5 Gorgeous Day Trips from Major European Cities
If you're spending a few weeks traveling Europe, you might need a break from the big cities. Here's a few smaller destinations we loved, and how to easily get there!
5. Antwerp, Belgium
To be honest, these daytrips are characterized by a distinct lack of itineraries: but in these smaller cities, sometimes the best thing you can do is wander, soak in the views and enjoy it with good travel friends! Antwerp was certainly one of those cities; though to be fair, we arrived from an overnight MegaBus from Paris at 5 in the morning, so it was still dark! We made our way to Schelde River, got a little gas station coffee, and the cloudy sunrise was worth the bitter cold as I sat with what would become two of my best friends throughout my travels, in Europe and beyond.
Check out the ships along the river, and head back inland to wander the ornate buildings, unusual trees and statues.
To be honest, we ended up playing on a playground while we waited for our train to Brussels (many shops were still not open since we went on a Monday) but Antwerp is definitely a beautiful harbor stop that is worth a stopover from Paris or Brussels! It breaks up the bus ride as well between those larger cities.
4. Geneva, Switzerland
This one is a bit of stretch, since we spent a day here as the result of a long layover between flights! Nonetheless, 8 hours was the perfect amount of time to spend here. We stashed our packs in lockers and (for some reason) decided to head towards the city on foot. While it ended up being a much longer walk than we expected, the views of the Swiss Alps and fields were beautiful! (Make sure you check the scale on those handy offline maps). We finally found our way to the Lac Leman (and experienced our first European topless beach much to our surprise) and had our first glimpse of the geyser, Jet d'Eau.
Make your way along the lake's edge and you'll be in the downtown area--the cleanest city we visited in all of Europe! It was also the most expensive (that strong Swiss Franc), so prepare to spend a little more on your coffee or meals. We travelled to Geneva on a Sunday, so we found the streets utterly deserted. We were very confused for the first few hours of our trip, before we made it back around to the shore of Le Rhone: and found the entire city was out sunbathing or playing with their children and families! Like our other day trip
destinations, we enjoyed and recommend ditching the itinerary and wandering your way around the the lake, taking in the geyser, colorful bridges, beautiful flowers and grabbing some form of Swiss chocolate.
I chose ice cream. We also recommend taking the tram back to the airport: it was inexpensive and had us back in about 10 minutes!
3. Cardiff, Wales
The capitol of Wales was one of our favorite daytrips of our entire semester abroad! We were coming from Coventry, but you can get there in under 3 hours by bus from London: I spotted a National Express deal for just 5 pounds! If you get there early enough, grab a Welsh breakfast: like an English breakfast (with baked beans, sausage and a grilled tomato) but with black pudding--you can look up what's in it for yourself. Grab a cappachino like this one too!
We did the city by foot: make sure you stop by Cardiff Castle (check out those gargoyles!), and Cardiff City Hall on your way to the bay. On the edge of Cardiff Bay (gorgeous!) make sure you step inside the National Asssembly of Wales, Senedd: the architecture inside is modern and amazing!
We really enjoyed walking along the bay, and if you're a nerd like me... there's a Doctor Who Museum! I also got to engage in a little family history, taking in the island named after my family out in the bay.
We wanted to climb higher to watch the sunset, so we headed over a residential hill, and wound up in Penarth, a nearby town on the coast! (I certainly got enough exercise while traveling Europe).
Grab some seafood and walk along the pier if you too find yourself wandering away from Cardiff.
2. Hallstatt, Austria
We actually found out about this destination from a friend we made in our hostel in Salzburg! We were headed to Vienna by train the next day, but after hearing our friend's stories of a picturesque town nestled in the mountains, we rerouted our tickets for only a few more euro. We spent only a few hours here, but by the number of photos you'd think we stayed for days. The train leaves you on a small platform by the lake so you can only access the city by ferry--and the view from the water is beautiful! It was a breath of fresh air (we didn't even know we needed) after so many weeks in hostels and busy cities: like spending a few hours in a postcard. Spend some time wandering the streets and grabbing cocoa or walking along the lake and taking in the mountains. My travel buddy and I actually got caught in a MASSIVE freezing rainstorm, and it was still one of our favorite stops: we just spent a bit more of our time hopping into small shops and eating bratwurst (of course). After an hour or two, you have to head up the mountain! For a few euro you can ride in a cable car up the Hallstatt Salt Mines to a looming platform, where you can see miles of countryside. For a moment, the rain cleared and it was one of our favorite moments in our entire semester abroad.
If you're feeling daring, you can climb up to really feel up in the clouds! Plan your ferry departure time right and you can hop right back on the train to Vienna, and right back on your travel schedule.
Fun Facts: it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the village is so cute, there was an exact replica made of it in China!
1. Toledo, Spain
We heard about this spot from a friend as well: another member of our travel group who had visited Spain earlier in the semester. After seeing her pictures, we knew it would be worth the extra day during our trip to Madrid! Round trip train tickets can be purchased easily at the Madrid Atocha Railway Station, a stop of the metro. Make sure to go early in the morning, however, the lines can get quite long to purchase tickets. Once we made it to Toledo train station, my Canadian travel buddy was already beginning to melt in the Spanish heat--but after a short walk to the city it was already worth it for this initial view! Prepare for stairs, stairs and more stairs as you climb the fairytale-castle like walls, and prepare for views like this:
Spend the rest of your afternoon wandering the maze of stone walled streets, dipping under cloth canopies and historic gates, sipping gazpacho and eating marzipan made by nuns! We enjoyed skipping the itenirary and wandering our way through the city for the day.
On the way back from the train station, make sure to walk along the Puente de Alcantara (looks like the city has a moat!) and if you're feeling daring, dip inside an abandoned Tajo. We loved our day in Toledo!
See if you can fit a few of these into your European journey! Comment below if you can think of other great destination day trips.