us one full day to explore the city alongside its Christmas market.

Bonn turned out to be an excellent choice. The former capital of West Germany is relatively compact, with a history stretching from Roman times through the Middle Ages to its role as the provisional capital of the German Federal Republic between 1949 and 1990. The city is also inseparable from Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born here in 1770.

We visited Beethoven House, explored the city centre and its historic buildings, and wandered along the Rhine. The Christmas market was the main reason for coming, however, and it gave the weekend its particular atmosphere. The combination of decorated squares, seasonal food and drink and the city’s relatively intimate scale worked very well for us.

We deliberately did not try to see everything Bonn has to offer. Had we visited outside the Advent season, we would have spent more time on museums and landmarks. For a Christmas-market weekend, though, two nights and one full day felt about right.

Bonn also became the benchmark against which the next two Christmas-market trips would be judged.

Münster, 2024

The success of Bonn left us wanting a sequel, so the weekend before Christmas 2024 Dennis and I travelled to Münster, again in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Münster offered a rather different experience. It is a university city and Germany’s bicycle capital, but it also has a remarkable history. We explored the historic centre, including the Prinzipalmarkt, St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Lambert’s Church and the old city hall, where the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648.

The city’s darker history was visible too. Münster was the scene of the radical Anabaptist rebellion in the sixteenth century, and the cages in which its leaders’ bodies were displayed still hang from St Lambert’s tower.

The main attraction, however, was Münster’s six Christmas markets. Rather than having one central market, the city spreads its Advent atmosphere across several locations, making the Christmas-market visit almost a walking tour of the historic centre.

There was also a more contemporary reason to visit: Münster’s reputation as a cycling city was impossible to miss.

Compared with Bonn, however, Münster felt busier and less like the dépaysement we were looking for. There were also many Dutch visitors. As I put it afterwards, if we wanted to see and hear lots of Dutch people, we could simply stay in Antwerp. Of our three Christmas-market weekends, Münster ended up in third place.

Koblenz, 2025

For the third edition, we decided to venture beyond North Rhine-Westphalia. In December 2025 we travelled to Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, where the Rhine and Moselle meet. It was the furthest we had gone from our original Bonn formula, but the city turned out to be a very good setting for the trilogy.

We stayed from Friday evening until Monday morning. On arrival we checked into the Four Points Flex by Sheraton near Koblenz Hauptbahnhof, had dinner at the Alte Brauhaus and, because it was already too late for the Christmas market, went for drinks at Kurioos, Koblenz’s queer bar.

The Christmas market itself occupied several squares around the city centre. We spent most of Saturday wandering between them. Jesuitenplatz, Am Plan, Josef-Görres-Platz, Münzplatz, Willi-Hörter-Platz, Zentralplatz, and Liebfrauenkirche each had their own atmosphere, so the market felt more like a series of small discoveries than one enormous event.

We also discovered that Koblenz’s market is particularly food-and-drink oriented. There seemed to be fewer stalls selling Christmas trinkets than we expected, while seasonal drinks and things to eat were everywhere. We tried regional specialities and, of course, Glühwein and other winter drinks.

The market was busy but remained walkable. That was important to us: unlike Münster, we could move around without feeling overwhelmed. The one thing that caught us out was the relatively early closing time, particularly on Sunday.

Koblenz also gave us the opportunity to turn the Christmas weekend into a broader sightseeing trip.

We visited the Deutsches Eck both by day and at night, standing at the dramatic point where the Moselle flows into the Rhine. We took the cable car across the Rhine to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, enjoying the views over the two rivers and exploring part of the fortress museum. We skipped the more expensive Christmas Garden and visited during the day instead.

We also booked a one-hour Christmas cruise on the Rhine aboard La Paloma, with Glühwein included. The cruise took us towards the Deutsches Eck, giving us a different perspective on Koblenz and the confluence of the two rivers. We enjoyed the atmosphere, although I would have liked some commentary explaining what we were seeing instead of Christmas music alone.

And because three days gave us more room to explore, Dennis wanted to add Idar-Oberstein to the itinerary. We travelled there on Saturday 20 December 2025 and visited the Deutsches Edelsteinmuseum, with its extensive collection of gemstones and its particular focus on the town’s historic agate-cutting industry.

Afterwards we climbed towards Burg Bosselstein and Schloss Oberstein. Schloss Oberstein was closed for the winter, but the hike to the ruined Burg Bosselstein was worth it. In the winter landscape, with the rocks, ruins and Felsenkirche below, it had a distinctly Gothic, romantic and almost Brothers Grimm atmosphere.

The trilogy

Looking back, the three weekends became three quite different Christmas-market experiences.

Bonn was the most intimate and remains my favourite. It had the right balance between Christmas atmosphere, sightseeing and a city that felt lived-in rather than overwhelmed by visitors.

Münster had the most extensive Christmas-market offering, with six markets spread around the city, but it also felt the busiest. The strong Dutch presence diminished the feeling of having gone somewhere different.

Koblenz was somewhere between the two. Its Christmas market was lively but manageable, and the city’s location at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle gave us much more to do beyond the market itself. The fortress, cable car, Deutsches Eck, river cruise and even the excursion to Idar-Oberstein made it the most varied of the three weekends.

So my ranking remains Bonn first, Koblenz second and Münster third. Bonn has the advantage of having been the first, but it also genuinely captured what we were looking for: a cosy German Advent weekend without the feeling of having joined a mass-tourism machine.

And perhaps that is what makes these trips work. We are not really travelling to a Christmas market. The market is the excuse to spend a winter weekend somewhere in Germany, explore a city, eat and drink well, visit a museum or two, and experience a little bit of dépaysement close to home.

Sicily 2025: Syracuse, Catania and Palermo

In March 2025, Danny and I decided to go to Sicily. The plan was ambitious: fly from Brussels to Rome, take a Trenitalia Intercity Notte sleeper train from Roma Termini all the way to Syracuse, cross Sicily by train, visit Catania and Palermo, and then return to Rome and fly home. Yes, the train is loaded onto a ferry to cross the Strait of Messina.

On paper, three cities in four days sounds like a whirlwind. But it didn’t really feel like one. We only needed two hotels, and the distances involved were considerably less intimidating than those of our Andalusia trip two years earlier. Sicily may be almost the size of Belgium, but our itinerary covered only part of the island.

Sicily

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous region of Italy. Separated from mainland Italy by the Strait of Messina, it covers roughly 25,700 square kilometres and has around five million inhabitants.

It is also one of those places where history is impossible to escape. Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Byzantines and various European dynasties all left their mark. The result is an island where Greek theatres, Roman ruins, Arab-influenced food and architecture, and Norman churches can all be found within the same journey.

That cultural layering is really what attracted us. We weren’t looking for a beach holiday. We wanted cities, archaeology, history, food and trains.

And Sicily delivers all of those.

Syracuse: the holiday feeling

We started in Syracuse, and of the three cities it was the one that felt most like a holiday destination.

The city combines the archaeological remains of the ancient Greek and Roman world with the much more intimate historic centre of Ortygia. The Archaeological Park of Neapolis contains the Greek theatre, Roman amphitheatre and Ear of Dionysius, while Ortygia offers narrow streets, elegant squares and the Cathedral of Syracuse, built on the remains of an ancient Greek temple.

Syracuse was also the most leisurely of the three cities we visited. There was a sense that you could simply wander around without constantly having to get somewhere else.

That was probably our favourite aspect of it.

Catania: a real Sicilian city

From Syracuse we made a day trip to Catania.

The contrast was immediate. Catania felt much more like a working city: more people, more young people, a university population, shopping and the general bustle of urban life.

It is also a city dominated by Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest active volcano. Catania’s historic centre is famous for its Baroque architecture and lively markets, while Etna provides a spectacular backdrop and an obvious excursion for visitors staying longer.

We didn’t try to turn the day into an Etna expedition. Our Sicily trip was about experiencing the cities, rather than ticking off every attraction on the island.

And Catania was worth seeing precisely because it felt different from Syracuse.

Palermo: bigger, busier and more chaotic

Then came Palermo, the capital of Sicily.

If Syracuse had the holiday feeling and Catania felt like a working city, Palermo was the full-scale urban experience. It was busier, noisier and more intense, with a much larger population and a seemingly endless supply of things to see.

We explored the city, including its cathedral and the Palazzo dei Normanni with the extraordinary Palatine Chapel. Palermo’s markets and food culture were another reason to visit: arancini, panelle and the many other manifestations of Sicilian street food are very much part of the experience.

Palermo also has the advantage of being a city where simply walking around becomes an archaeological and architectural tour. Norman, Arab, Byzantine, Spanish and Italian influences overlap almost everywhere.

It is not necessarily the relaxing part of a Sicily trip. But it is arguably the most rewarding if you like cities.

Travelling across Sicily by train

The train journey was an important part of the adventure.

We had deliberately chosen to travel around Sicily by rail rather than hire a car. Because Danny doesn’t have a driving license, and mine is restricted due to my handicap. That made the journey itself part of the trip, particularly the remarkable crossing of the Strait of Messina, when the train is loaded onto a ferry.

There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about sitting on a train and then discovering that the entire train is about to board a ship.

We also crossed the island by train between our bases. It made us realise that Sicily is surprisingly accessible without a car, at least if your focus is on the major cities and railway-connected destinations.

What we didn’t see

Of course, three cities in four days meant leaving an enormous amount of Sicily unexplored.

We didn’t visit Agrigento, despite the Valley of the Temples being one of the island’s great archaeological attractions. We also missed Taormina, Noto and Cefalù.

And once we started looking at what we had missed, the list became even longer: Erice, the Aeolian Islands, Mount Etna itself, the western coast, the beaches and nature reserves.

Noto was particularly frustrating because we discovered it almost accidentally. We passed through the station on our cross-country train journey, and the automated announcement was made not only in Italian and English but also German. That was enough to make us wonder what we were missing.

Then there is Taormina, perched on Mount Tauro with views towards the Ionian Sea and Etna. Its ancient theatre and dramatic setting make it an obvious addition to a future trip.

And Cefalù, on the northern coast, combines a Norman cathedral, medieval streets, a dramatic rocky backdrop and a beach.

So, in a sense, the trip succeeded too well: it gave us enough of Sicily to make us want to return.

So?

Our Sicily trip was successful.

We visited three cities in four days, travelled on both night and day trains, crossed the Strait of Messina by train ferry and experienced three quite different versions of Sicily.

Syracuse was the relaxed one, with the strongest holiday atmosphere. Catania was the energetic working city. Palermo was the big, complicated, historic capital.

Rather than feeling that we had rushed through Sicily, we came away with the feeling that we had sampled three very different parts of it.

But Sicily also made clear that four days are nowhere near enough.

There is Agrigento, Taormina, Noto and Cefalù. There is Etna, the western coast, the Aeolian Islands, Erice, the nature reserves and countless smaller towns. There is more archaeology, more Baroque architecture, more food and, presumably, more trains.

So yes: there is definitely cause to return.

Baltic States: Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius

In August 2025, we set off for a week-long trip through the three Baltic capitals: Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia, and Vilnius in Lithuania. We combined culture, history, rail travel and a bit of comfort, flying business class thanks to Brussels Airlines miles and making use of airport lounges in Brussels and Munich.

We started in Tallinn, where we stayed at the Swissôtel. We explored the Linnahall, a monumental relic of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and the Lennusadam Seaplane Harbour, where the restored submarine Lembit was one of the highlights. In the Old Town we visited the Estonian History Museum in the Great Guild Hall and the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom, including its LGBT audio tour about queer life under Soviet rule. We also sampled Estonian food, including dumplings and bear meatballs at Troika, followed by dinner at Rataskaevu 16.

From Tallinn we travelled south to Riga, staying at the Pullman. After a swim and dinner at Senās Tradīcijas, we explored Riga Castle and the National Museum of History, followed by the city’s famous Art Nouveau heritage at the Riga Art Nouveau Centre and the Rozentāls and Blaumanis Museum. We also visited the Latvian Railway History Museum, Riga Ghetto and the Latvian Academy of Sciences, and had dinner at 3 Pavāru Restorāns. On our second day we continued with the Museum of the Barricades of 1991 and the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.

The final leg took us to Vilnius, where we stayed at the Radisson Collection Astorija Hotel Vilnius. Our first day combined two very different subjects: railways and Lithuanian history. We visited the Railway Museum at Vilnius Central Railway Station before exploring the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and Gediminas’ Tower. We had dinner at Etno Dvaras, enjoying hearty Lithuanian cuisine. The following day we visited the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in the former KGB headquarters, including its prison cells and interrogation rooms — a particularly sobering reminder of Lithuania’s experience under Nazi and Soviet rule.

The trip also gave us plenty of opportunity to compare the three countries. English was remarkably easy throughout the capitals, particularly among younger people, making Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius straightforward destinations for travellers who do not speak the local languages.

We noticed that the Baltics are essentially cashless societies, with Visa and Mastercard accepted almost everywhere, while American Express was rarely accepted, even at international hotels. Tipping was much more restrained than in North America: generally a modest 5–10% for good service, or simply rounding up.

Another impression was how clean, well-maintained and safe all three capitals felt. We also became increasingly aware of the region’s relationship with Russia. The Soviet past is impossible to ignore, whether through museums, architecture or historical memory, while Ukrainian flags were everywhere and support for Ukraine was clearly visible in all three countries.

And then there was Rail Baltica. The three capitals are connected by rail, but not yet in the straightforward way one might expect from a European capital-to-capital journey. We travelled by train through the existing network, while the long-delayed Rail Baltica megaproject promises to transform connections between the Baltic states and the rest of the European railway network.

So? We both really enjoyed the Baltic trip. The capitals proved easy to navigate, culturally interesting and accessible despite their unfamiliar languages. They are no longer ultra-cheap destinations, but they remain cheaper than much of Western Europe. Most importantly, we did not encounter the kind of overtourism that has become a problem in many better-known European destinations.

It was a week of three capitals, three very different histories and plenty of railways, and a reminder that the Baltic states are still something of an underappreciated corner of Europe.

EUROPE | 5 combinations of one-day-cities you can visit in one-week trips

From Saxony to Bavaria: Leipzig, Nuremberg and Regensburg

‘Regional’ Germany: Dessau, Weimar, Coburg and Kassel

Christmas market cities: Bonn, Münster, Koblenz

Bonn, 2023

Münster, 2024

Koblenz, 2025

The trilogy

Sicily 2025: Syracuse, Catania and Palermo

Sicily

Syracuse: the holiday feeling

Catania: a real Sicilian city

Palermo: bigger, busier and more chaotic

Travelling across Sicily by train

What we didn’t see

So?

Baltic States: Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius

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From Saxony to Bavaria: Leipzig, Nuremberg and Regensburg

‘Regional’ Germany: Dessau, Weimar, Coburg and Kassel

Christmas market cities: Bonn, Münster, Koblenz

Bonn, 2023

Münster, 2024

Koblenz, 2025

The trilogy

Sicily 2025: Syracuse, Catania and Palermo

Sicily

Syracuse: the holiday feeling

Catania: a real Sicilian city

Palermo: bigger, busier and more chaotic

Travelling across Sicily by train

What we didn’t see

So?

Baltic States: Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius

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