Where to go in Europe in July?

1 🇦🇱 Albania

🌡️ 33 °C in the afternoon, 3 days of rain, sea at 27 °C · 💶 €40-70 a day

Albania means the turquoise water of Ksamil on the Riviera, the stone lanes of Gjirokastër, and the wild peaks around Theth. The rising star of the Balkans, still unspoilt and affordable.

Region

2 🇵🇹 Madeira

🌡️ 24 °C in the afternoon, 3 days of rain, sea at 24 °C · 💶 €65-110 a day

Madeira means hiking along the levadas, peaks above the clouds at Pico do Areeiro, and gardens in bloom all year round. A green, vertical island in the middle of the Atlantic.

3 🇦🇹 Austria

🌡️ 28 °C in the afternoon, 9 days of rain · 💶 €90-150 a day

Austria means Vienna and its imperial palaces, Salzburg in Mozart's footsteps and the Salzkammergut lakes at the foot of the Alps. From Viennese coffee to snowy summits, all in a single trip.

4 🇨🇭 Geneva

🌡️ 27 °C in the afternoon, 10 days of rain · 💶 €170-280 a day

Geneva fits into a few square kilometres wedged between the tip of Lake Geneva, the Jura and the Salève, with a stony Old Town on one side and the district of the international organisations on the other. The real issue of the trip is not distance but price, because it is one of the most expensive cities in the world and the French border is ten minutes away by tram.

5 🇸🇮 Slovenia

🌡️ 28 °C in the afternoon, 11 days of rain · 💶 €70-120 a day

Slovenia means Lake Bled and its island with a bell tower, Vintgar Gorge on wooden walkways, and Ljubljana with its pedestrian bridges. A little green gem, from the Alps to Postojna Cave.

6 🇩🇪 Berlin

🌡️ 25 °C in the afternoon, 11 days of rain · 💶 €70-120 a day

Berlin means the East Side Gallery on the remains of the Wall, Museum Island, and nights that never end in Kreuzberg. A capital marked by history and constantly reinventing itself.

7 🏰 Prague, Vienna and Budapest

🌡️ 26 °C in the afternoon, 12 days of rain · 💶 €80-130 a day

Central Europe means Prague's Charles Bridge at dawn, Viennese cafés and Schönbrunn Palace, and the thermal baths of Budapest. Three baroque capitals linked by a few hours on the train, magical in December.

8 🇨🇿 Czech Republic

🌡️ 26 °C in the afternoon, 12 days of rain · 💶 €50-90 a day

The Czech Republic means Prague and Charles Bridge at dawn, the lanes beneath the castle and a cold beer at a gentle price. And Český Krumlov, a little medieval gem nestled in a river bend.

9 🇧🇪 Ghent

🌡️ 23 °C in the afternoon, 11 days of rain · 💶 €90-150 a day

The second port of medieval Flanders, Ghent has kept its guild houses on the Graslei quay and, in St Bavo's Cathedral, the Van Eyck brothers' altarpiece completed in 1432. With 80,000 students and a car-free centre since 1996, the city stays lively all year round.

10 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

🌡️ 22 °C in the afternoon, 11 days of rain · 💶 €100-160 a day

The United Kingdom means London and its free museums, the castles of Wales, and the Scottish Highlands where the road runs between lochs and mist. From metropolis to wide open spaces in a few hours by train.

11 🇸🇪 Stockholm

🌡️ 22 °C in the afternoon, 12 days of rain, sea at 22 °C · 💶 €130-200 a day

Fourteen islands linked by 57 bridges, between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic, with the ochre façades of Gamla Stan at the centre, the 1628 warship Vasa in its museum and the 30,000 islands of the archipelago an hour away by boat. In June the day lasts 18 hours; in December the Christmas markets light up from 15:00.

12 🇨🇭 Zermatt

🌡️ 19 °C in the afternoon, 12 days of rain · 💶 €180-300 a day

A car-free village at 1,620 metres, at the foot of a 4,478-metre pyramid that long served as a chocolate brand's logo. Zermatt has lived off the Matterhorn since its first ascent in 1865, with 400 kilometres of trails in summer and a ski area linked to Italy.