#3! and Best Villages

Steph and Craig's #3 European Tourist Site is ...

The Alhambra, in Granada, Spain. A beautiful site on a hill overlooking the town, the Alhambra is a masterpiece of Moorish architecture, and its grounds include beautiful gardens with delightful water features. You could easily spend a whole day! The biggest problem we had with this site was finding the ticket office. Yes, hard to believe, but somehow we entered through the back door..

List o' the day: Best Villages in Europe

You know, those quaint little places that don't seem to exist in the US...

1. Momenvasia, Greece
   This remote village is connected to the southeast corner of the Peloponnese by a causeway. It was a Byzantine stronghold that somehow got left behind in time and has been recently "rediscovered" by rich people who are rebuilding the old town.


2. Bard, Italy
   We found this tiny town in the Aosta valley because we were attracted by the nearby fortress on the river. It's a very sleepy place that it appears the tourists haven't yet invaded. (Visit soon)


3. Sintra, Portugal
   Located on a forested hillside, Sintra is home to windy pedestrian paths and old mansions of Lisbon escapees, and is the jumping-off point for visiting the crazy palace nearby.


4. Bergheim, France
   Bergheim is a walled medieval town in the Alsace region of France, near the German border. This area is dominated by the much more touristy village of Riquewihr so you will have the quaint streets of Bergheim to yourself. Don't forget to stop by the wineries (just outside the town wall) for a tasting!


5. Mali Ston, Croatia
   So this is what they're talking about when they say Croatia is "the Mediterranean the way it used to be"! Mali Ston is a fishing village on the Dalmatian Coast with pedestrian alleys working their way up the hill and a half-ruined, half-rebuilt city wall.


6. Monteriggioni, Italy
   It would be impossible to make this list without including a Tuscan hilltown. Monteriggioni is our favorite. There are no major attractions, just a little town inside an impressive wall. The wall has been recently reinforced so that you can admire the view and circumnavigate the town from the top.


7. Vyzitsa, Greece
   A tiny community on the forested Peleon Peninsula in eastern Greece, Vyzitsa is a collection of old mansions turned into guest-houses, and home to the biggest Sycamore trees we have ever seen!


8. Venosc, France
   This old stone village is set in a deep valley below the Alpe d'Huez ski area. Wandering around town on a winter evening, you'd think that time had stopped several hundred years ago.


9. Mattrei, Austria
   One of the gateways to the Austrian Alps, Mattrei somehow retains a village feel, with beautiful Tyrollean houses and gardens bursting with flowers in the summertime.


10. Kosmas, Greece
    This is probably the most authentic (ie lacking tourists) village that we found. It is very remote, reached by a long drive through the hills of the western Peloponnese. We stopped for a drink under the sycamore trees in the main town square.

... and, since you probably want to see photos of all these cute places, we've posted the list on our web site, visit now!