From the ever-sophisticated tastes of Switzerland and Austria, to the wild passion of Spain, these Loops will give you a taste of the broad spectrum that is Europe.
Jump right into the thick of things in Amsterdam, where you’ll be proud of yourself if you make time to see sights more interesting than the inside of a coffee house. Visit Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, walk along Charles Bridge in Prague, and then spend a few days tubing down the lazy river in Cesky Krumlov, staring up at the spires of the medieval castle as you float by. After a quick waltz through the classical music capital of Vienna, stop in Salzburg to see the largest ice caves in Europe and the world’s best beerhalls in Munich.
Head down to Paris for a climb up the Eiffel Tower, then climb even higher in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Do some celebrity-spotting and villa-hopping in glorious Lake Como, then get even more luxurious along the French Riviera in Nice. Everything gets hotter when you cross the border into Spain; the Flamenco in Barcelona, the paella in Valencia, sexy Spaniards cruising Madrid’s plazas and the best city beaches in elegant San Sebastian. Cool your Spanish fever when you return to France with a refreshing tour of the wineries in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley, where you can drink a toast to the times you’ve had.
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What can be said about the sexy, sophisticated City of Lights that hasn’t been said before? Quite simply, this is one of the world’s great
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Touristy, overcrowded and a tad fake: preface any other
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Amsterdam’s always been a liberal place, ever since the Golden Age, when it led European art and trade. Centuries later, in the 1960s
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Apologies to Samuel Johnson, who first coined the compliment for London, but in the 21st century anyone who is tired of Berlin is tired
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Germany’s eastern heartland is for many people (Germans included) the most historically German. Together with Brandenburg, East Berlin
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It’s the perfect irony of Prague. You’re lured there by the past, but compelled to linger by the present and the future. Fill your days
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Crowned by an audacious castle and centred on an elegant old town square, Český Krumlov is a pocket-sized Prague. Renaissance and bar
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The Ottomans referred to Vienna (Wien) as the city of the ‘golden apple’, but this crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe is more akin
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The joke ‘if it’s baroque, don’t fix it’ would make a perfect maxim for Salzburg; the tranquil old town burrowed in below steep hills
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Munich (München) is truly the capital of all things Bavarian. It’s a heady mix of world-class museums, historic sites, cosmopolitan shop
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Hemmed in by grape-covered hills, residents of prosperous Stuttgart enjoy a high quality of life. Just watch them zip about in their
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One of the planet’s most underrated capitals, Bern is a fabulous find. With the genteel, old soul of a Renaissance man and the heart of
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Tiny Lauterbrunnen, with its attractive main street cluttered with Swiss chalet architecture, is friendly and down-to-earth. It’s know
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Naughty Nice is one of the highlights of the French Riviera. Sun seekers sip cocktails on parasoled lounges lining its pebbled shores,
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Avignon is synonymous in France today with the annual performing arts festival held here each summer but there’s plenty
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Perhaps Spain’s most un-Spanish city, stylish Barcelona is a forward-thinking place, always on the cutting edge of art, design, and cuisine
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The birthplace of paella, the home of the Holy Grail and the host of the 2007 America’s Cup, Valencia is a friendly, if slightly chaotic city. Hugging
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Spain’s capital is a vibrant place, the hub of the country’s government and commerce, and an exciting city bubbling over with creativity
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The Basque Country’s most stylish city, San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque) has the air of an upscale resort, complete with an idyllic
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The city long known as La Belle Au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty) is well and truly awake after years of slumber. The millennium was a
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Lively Tours has the cosmopolitan, bourgeois air of a miniature Paris, with wide 18th-century avenues, formal public gardens, café-lined
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