Europe’s most beautiful ‘airport cities’ – easy to reach but scandalously empty

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the travel book, which continues to dupe customers: market a bucket list destination but save taxes and fees by using a non-descript neighbour instead.

Last year, cruise giant Royal Caribbean got into hot water by advertising a voyage “leaving from Venice (Ravenna)” – when surely even the most junior geography student knows the historic city is, though lovely, also two-and-a-half hour’s drive from Italy’s floating masterpiece.

The Advertising Standards Authority warned against any further misleading campaigns, but arguably a greater crime was committed than simply shrinking distances on a map. Reducing Ravenna to a parenthetical place – a means to a more famous end – does an enormous disservice to a beautiful destination in its own right.

And Ravenna isn’t the only city to have been side-lined by its bucket-list neighbour. For years, low-cost airlines have been luring none-the-wiser travellers to cities miles away from the advertised destinations, reducing these lesser-loved stars to a sad supporting role.

Deserving of greater recognition, it’s time for these cities to break free of the brackets that have constrained them for far too long.

Bergamo (instead of Milan)

Italy’s fashion capital may have the monopoly on haute couture hangouts and designer hotels, but it’s by no means the best-dressed city in the region. Classic in style, hilltop town Bergamo is much better looking and has been on-trend for hundreds of years.

Peel back layers of history by exploring its many levels. A funicular tram soars to the older upper district, Citta Alta, where cobblestone streets are encircled by Venetian walls and basilicas bling with gilded interiors. Milan may have Leonardo’s Last Supper, but there are equally impressive works to be admired on the gallery and church walls of its (not so near) neighbour. Check out masterpieces by Botticelli, Bellini and Raphael at the Accademia Carrara art gallery, one of the best collections of Italian Renaissance art.

Surrounded by lakes and mountains, this is a city dedicated to good views. Climb 230 steps to the top of the 52 metre Torre del Campanone, where a bell tolls at 10pm every night as a reminder of an ancient city curfew.

Stay: The lavish Relais San Vigilio al Castello has doubles from £181 per night, with breakfast.

Beauvais (instead of Paris)

Sure, Monet, Degas and Renoir may have found inspiration on the streets of Paris – but 80km away and more than 150 years later, painter André Van Beek can be seen creating brush strokes amongst the dahlias, water lilies and hydrangeas of his poetic garden in Saint-Paul, a ten-minute drive from Beauvais. This calming space is an apt introduction to the capital of the Oise department, steeped in just as much romance as its chic, showy big brother.

While Notre Dame is slowly rising from its ashes, the Gothic Beauvais Cathedral sits stark against the skyline, enticing visitors with its sparkling stained-glass windows and ornate astronomical clock. Next door, inside the former Bishop’s Palace, the MUDO (Musée de l’Oise) may not be the Louvre, but it still features an impressive range of archaeological artefacts and bombastic artworks.

In the centre of the city, the Place Jeanne Hachette has its fair share of fancy facades, fountains and pavement cafes under awnings, while bankside walks hugging pretty waterway Le Thérain are a lowkey alternative to strolls along the Seine.

Stay: A short walk from the cathedral, Hôtel Mercure Beauvais Centre Cathédrale has doubles from £117, with breakfast.

Girona (instead of Barcelona)

Far from official, slapping a “Barca” label on the Costa Brava’s gateway airport was a sneaky marketing ploy from truth-bending budget airlines – and it’s not only misleading, it’s downright rude.

A backdrop for scenes in cult fantasy series Game of Thrones, the medieval walls and cobblestone streets of this Catalonian city are some of the best preserved in Europe. Pose for pictures on the scenic stone steps of the Baroque Sant Domènech staircase, admire the perfectly symmetrical bell tower of the Monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants, and wander through the exceptional Arab baths (which make our own West Country thermae look like a paddling pool).

Once you’re done with scaling steep alleyways and ambling along porticoed streets of in Jewish Quarter, aim for the bright emblematic facades of houses along the River Onyar. An Art Nouveau showpiece of carved wooden furniture and engraved glass, the former family home of architect Rafael Masó is open for a snoop around.

Sitting along the golden fringed Costa Brava and forest-hugged Pyrenees, there’s plenty of scope for exploring nearby nature, too.

Stay: A boutique hotel run by the gastronomic Roca family, Casa Cacao has doubles from £209 per night with breakfast.

Vasteras (instead of Stockholm)

Sweden’s capital isn’t the only city with aquatic charm – there’s plenty of waterside action 100km away in this lesser-known archipelago on the banks of Lake Mälaren. Beaches and boardwalks are the obvious attractions in summer; and once the water freezes, the area becomes an enormous ice-skating rink.

As you’d hope from a Scandi town, there are no shortage of oddball attractions. Watch fish swim past the window at the underwater Utter Inn, designed by artist Mikael Genberg, hunt for ghosts at Engsö Castle (a female figure turns up at 8pm), or weave through the stones of Sweden’s largest burial mound Anundshögen. It’s possible to take a wild water swim at several points along the shoreline too, but if stories of sea monsters give you shivers, soak in hot tubs and zoom down slides at the eight-floor Kokpunkten water park.

Stay: A lakeside hotel in a former power plant, Steam Hotel has doubles from £57 with breakfast.

Memmingen (instead of Munich)

It’s a bit of a stretch to confuse this for Bavaria’s beer-swigging capital – a 115km stretch, in fact. Before whizzing off, spend some time getting acquainted with one of Germany’s best preserved medieval old towns. Step over 700-year-old stones along the Kohlschanze covered city wall, stopping at prison towers named Witches, Beggers and Adulterers – which gives you some indication of the shenanigans that once took place there.

Across town, colourful, intricate facades create the backdrop for an off-kilter Grimm Brothers fairytale. Stop at the Fishermen’s Day fountain, built in honour of an annual July celebration when a watercourse is drained and local men compete with giant nets to catch the largest trout.

Beyond the churches, castles, palaces and patrician houses, there are an overwhelming number of breweries on tap. Try Barfüßer Hausbrauerei to sip pints with Maultaschen – a type of meat-filled ravioli – or make a pilgrimage out of town to Ursberg Abbey, where monks have been brewing bottom-fermented beers since 1623.

Stay: Equipped with its own brauhaus, Joesepp’s Hotel has doubles from £70.50, room only.

This piece was first published in December 2023 and has been revised and updated.