Top Ten Best European Cities to Visit

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in 1,285.3 km2. It is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber river.
Rome is the third-most-visited tourist destination in the European Union
Rome has a significant place in Christianity and is the present day home of the Roman Catholic Church and the site of the Vatican City, an independent city-state run by the Catholic Church.
Rome was the centre of the Roman Empire, which dominated Europe, North Africa and the Middle East for over four hundred years from the 1st Century BC until the 4th Century AD.
Rome is a nation-wide centre for higher education. Its first university, La Sapienza (founded in 1303), is the largest in Europe and the second-largest in the world, with more than 150,000 students attending.

Florence

Baptistry

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany.Florence is the most populous city in Tuscany .
The Florence city lies on the River Arno and is known for its history and its importance in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture.
The historic centre of Florence continues to attract millions of tourists each year.

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million.
The Istanbul city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province.
Istanbul is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country.
In its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395), the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922).

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic centre of the Czech state for more than 1100 years. For many decades during the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus was also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
Prague city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, receiving more than 4.1 million international visitors annually, as of 2009.

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . The city historically was an independent nation.
Venice has been known as the most beautiful city built by man.

The city stretches across 118 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy.
The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers.
Venice is also famous for its musical, particularly operatic, history, and its most famous son in this field is Antonio Vivaldi.

Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region.
Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.
The Paris Region hosts 38 of the Fortune Global 500 companies in several business districts, notably La Defense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe.
Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the informal Paris Club.
Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with 45 million tourists every year in the Paris Region, 60% of whom are foreign visitors.[

Barcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008.
It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besos and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge .
Barcelona is recognised as a global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade.
Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage.

View of the old town and fortress, seen from Kapuzinerberg

Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg.
Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music, which features famous landmarks in Austria.

Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre.
It is the 9th largest city by population in the European Union. Vienna is host to many major international organizations such as the United Nations and OPEC.
Vienna lies in the east of Austria and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

Main Market Square

Krakow is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination.
Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind.
Situated on the Vistula river in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century.
Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural and artistic life, and is one of Poland's most important economic centres.
It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918, and the capital of Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of the Second World War, Krakow was turned into the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population of the city were moved into a walled zone known as the Krakow Ghetto, from which they were sent to extermination camps such as Auschwitz and Płaszów.