Bergamo, Italy Largely ignored by travellers in favour of nearby Milan, Bergamo is Lombardy's "finest hill town", according to Janette Griffiths , while its Piazza Vecchia is "one of the loveliest" in Italy. The journalist and broadcaster Sian Williams is also a fan: "It's a charming walled city with lovely little winding streets where you can pick up a gelato, and is also the perfect base from which to explore the Lombardy countryside and the Italian lakes. The city and surrounding area are so romantic and just made for a short spring break."
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Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain Overshadowed by its glitzier sisters Bilbao and San Sebastian, Vitoria-Gasteiz is the Basque Country's forgotten gem, according to Tim Pozzi . He adds: "From early evening until midnight, the atmosphere around the central plazas and their bar-crammed side streets is as convivial as any I've encountered. It's that familiar Mediterranean thing of people strolling, gossiping, waving wine glasses about, while seniors play cards and kids muck about on the steps of venerable churches." There are noble 15th and 16th-century palaces and gorgeous, narrow-fronted belle époque houses to admire, pintxos to devour, and art galleries and museums to explore, while its pièce de resistance is the 13th-century cathedral of Santa María.
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Tavira, Portugal To glimpse what the Algarve looked like before mass tourism, head to Tavira, says Helen Pickles . "Straddling the Gilão river, it exudes an authentic Portuguese charm," she adds. "Big hotels are few, churches are many, fishing boats crowd the water and everyone has time to dawdle. Layers of history can be seen, from Phoenician excavations through Islamic-decorated doorways to Renaissance and Baroque flourishes. However, it is the colours that hit you: blinding-white walls, brilliant azulejo tiles, fiery-red pantiles. "I climbed cobbled streets to the ramparts of the ruined Castelo and looked down over waves of triangular hipped roofs, spikes of lacework-white chimney pots, and the graceful domes and towers of the town's 22 churches. The river sprawled into the Ria Formosa lagoon, a rich nature reserve bordered by an eight-mile-long string of golden sands."
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Osijek, Croatia Ryanair added the rather obscure Croatian city of Osijek to its route map last year. Adrian Bridge describes it as a "modestly-sized city (pop 114,000), picturesquely positioned on the river Drava. Attractions include a fortified centre (the Tvrda) dating back to the 18th century, the splendid neo-Gothic Church of St Peter and St Paul and the grand Europska Avenija, along which can be seen some excellent examples of the Art Nouveau architecture popular in this part of the world in the late 19th century." Visitors should consider day trips north, to the immaculately preserved traditional village of Karanac; west, to the Djakovo stud farm, in which the world famous white Lipizzaner horses are bred; or south to Vukovar, the city on the Danube that became a symbol of the Yugoslav wars. Otherwise, to sample Croatia's Dalmatian Coast without the crowds, head north to the walled port of Zadar.
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Umea, Sweden Last year's European Capital of Culture, but we'd wager still largely unknown among British travellers, Umea has a tranquil riverside setting and is the former home of Stieg Larsson, author of The Girl with Dragon Tattoo. Telegraph Travel's Soo Kim writes: "It is a great base for outdoor pursuits, from kayaking around the Kvarken Archipelago to snowmobile rides and dog-sledding in winter." Other attractions include the camps of the Sami, the northernmost indigenous people of Europe, an open-air sculpture park, and a burgeoning fine dining scene.
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Treviso, Italy No-frills flights to Venice often land in Treviso, some 20 miles away. But there's good reason to delay the onward trip, reckons Lee Langley . He adds: "The centre of Treviso is a little walled city, with medieval gates, narrow, cobbled streets of arcaded rose-red brick and stone that twist and turn like dried-out water courses - which is what some of them originally were. Tiny canals run past handkerchief-sized gardens, glide beneath houses, appear at street corners. Gushing millstreams, some with black water-wheels that once had a commercial purpose, now turn lazily, playing a purely decorative role."
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Tbilisi, Georgia Claire Allfree recommends getting lost in the splendour of the Georgian capital . She writes: "These days, its fine Art Nouveau buildings and pretty, traditional balconied houses are what some would call shabby chic: if any city needed a good lick of Farrow and Ball, this one does. Yet new hotels and shopping malls are springing up and gentrification is under way in its more historic districts. Determinedly looking towards Europe, Tbilisi feels like a city finally coming into itself. In other words, get here fast before everyone else does." Katie Melua, the singer, is another fan - it is, after all, her childhood home. "It's steeped in history - the Old Town, with its twisting alleys, is particularly fascinating," she says. "It's a city that's very much off the beaten track. Not many tourists have been there, which makes it all the more worth visiting."
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Nantes, France "Long rated one of France's best places to live, the capital of the western Loire has changed from provincial town to buzzing city ," says Kathy Arnold. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the Île de Nantes, a three-mile-long island in the Loire, that has been transformed from docklands to an urban playground. "Some buildings are new, such as the dramatic Palais de Justice; many are historic, including warehouses converted into cafés and artists' studios," she adds. "There are parks, gardens - and some of the quirkiest art installations I have seen," she adds. "Nantes is also known for its art de vivre, and is home to one of France's top symphony orchestras and a fine opera company that performs in the Théâtre Graslin." Another unsung option in France is Nancy , around 90 minutes from Paris by train.
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Bregenz, Austria This small city on the shores of Lake Constance is best known for its spectacular summer music festival - which features an enormous "floating" stage. But Bregenz is worth a visit any time, says Kathy Arnold , thanks to its "medieval streets for strolling, cafés for lingering and the Pfänder mountain behind for oh-wow views".
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Sion, Switzerland Another city with a dramatic setting, Sion is dominated by two rocky outcrops, atop which sit a pair of castles, and is backed by the immense heights of the Bernese Alps. Adrian Woodford, writing for Telegraph Travel , added: "Even with a population of just 30,000 people, Sion still lives life like a capital, boasting an elegant town hall, an extensive array of museums and medieval churches, and a café culture that puts much of the Mediterranean to shame."
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Segovia, Spain "Go to Segovia for one single stunning Roman view, and a spectacular piece of Roman engineering," advises Mary Beard . "The huge aqueduct, built at the end of the first century AD, on a series of double-decker arches almost thirty metres tall, still comes right into the middle of the modern town, dominating the central square. There is little else Roman to be seen, but Segovia is a World Heritage Site, not simply for the aqueduct, but also for its medieval architecture, from palace and cathedral to monasteries and taverns."
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Guimarães, Portugal "If any city can be described as adorable, then it is Guimarães," says Tim Pozzi of Portugal's down-to-earth former capital . "Its pedestrianised heart is a web of gently winding cobbled streets and washing-hung alleyways bejewelled with tiny bars and cute cafés. Those alleyways lead to pretty plazas that, rather satisfyingly, tend to be any shape but square, while its dinky, idiosyncratic shops, are a joy to discover."
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Lubeck, Germany Hamburg Lübeck Airport is mostly used by fliers heading to Hamburg. Considering Lübeck is far closer, and is a Unesco World Heritage site sometimes described as the "Venice of the Baltic", this is somewhat surprising. "Though compact - it's on an island surrounded by the Trave river - it's rich in history, with towering churches, significant medieval buildings and serene squares," said Adam Cannon, following a visit . Nick Harrison described it as "a sleeping beauty that dominated northern European trade in the Middle Ages, defied a campaigning Hitler in 1932 and was the birthplace of three Nobel Prize winners."
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Wroclaw, Poland It's usually overshadowed by Krakow, maybe because it's so hard to pronounce ("It's actually "vrot-swaff"), but that could change next year when it is installed as 2016 European Capital of Culture (along with San Sebastian in Spain). It's packed with handsome buildings and cultural treats, from Ostrów Tumski - "Cathedral Island" - to Rynek, its ancient market square, overlooked by the resplendent 14th-century City Hall.
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Plovdiv, Bulgaria Ryanair flies direct to Plovdiv, and Robert Nurden, a former resident of Bulgaria, would urge everyone to go . "Plovdivians refer to themselves as the ailiatsi, or laid-back ones," he says. "There is certainly an unhurried confidence about them as they saunter down the mile-long pedestrianised main street, where the rationale for every shop seems to be the adornment of the female form - not that the beautiful women of Plovdiv need much help. "The main draw is the Old Town, which nestles on top of, and cascades down, three hills. There are Thracian and Greek remains alongside the Roman ones and they in turn lie next to, and beneath, 400 recently restored Revival-style houses, 19th-century wooden-frame constructions built by the emerging class of Bulgarian merchants who eventually saw off the Turks."
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Trieste, Italy The Italian port of Trieste bristles with life , has a fascinating history and serves - probably - the finest coffee in the country, according to Helen Pickles. "To discover the secret of a happy life head to Trieste, the Italian port tucked inside the Slovenian border," she adds. "The Triestini embrace life with a passion that is palpable and infectious, if the chatter at evening aperitivo is anything to go by. And at the merest hint of sunshine, Triestini are off to the nearby seaside, Barcola, even in November, and even though it's a concrete strip. "This unsquashable humour is no doubt born of being a frontier city, variously owned or occupied by the Romans, Habsburgs, Mussolini's regime, Germans and Allied Forces, only finally returning to Italy in 1954. The consequence is a glorious jumble of architectural and ethnic influences. In the space of 15 minutes, I came across Serbian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and Helvetic Evangelist churches, while the city's synagogue is one of the largest in Europe."
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Aarhus , Denmark Denmark's second largest city is mostly ignored in favour of Copenhagen. A great shame, according to Nick Harrison. "It finds the perfect balance between history and vibrant innovation," he writes. "From the top of the 310ft bell tower of the city's beautiful 12th-century Domkirke I can see the spires of the 15th-century Church of Our Lady, underneath which are the remains of Scandinavia's oldest stone church. But as part of the same view I cannot miss the bold rainbow-coloured roof of the ARoS modern art museum."
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Braga, Portugal Football fans might have come across this city before - it is home to one of the most striking stadiums in the world, carved into the side of a rock face. Elsewhere you'll find Portugal's oldest cathedral , a rich Roman heritage, vibrant cafés and some of the country's finest cuisine.
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Eger, Hungary Less than 100 miles from Budapest, Eger is on far fewer travel itineraries . It's a city of narrow café-lined streets with Hungary's finest Baroque church and a remarkable 14-sided minaret that boasts wonderful views. Eger's hero is Dobó, a 16th-century soldier who sarcophagus is visited by devotees with the same solemnity demanded of a trip to Lenin's tomb on Red Square.
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Maribor, Slovenia Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, is hardly oversubscribed, but even fewer tourists find their way to Maribor, European Capital of Culture in 2012 . November, however, might not be the best month to go. "They say there is only one month of the year when you shouldn't visit Maribor," says Anthony Gardner. "In midwinter it has world-class skiing; in spring the Kurent Carnival, populated by outlandish mythological figures, takes place in nearby Ptuj; in summer the riverside Lent quarter is taken over by musicians and street performers; in autumn the surrounding vineyards celebrate their harvest. November alone is considered too gloomy to bother with." Wait until next month...
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