# Favorite medieval towns in Europe



## Carolinian

What are your favorite medieval towns in Europe?

Mine would be:

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Rovinj, Croatia
Piran, Slovenia
Sigheshoara, Romania
Arges Mortes (sp?), France
Rhodes, Greece
Mdina, Malta
Sopron, Hungary


----------



## nonutrix

Mine are:

Carcasonne, France
Sarlat, France
Vaison-la-Romaine, France
Bruges, Belgium
Toledo, Spain
Avila, Spain

Stay one or more nights to savor the experience without the tourists.

nonutrix


----------



## johnmfaeth

Avebury, England
Canterbury, England
Rothenburg ab die Tauber, Bavaria, Germany
Regensberg, Germany (town center)


----------



## Fletcher921

Eze, France
or
Dubrovnik, Croatia


----------



## PeelBoy

*Tocana*

Mine are all hill towns up Tuscany, Italy.  Just too many to list.


----------



## X-ring

Assisi & Lucca - Italy
Iona & Dunfermline, Scotland
Honfleur, Mont St. Michel, St. Malo & St. Jean de Luz - France
Trier - Germany


----------



## deh333

My favorite, though I have only travelled to Europe a few times, are:

Rothenburg ab die Tauber, Bavaria, Germany
Bruges, Brussles
Trier, Germany


----------



## Timeshare Von

Sigh!!   So many wonderful places to see and explore!  Thanks for the wonderful topic and suggestions.

I've have very limited international travel and look forward to seeing more of the world in the coming years!

With that being said, we did love York, England and Stirling, Scotland . . . as well as Edinburgh.

Yvonne


----------



## Linda74

Mine would be:


Rhodestown, Rhodes, Greece
Brugge, Belgium
Cesky Krumlov


----------



## Corinne

My favorites - 
     Hall, Austria
     Cinque Terre, especially Vernazza

-Corinne


----------



## taffy19

Spain has some nice old medieval towns too like Granada, Sevilla, Cordova, Ronda and Cadiz. I also vote for Bruge in Belgium and Nancy in France.

I arrived here late at night in a tour bus on Place de Stanislas and could not believe my eyes. All the golden gates were lit up and the square was very large. It was so beautiful, especially at night. I was only nineteen so it made a very big impression on me.


----------



## Laurie

It's hard to narrow this down!

France: Sarlat, St. Cirq la Popie, Monpazier, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Rousillon, Roquebrune, Colmar

Italy: Assisi, Loro Ciuffenna, Castelrotto

Switzerland: Gruyeres (after 5 on a rainy day)

Austria: Hallstadt

Spain: Mojacar, Casares, Avila

Denmark: Helsingor


----------



## LisaH

I agree with Casares. So many people went to Costa del Sol region without seeing Casares. It's a very easy drive there.
Bruge is also wonderful to visit. Too bad I have not visited most of the places listed here.


----------



## Carolinian

Here are several on my list to visit.  Has anyone been to any of them?:

Velike Turnovo, Bulgaria
Ochrid, Macedonia
the Golden Ring towns around Moscow, Russia
Kam'yanets-Podilskyy, Ukraine


----------



## Kola

Carolinian said:


> Here are several on my list to visit.  Has anyone been to any of them?:
> 
> Velike Turnovo, Bulgaria
> Ochrid, Macedonia
> the Golden Ring towns around Moscow, Russia
> Kam'yanets-Podilskyy, Ukraine



I haven't been to Bulgaria, but Macedonia should be interesting.

Instead of the so called Golden Ring around Moscow, which I have seen only in part ( unimpressed), I would recommend Chernihiv, an ancient city 
( established VII cent.) north of Kyiv, where you will find the five-domed Cathedral of Our Savior (as old as St. Sophia in Kyiv), the Cathedrals of Boris and Hlib (built about 1120), the Yeletsky monastery (12th century) and a few other jewels of ancient Byzantine architecture. 

Kam'yanets Podilskyy in the Khmelnycky oblast of Ukraine boast its 11th cent. well preserved fortress, expanded and rebuilt in the 16th cent. by addition of seven defensive towers. There are several cathedrals built either of stone or wood dating to 14th - 16th cent. An interesting and unique mix of Byzantine, Turkish, Armenian, Italian and Polish architecture. The city is well worth visiting but unless you understand Ukrainian or Polish, an English-speaking guide is a must. There are other smaller towns in the same area (like Bakota with ruins of a cave monastery) where a competent guide could take you. A decent hotel is easier to get in the city of Khmelnycky but private apartments are available in both.

Kola


----------



## Kola

*Some suggestions in Poland*

*Marienburg Castle *on the Nogat river north of Warsaw, Poland, 50 km south of Gdansk. It was built in late 13th cent. and served as the seat of the Grand Master of Teutonic Knights. It was restored in 1950s-60s after being used as a POW site by the Germans in WWII. On display in the castle are permanent exhibits of medieval art, weapons, medals, etc.

*Wieliczka salt mine *near Krakow, Poland. Dating back over 900 years it reaches some 1000ft below ground. Of prime interest is the underground chapel, richly ornamented, decorated with beautiful chandaliers, it boasts  unique acoustics.

*Krakow *itself, an ancient (1038) capital of Poland, fortunately survived WWII without destruction ( in stark contrast to Warsaw). The Wawel Cathedral is Poland's national sanctuary and served as a coronation site of the Polish royalty.

There are many more sites worth visiting, the most prominent one is Czestochowa with its historic Cathedral. 

Now that Poland is a member of the EU travel is easy and convenient.

Kola


----------



## Carolinian

I have enjoyed Poland, and travel there was also convenient (and cheaper!) before it joined the EU.

I concur about Marienburg Castle, and Krakow.  Marienburg is an easy train ride from Gdansk/Danzig.  Both Krakow and Gdansk/Danzig are easily and cheaply accessed on LCC flights.  I flew EasyJet to Krakow and Ryan Air to Gdansk/Danzig.

The old towns of both Warsaw and Gdansk/Danzig have been amazingly recreated from the rubble of WWII, and it is sometimes hard to realize that they are mostly not the medieval original, but I prefer the real thing in Krakow.

Lublin and Torun are other Polish medieval cities or towns that I enjoyed.



Kola said:


> *Marienburg Castle *on the Nogat river north of Warsaw, Poland, 50 km south of Gdansk. It was built in late 13th cent. and served as the seat of the Grand Master of Teutonic Knights. It was restored in 1950s-60s after being used as a POW site by the Germans in WWII. On display in the castle are permanent exhibits of medieval art, weapons, medals, etc.
> 
> *Wieliczka salt mine *near Krakow, Poland. Dating back over 900 years it reaches some 1000ft below ground. Of prime interest is the underground chapel, richly ornamented, decorated with beautiful chandaliers, it boasts  unique acoustics.
> 
> *Krakow *itself, an ancient (1038) capital of Poland, fortunately survived WWII without destruction ( in stark contrast to Warsaw). The Wawel Cathedral is Poland's national sanctuary and served as a coronation site of the Polish royalty.
> 
> There are many more sites worth visiting, the most prominent one is Czestochowa with its historic Cathedral.
> 
> Now that Poland is a member of the EU travel is easy and convenient.
> 
> Kola


----------



## julle

Laurie was so kind and mention Helsinør, Denmark. This is a very nice city, but I would like to add the oldest city in Denmark, Ribe, dating back to the 8th. Century.

Hotel Fanø Badeland  RCI #4846  is the closest timeshare resort to Ribe.


----------



## nkosi278

So many good places have been mentioned here (a goodly number of which i have been to) so I will try to add a few that are not on too many lists.
hmmmm........

UK:  St Andrews, Warwick 
Spain: San Sebastian, Santa Cruz de Teneriffe
France: Lille (town centre), Orleans (town centre / Rue Royale)
Italy: Florence, Siena
Slovakia: Kosice (town centre)
Poland: Krakow (I know, it has been mentioned!!)
Czech Republic: Brno (town centre...also a great old railway station!)
now I am a VERY privileged person as I have been to each of the above ON BUSINESS.....with my company picking up the tab....

All nice places but none so nice as the old mediaeval city (founded in 777AD) and a former "Free City of the Empire" aka Alte Reichstadt, where I lived from 1966 to 1969 and where both my daughters were born...so they are "Schawabenmaedels"..........
           ESSLINGEN AM NECKAR

www.esslingen-tourist.de/english/Aktuell.htm

nkosi


----------



## Carolinian

I will add another great one I just visited - Kotor, Montenegro


----------



## Kola

Carolinian said:


> I will add another great one I just visited - Kotor, Montenegro



Tell us more. Why is it worth visiting ?
I assume your "just visited"  means January or Febr. ? How was the climate ?

Kola


----------



## Carolinian

Actually, I am still in Europe ön the return from the trip, övernighting at Limburg on the Lahn in Germany before flying home tommorrow from Frankfurt.  I was in Montenegro several days ago.

The weather had generally been in the 50s and except for öne morning in Belgrade, clear.

Kotor has a deep harbor off the Adriatic and was an important port in times past, but now is only üsed for pleasure boats.  The old town still sits within its medieval walls, which includes one the zigzags up the mountain above the town to the castle on its crest.  Most of the buildings within the walls date back centuries and are mostly well kept up.  There have been a few additions   by occupying powers through the years such as a hospital and a military barracks just inside one of the gates built by the Venetians in the 1700s and a small prison built by the Austrians in the early 1800s.  The church on the main square goes back to the 1200s.

Montenegro is quite mountainous, and the bus ride from the present capital of Podgorica is very scenic, passing a couple of other castles along the way.  Also along the way is the resort town of Budva, which itself has a smaller but interesting old town, and Cetinje, the capital of the principality and then kingdom of Montenegro for centuries until it was involuntarily incoporated into Yugoslavia in 1918.  Cetinje has a couple of royal palaces, other old government buildings, and former embassies, as well as a beautiful old monastery.

The train ride through the mountains from Belgrade to Podgorica is also very scenic.

And speaking of medieval towns, I should not forget the one I am presently sitting in, Limburg on the Lahn, with its 14th century cathedral, castle, medieval bridge over the Lahn with its fortified tower on the far bank (still used for vehicle traffic!), and town center packed full of half-timbered houses.  This makes an exellent place to overnight before a flight home from Frankfurt.  It is only 18 minutes by ICE fast train from Limburg to the Frankfurt airport rail station, but if you have to take the old train and connect at Frankfurt hauptbahnhof, then it is an hour and a half to the airport.  When I use a rental car to get around in Germany, I usually use another medieval town to overnight before flying out of Frankfurt, Wetzlar.




Kola said:


> Tell us more. Why is it worth visiting ?
> I assume your "just visited"  means January or Febr. ? How was the climate ?
> 
> Kola


----------



## Kaye

This is a great post!  I've just made reservations to do a week in Apr '08 at the MacDonald Villacana near Estopona and a week at the VIME Tierra Mar Golf in the Costa de la Luz.  I liked reading that one poster mentioned 5 towns in the area that will give a wonderful Medieval tone to my trip.  I've got Hawaii and Cancun before this trip, but I cannot wait for this trip to arrive.


----------



## vacationhopeful

*Karlovy Vary*

Czech - Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) - 2 hours west via bus (airport pickup - skip Prague).  Was there 6 weeks before filming started for "Last Holiday" with Queen Latiffa and LL Cool J.  They only did 1 blue screen scene in that movie.  Filmed Casino Royal (last James Bond) in same hotel.  Has the one and only Becherovka (with tour - tasting room, great) Liqueur - national drink after Pilsner beer.

Been twice in late November, has several hot spring spas (including the cheap municipal one - single sex AM session, coed afternoon). So very relaxing, great food, Viennese pastry - oh, did I mention crystal (Moser factory $$$$$$, Bohemia cut much cheaper) and lace and amber.

Budapest was too much fun also.  Krakow was another winner. 

Must go back ...


----------



## Rmelnyk

*Old Towns*

Leaving this Monday for Prague, Budapest, Munich, and de Sweiz.  The info was great on the old medieval towns.  Will try and hit several.  Will keep you informed when I get back.
Roman


----------



## EAM

Heidelberg, Germany


----------



## Aldo

I've not traveled extensively in Europe, but I'd mention Carassonne, France, La Couvertoide, France (a tiny village of the Knights Templars) and Canterbury, England.


----------

