[Grumpy]

On different forums we always read about the same cities , I guess some do need more attention.

Some forgotten cities are in my opinion:

Wien (Vienna) - Lyon - Rome - Glasgow

Is there nothing happening over there or what :shrug:

Who are your forgotten larger cities ?

[anm]

I guess they won't be mentioned here precisely because they are forgotten.

[HX_Guy]

Bucharest

[bvpcvm]

Riga, Lviv.

[CHapp]

@anm: Lol! :haha:

There are literally hundreds of underrated cities in Europe, I wouldn't even know where to begin ... but Riga is definitely among them. :yes:

[Exarchus]

Bucharest


I'm just back from Bucharest, and it's by no mean underrated. It's just the city isn't beautiful that's all.

It's a pity, because once in a (very) while you can see a nice building, but let's face it, there are 3 (4 at most) landmarks and that's it. The Romanian parliament, the mini Reichstag, the Roman Athaneum (and it's ugly) and the Arcul de Triumph (and it's ugly too).

Even in the city center, it's full of disgusting concrete building, wandering dogs, pimps proposing you massages and escort service (I didn't take any, just kept the card as a souvenir, let's say it's part of the experience, yeah I've been proposed one in front of the Hilton hotel there), underaged gyspie children begging etc....


Of all the city I've seen so far, Bucharest may be the one that suffered the most from it's socialist dictatorship. And by a damn good margin.

[tradlak]

Krakow! Authentic historic city with great restaurants and amazing architecture dating back as far as 900 AD. Can't wait to go back.

[Mercutio]

pimps proposing you massages and escort service (I didn't take any, just kept the card as a souvenir, let's say it's part of the experience.You're so boring.... :slob:Wien (Vienna)....RomeThese cities are beautiful and historic but stagnant in terms of development - and this is a skyscraper forum after all. If you are a regular tourist you would more likely visit Rome or Vienna than Frankfurt. Rome probably gets more tourists than Chicago or Dubai too. However it's obvious why Frankfurt, Chicago, and Dubai get more attention than Rome or Vienna on a skyscraper forum.Krakow! Authentic historic city with great restaurants and amazing architecture dating back as far as 900 AD. Can't wait to go back.But surely Krakow is not underrated? Krakow is famously beautiful and has become a very popular city break these days.

[The Dear Leader]

Hamburg perhaps. The Hafencity's a pretty big project.

[SrbijaCG]

Tbilisi , Yerevan & Baku

[staff]

Malmo is hopelessly forgotten in general. Though it get's quite a lot of attention here and on SSC (mainly because of TT). :)

[Siberian]

How boring. Why if the question is about "in Europe" then it's always something with western part of it?
Is somebody heard about Perm, Ufa, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov On Don, Volgograd here? Kharkiv? These cities with more than 1 Mil people and they're located im Europe too actually. These are the most under rated cities in Europe!! :D

[SrbijaCG]

^
Thats why I said "Yerevan, Tbilisi, Baku"...to screw with the little and limited minds of these "western europe"-centrists a bit;)

[Siberian]

^
Thats why I said "Yerevan, Tbilisi, Baku"...to screw with the little and limited minds of these "western europe"-centrists a bit;)
But location of these cities in Europe is disputed! Officially the border between Europe in Asia in this area by the Caspian Sea then Northern Caucasus and then the Black Sea...

[bvpcvm]

How boring. Why if the question is about "in Europe" then it's always something with western part of it?
Is somebody heard about Perm, Ufa, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov On Don, Volgograd here? Kharkiv? These cities with more than 1 Mil people and they're located im Europe too actually. These are the most under rated cities in Europe!! :D

I've been to Nizhniy Novgorod. Unless it's changed dramatically, I'd say it's more or less correctly rated. It has some potential, but it's nowhere near most of the other cities mentioned here. I also spent about a week in Yekaterinburg, in the middle of winter. I liked the 20's architecture on Prospekt Glavniy/Lenina, and the setting around the lake is probably quite nice in summer, but other than that, unfortunately, I'd say it's unknown as a tourist destination for a reason. I also encountered more xenophobia in Yekaterinburg than anywhere else in Russia.

Based on what I've read, and pictures I've seen, none of the other cities you mention above are terribly underrated either. They were probably very nice at some point, but Soviet gradostroitel'stvo left them functional, though not especially charming.

I did quite enjoy Vologa and Yelets and some smaller towns, but given the red tape - and expense - you have to go through to get there, I'm not sure it's worth trying to visit unless you're already in Russia for other reasons. Just not very much bang for the buck.

Of course, this is just my opinion; no offense meant, these are just my impressions.

[Siberian]

I've been to Nizhniy Novgorod. Unless it's changed dramatically, I'd say it's more or less correctly rated. It has some potential, but it's nowhere near most of the other cities mentioned here. I also spent about a week in Yekaterinburg, in the middle of winter. I liked the 20's architecture on Prospekt Glavniy/Lenina, and the setting around the lake is probably quite nice in summer, but other than that, unfortunately, I'd say it's unknown as a tourist destination for a reason. I also encountered more xenophobia in Yekaterinburg than anywhere else in Russia.

Based on what I've read, and pictures I've seen, none of the other cities you mention above are terribly underrated either. They were probably very nice at some point, but Soviet gradostroitel'stvo left them functional, though not especially charming.

I did quite enjoy Vologa and Yelets and some smaller towns, but given the red tape - and expense - you have to go through to get there, I'm not sure it's worth trying to visit unless you're already in Russia for other reasons. Just not very much bang for the buck.

Of course, this is just my opinion; no offense meant, these are just my impressions.
Maybe I missed something.... Are we talking about tourist attraction here? :shrug: OK let's say many Russian cities aren't good tourist destination, especially in winter. They just didn't try to be in such role yet (no infrastructure) ;) But many things changing every year. So you talked about tourist attraction, I talked about economy and developing... If talking about tourism I would list another cities in European Russia (St. Petersburg, Vyborg, Pskov, Novgorod, Vladimir, Uglich, Anapa, Sochi, Gelendzhik, Kislovodsk, etc) :)

[bvpcvm]

OOOH, well that's different then. For economics and development, I'd say maybe Warsaw and even (someday) Minsk, given that they're on the main route from Russia to the rest of Europe. Odessa for similar reasons.

[Sloyne]

Liverpool.

[EuropeanHero]

I've always liked Turin

[Eric2x]

Rostov On Don

Oh yeah I know that city and its famous citizen Andrei Chikatilo too ;)

[Siberian]

Oh yeah I know that city and its famous citizen Andrei Chikatilo too ;)
Are you his friend or worshipper? :rolleyes:

[Mikael]

Lviv
but first it should gain European standards, if Ukrainian authorities don't understand that and don't act to do so it'll never be worth coming for tourists with average demands which are connected with obligate conditions (current water for example). tourism is not a survival;)

[Accura]

Annecy

[shurik]

I've been to Nizhniy Novgorod. Unless it's changed dramatically, I'd say it's more or less correctly rated. It has some potential, but it's nowhere near most of the other cities mentioned here. I also spent about a week in Yekaterinburg, in the middle of winter. I liked the 20's architecture on Prospekt Glavniy/Lenina, and the setting around the lake is probably quite nice in summer, but other than that, unfortunately, I'd say it's unknown as a tourist destination for a reason. I also encountered more xenophobia in Yekaterinburg than anywhere else in Russia.

Based on what I've read, and pictures I've seen, none of the other cities you mention above are terribly underrated either. They were probably very nice at some point, but Soviet gradostroitel'stvo left them functional, though not especially charming.

I did quite enjoy Vologa and Yelets and some smaller towns, but given the red tape - and expense - you have to go through to get there, I'm not sure it's worth trying to visit unless you're already in Russia for other reasons. Just not very much bang for the buck.

Of course, this is just my opinion; no offense meant, these are just my impressions.
I am sorry you had bad experience in Yekaterinburg.:( the city is improving however, but of course it will take a while for it to shake off the Soviet past. if you don't mind me asking, can you tell more about the cases of xenophobia you had experienced there?

[Mazepa]

Ukrainian cities are better than most in other eastern European countries, but are rarely visited ;) I'm not being biased, of course :D

But really, most people probably don't even have a general idea of what ukrainain cities look like.

Dnipro
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n275/junemayka/bashni0606.jpg

Kyiv
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/_Sajmon/IMG_0244.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/_Sajmon/Ukraina226.jpg
A lot of pics here http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=296415&page=1&pp=20

Lviv
http://img-2006-08.photosight.ru/28/1613671.jpg

[Exarchus]

Astrakhan seems underrated. Just to find pictures of it is hard. That city sort of seem fascinating to me.

http://www.astu.org/en/about_university/astrakhan/images/kreml.jpg

[Mazepa]

When I visited Romania (no offense) I was quite surprised as to how our (Ukrainian) cities were superior in architecture and infrastructure.

[qzzq]

Berlin, an absolutely fantastic city, though a little short on scrapers.

[Maurycy]

Ukrainian cities are better than most in other eastern European countries, but are rarely visited I'm not being biased, of course

I've been to Lwów/Lviv/Lvov recently and i must say im in two minds about it. On the one hand the infrasructure is terrible and the poverty sticks out, tenements are neglected and so on( i do understand it, cause you-the Ukrainians were under Soviet occupation just like us/Polish/ for quite a long time, but in even worse situation)On the other hand Lviv has such a potencial that it can become soon one of the most often visited city in this part of Europe(together with Prague and Krakow).I do wish Ukraine all the best.Poland and Ukraine should be always together.

Of course the most underrated city is... TORUN/POLAND/

[j korzeniowski]

Krakow! Authentic historic city with great restaurants and amazing architecture dating back as far as 900 AD. Can't wait to go back.

i will second this. i may be biased as i am of polish heritage (living in chicago, imagine!), but i lived in europe for over 3.5 years, and i loved krakow. the dark vodka bars where you can sip a tetonka (zubrowka and apple juice), the largest medieval square in europe, great coffee shops, etc.

one of my favorite cities, if not my very favorite, is budapest. it just has "it". vienna, its imperial older brother, pales in comparison.

lastly, i would also add koeln.

[ul1]

Porto, Vienna, Genoa

[Allez]

Marseille-

[lexberg]

Tartu in Estonia

[niko333]

One of the most forgotten cities in central europe and even in Austria is definitely Graz, although it is an absolutely fascinating and beautiful city. The largest complete mediaeval historic city centre in whole europe, great imperial buildings from the 19th century and a nearly mediterranean charme.
But always forgotten between Vienna and Salzburg, althoug it is much more interesting and pretty than Salzburg, the Euro-Disneyland.

[look]

These come ty my mind: Naples (3 million people, and how rarely mentioned here), Vienna (once among top 5 capitals in Europe), Budapest, Saint Petersburg (see Vienna), generally all major italian cities (don't they build anything new in Rome?), Lyon, Marseille, Lodz, Ruhr area...

[DiggerD21]

These cities are beautiful and historic but stagnant in terms of development - and this is a skyscraper forum after all.

AFAIK there are some skyscraper developments underway in Vienna, with some skyscrapers already standing. In terms of skyscrapers in the german speaking part of Europe I would put Vienna on 2nd or 3rd place behind Frankfurt and eventually Cologne (Köln).

[niko333]

Vienna is an absolutely booming City nowerdays. There are two ore three big Skyscraper-Clusters in the outer districts of the city. Nearly all three to four moths a new builing-complex gets brought on its way or gets finished. And in the near future there will come some 200+ towers on the Donauplatte which are already in planning.

[taimis]

Budapest.

[AUTO]

Warsaw

[dbee84]

Valencia

[athenian]

Stuttgart, Germany: awful setting among green hills, beautiful architecture similar to that in Prague, home town of two major car manufacturers
Nuremberg, Germany: historic center surrounded by a very large and deep moat, beautiful buildings
Lyon, France: Paris-style architecture but prices 2/3 of those in Paris, hills offering spectacular views accessible by funicular, cute historic district
Bern, Switzerland: perhaps the most beautiful capital in Europe. Historic center surrounded by a U-shaped gorge.
Graz, Austria: spectacular setting, a castle dominates the city on a hill

[Liller]

Lille clearly is!
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8392/12125115684et9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[gixer]

Helsinki, Tallinn, Oslo...:sly:

[PDX City-State]

Madrid is one of the best cities in the world in my opinion, but it doesn't get the respect it deserves.

[Waterways]

Liverpool

http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/waterfrontviews2/images/pic029.jpg

[PeterG]

Glasgow is hugely underrated.
When people think about Scotland, they immediately think of Edinburgh. Why?
Glasgow may not have the castle, but it has fantastic museums such as the Kelvingrove, GOMA and the Lighthouse; the best shops in the UK outside London; trendy restaurants and nighlife; and great architecture both in the centre, and on the Clyde.

[Fabb]

Marseille-

Right.
Probably because Marseille does as little as possible to improve its (bad) reputation.

[rwiggam]

Budapest, by a long shot. I've been living here for 6 months, and the place never ceases to amaze me.

Besides the main sights that you'd expect to see in many European capitols (beautiful palaces, opera houses and churches, main shopping streets and squares), there are many surprising (and often hidden) things to see here.

To name a few: more than 5 different Turkish Baths, caves under the Budapest Castle, public libraries that look like Versailles inside, coffee houses that rival the best in Vienna, the first underground/subway built in continental Europe.

Furthermore, since much of the city was built in the late 1800s'/early 1900's, and remains largely intact, the 'old city' atmosphere goes on and on, through many city blocks.

There's also been an amazing amount of development in the short time that I've been here - it's a golden age for cobblestone layers, as they've ripped up many ugly streets, and replaced them with brick. Several old buildings are continuouslly being refurbished as well. It's happening all over Pest.

Check out this site here (http://www.budapestlg.com/itineraries_major_attractions/index.html), to see what I mean.

Oh, and there's an entire shopping distrct/street called Kiraly Street where there are maybe 8 or 9 major building restoration projects going on. All high-end apartments.

[fountainhead]

Trieste, Bordeaux, Porto, Liverpool and Glasgow

[villelumiere]

Let's face it Europe is the culturally richest and economically most powerful region on earth. There are going to be hundreds of relatively neglected cities. Look at edinburgh. Stunning town. look at Nantes which is beautiful and cool etc etc.

Paris and london the two full service global megastar cities loom over all and then everyone has to hustle.

[Walkor]

Wroclaw

[tHOmMY]

Bologna