How to do sightseeing in European cities?

European countries are not big area wise (except Russia) and cities are smaller than what you would expect it to be. Sightseeing in cities is limited to a small area which usually becomes the center of the city and so one can walk around to cover the whole city by foot.

As in every city, there are a few places which have magnificent structure but are located around the corners or just outside the perimeter of the city. A few amazing places are located on the outskirts of the city and one can cover those places using public transportation. Public transportation is a notch higher in Europe and all Europeans prefer travelling through that. Public transportation in a major city might include metros, buses, and trams.

If you are staying outside the city center, you might need to purchase the City Transport card, but if you are staying in the City Centre, you might be fine without it.

Europe is meant to be explored on foot and if you are someone who dislikes walking, there is a perfect chance, that you will start enjoying it.

We will take the example of two cities and how we can sightsee in Europe. The two cities which we have chosen are Paris and Barcelona.

Let’s look at the places which are there in Paris to sightsee:

When we hear Paris, the first thing that comes to our mind is the Eiffel Tower. The next thing which comes to our mind is the Louvre Museum, the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe. So how do we cover all these places?

The first thing which we are going to do is list all the major attractions on a Map and see as to where we can start to cover all the places efficiently.

The attractions listed in the map are:

Eiffel Tower

The Louvre Museum

Les Invalides

Musee d'orsay

Catacombs

Tuileries Garden

Montparnasse

Place dela Concorde

Latin Quarter

Champs Elysees

Notre Dame de Paris

Arc de Triomphe

Le Marais

Montmartre

Pompidou

Sacre Coeur

So, as can be seen on the map, you start your sightseeing journey from Eiffel tower and complete the whole journey till Arc de Triomphe comfortably walking. If you don’t intend to visit Montparnasse or any other sight, you can just walk down to the next view.

The sights are close to each other. Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are nearby. The distance between Arc de Triomphe and Montmartre is around 5.7Kms, you can either walk down marveling the beauty of Paris or as recommended by us, take a metro by buying a one-way ticket, instead of buying a day pass, and come back with a one-way ticket to any place you intend to reach.

The distance from Les Invalides to Catacombs is 3Kms. We will recommend you to walk down but if you intend to take a metro from Les Invalides to Catacombs, you can buy a one-way ticket and reach there comfortably. From Montparnasse, Latin Quarter is quite near, and after that, all the sightseeing places are just next to each other.

A one-way ticket in Paris costs 1.9 Euros while a day pass for Zone 1-2 costs 7.5 Euros. So, if you don’t buy a one-day pass, you will be shelling out 3.8-5.7 Euros.

If you are 2-3 people, we suggest you buy a pack of 10 tickets, called carnet, for 14.9 Euros. You can use those tickets individually for the period you are staying in Paris.

Now, let us take the example of Barcelona:

Similar to Paris, we will list down all the Barcelona attractions. We will then find a place from where we can start to cover all the places efficiently.

Looking at the Map, we see that we will be able to complete efficiently if we start from La Sagrada Familia. The attractions pointed out on the map are the following:

Sagrada Familia

Casa Batllo la Monumental

Casa Mila

Arc de Triomf

Park Guell

Museu Picasso

Camp Nou

Gothic Quarter

Arenas Shopping Mall

La Rambla

Poble Espanyol

Barcelona Cathedral

National Art Museum of Catalonia

Placa de Catalunya

Montjuic Cable Car

La Sagrada Familia seems the perfect place to start the day. One can begin covering all the attractions one by one and complete everything by foot till Casa Mila.

If one plans to end their day there, they can do that and on the next day can start with Park Guell or Montjuic Cable Car and complete the day at the other end.

You can take a metro or a bus to reach Park Guell and Camp Nou. One can also rent a bicycle for a day and enjoy travelling on the bicycle all over Barcelona. You can park your bicycles at all the places. A one-way ticket in Barcelona costs 2.15 Euros and is pretty costly compared to the T10 Card which allows you to use ten tickets, individually or shared. T10 card is one of the most widely used cards all over Barcelona. The one-day pass costs 7.6 Euros and if you take less than four trips, the better option would be to buy individual tickets.

In our case, you will be buying a ticket from your Hostel/Hotel to Park Guell and from Park Guell to Camp Nou. If you simply don’t feel like walking from Camp Nou to the Arena Mall, you can buy a ticket to reach the mall. Arena Mall to Poble Espanyol is pretty close and you can end your day by looking at the Magic Fountains in front of National Art Museum of Catalonia. From there you, you can either reach your Hostel/Hotel walking or taking the metro. If you plan to use the Metro everywhere, it is wise to buy the day pass and if you are with someone, you can very well buy the T10 card and utilise the money spent on the card efficiently.

Conclusion:

In a similar fashion, one can decode as to how to sightsee in each city. We will be sharing the map with attractions for few of the cities to help you plan efficiently and utilise time effectively.

Amsterdam:

Attractions listed are:

Rijksmuseums

Dam Square

Van Gogh Museum

Nieuwe Kerk

Anne Frank House

Sexmuseum

Oude Kerk

Body Worlds

Heineken Experience

Royal Palace of Amsterdam

Stedelijk Museum

Bloemenmarkt

Madame Tussauds

Vondelpark

Science Centre NEMO

Westerkerk

Rembrandt House Museum

Leidseplein

Lisbon:

Attractions listed are:

De Sao Jorge Castle

Sao Pedro de Alcantara

Santa Luzia

Bairro Alto

Lisbon Cathedral

Basilica Estrela roof

Praca do Comercio

National Museum of Ancient Art

Arco da Rua Augusta

Hieronymites Monastery

Santa Justa Lift

Belem Tower

Historic Center

Palace of the Marquises

Igreja de Sao Roque

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

Prague:

Attractions listed are:

Prague Castle

Sex Machines Museum

St. Vitus Cathedral

Palladium Mall

Old Royal Palace

Museum of Communism

Petrin Lookout Tower

National Museum

Lennon Wall

Wenceslas Square

Charles bridge

Dancing House

Jewish Museum

Vysehrad

Old town Square

Berlin:

Attractions listed are:

Reichstag Building

Bebelplatz

Brandenburg Gate

East Side Gallery

Holocaust Memorial

Alexanderplatz

Potsdamer Platz

Fernsehtrum

Topography of Terror

Berlin Cathedral

Checkpoint Charlie

Pergamon Museum

Gendarmenmarkt

Berlin wall

Salzburg:

Attractions listed are:

Hohensalzburg Castle

Domquartier

Nonnberg Abbey

Franciscan Church

St Peters Abbey

Mozart's Birthplace

Mozartplatz

Mozart-Wohnhaus

Residenzplatz

Mirabell Palace

Residenzgalerie