Best cities in Europe?

[NoxNoctum]

Alright so I've kinda been thinking about where I'd like to live for at least the next few years, still about 6-7 months away from when I can move but when I do... I don't want to waste a bunch of time so I figured I should start making plans at least.

I know there's loads of Europeans here so I figured I'd ask you guys what you thought . What are in your opinion the best European cities to live?

I lived in France for about 7 years as a kid but I was just in the south not near Paris or anything, and though I got to visit quite a few other countries often I never really lived in any of the big cities for any length of time.

(btw I'm NOT trying to start an argument about anything here, these are just the things I like. Also I'm not trying to insult any countries or anything, or say one is better than the other I really don't want to start some nationalistic debate, again these are just the things *I* like when it comes to places I like to live. I just thought I'd see what your thoughts were.

To give some ideas of the kinds of stuff I like:

-I'm 23
-I like at least somewhat big cities. At least around 750,000 or so. The more college age people the better.
-I really like "laidback" cities, which is maybe kind of a contradiction but if you've ever been to San Francisco (one of the places I'm thinking about) you know it's possible I really like places like NYC too but they're a bit too "frantic"... I'd just rather live in somewhere like SF where it just feels like everyone is wayyy more relaxed and less concerned about "stuff" (LA is probably the absolute worst place I've ever been when it comes to materialism+the rat race)
-Not too far from great places to ski, snowboard etc. I like the beach too but I like the mountains a lot more. (by too far I guess I'm thinking 3-4 hours or so is reasonable)
-Generally cool, breezy weather. Doesn't have to be freezing or anything but I absolutely hate hot and humid weather. Sunshine's great and all as long as there's a nice breeze with it . Also I like rain a whole lot. I'd probably get tired of it if it's every single day but I really do love rain.
-Great night life, great restaurants and interesting things to do.
-Great music scene.
-Lots of different cultures
-Cool historical stuff
-Fairly liberal/progressive.
-I don't really have any specific career or anything in mind. That's completely secondary to me. I'll bag groceries if I need to as long as I get to live somewhere cool :IS2:. Obviously a good job market is a plus though. But it's near the bottom of the list. I've managed to live in some pretty expensive places while working crappy low-paying jobs, so I'm good at that kind of thing .

Main areas I lived in/spent some time in Europe were France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland. I definitely liked Switzerland's weather the most, and thought Germany and Switzerland easily had the best mountains, nature etc. but I liked Spain's "party all night" vibe and cities more. France seemed kinda in between somewhere, but I never got to be in Paris for more than a couple days and never spent much time in the north at all really so I've really only been exposed to the more rural part of France.

Anyways, thanks!

 

[Nezzer]

I have never been to Europe, but I've heard that Prague has a fantastic night life. I still haven't visited any other city with a better night life than mine

 

[Floyd]

Haven't been to Paris in 6 or 7 years, but it absolutely sucked the last time I was there. I lived there for a time as a kid, but on this trip it was just a filthy filthy city to me.
Ever thought about Italy? A suburb of Rome perhaps?
One thing to think about is that Spain, Italy and Greece all seem to be having their financial woes.
I'm going to to my best to retire in Switzerland......

 

[Peter.Steele]

+1 for Floyd's opinion on Paris. Last time I was in France I was only like 8 years old, but there are two lasting impressions that I was left with.

1. At Mont Saint Michel, do not go wading, and
2. Paris is ****ing filthy.

 

[Fedorov]

You may like Barcelona if you are ok with the high unemployment rates, cause it sounds pretty close to what you are describing.

 

[[-project.rattus-]]

Hm, having traveled a round a bit, I can recommend two cities that fit most of your checklist:

Hamburg, and my hometown Graz. Now to go for a point to point explanation.

-I like at least somewhat big cities. At least around 750,000 or so. The more college age people the better.

Well, both don't really apply here. Off to a got start then...
But Hamburg, while being considerably larger (more than 4 million inhabitants) and not a traditional university city, has still quarters that have a quite young population, like Sternenschanze. As all german cities largely rebuilt after the war, it is quite green wiht a lot of trees. Additionally, the different quarters are rather like smaller towns neighbouring each other than one huge metropolis. So it feels comfy.
Graz on the other hand is smaller (roughly 300.000 inhabitants) but it is a universioty town, as there are about 50.000 students here.

--I really like "laidback" cities, which is maybe kind of a contradiction but if you've ever been to San Francisco (one of the places I'm thinking about) you know it's possible I really like places like NYC too but they're a bit too "frantic"... I'd just rather live in somewhere like SF where it just feels like everyone is wayyy more relaxed and less concerned about "stuff" (LA is probably the absolute worst place I've ever been when it comes to materialism+the rat race)

Qhile germans, and especially northern germans have the air of being overly correct, hamburg is a very relaxed and layd back town.
As is Graz, despite being "catholic".

--Not too far from great places to ski, snowboard etc. I like the beach too but I like the mountains a lot more. (by too far I guess I'm thinking 3-4 hours or so is reasonable)

Hamburg loses here. There is an artificial ski hall about an hour away, but it's a 8-10 hour drive to real mountains. Also, you have a great Beach in the city.
Graz is at the feet of the alps. The nearest alpine skiing resort is less than an hour away, and double that to get to some truly great ones, like Schladming. The Adriatic Sea is about 4-5 hours away.

Ironically though, my friends form Hamburg do ski more often than I do, and that in the styrian alps... (Graz is the capital of Styria)

--Generally cool, breezy weather. Doesn't have to be freezing or anything but I absolutely hate hot and humid weather. Sunshine's great and all as long as there's a nice breeze with it . Also I like rain a whole lot. I'd probably get tired of it if it's every single day but I really do love rain.

A definate win for Hamburg. Rainy and breezy all year round.
Graz is quite hot and stuffy in summer, only near the river Mur and in the northern quarters the air is a tad less still.

--Great night life, great restaurants and interesting things to do.

Hamburg, sporting the "Reeperbahn" and being a huge city, definately has more to offer.
But with Graz being a university town, you can party all night long pretty much from wednesday till sunday. Also, it's home to some great art, theater and film festivals.

--Great music scene.

Again, Hamburg wins here.
Graz has a few local bands that are somewhat famous regionally. But it has quite a good location for international alternative bands. And then there's the Stadthalle (City hall) and a lakeside place where more mainstream acts perform quite often.

--Lots of different cultures

Hamburg, being an important port, certainly has more to offer numerically.
But Graz, being between the alps and the adriatic sea geographically and culturally, and being about 50 Kilometers off the former iron curtain to the east and former yugoslavia to the south is also interesting. And there are many foreign students.

--Cool historical stuff

Hamburg has plenty of that. But having to be rebuild after a fire in 1842 and the bombings of WW2, it feels quite modern.
Graz, while modern on the outskirts, has one of the best preserved historical town centers, with the oldest house dating back to the 12th century. Also, we have the world's largest collection of medieval weapons and armor in the Zeughaus.

--Fairly liberal/progressive.

Both are

 

[Nestor Makhno]

London.

I win the thread.

(Prague is nice, too.. though the nightlife is distinctly meh compared to London's)

 

[[-project.rattus-]]

Yeah, London's nice too. The only downside is how mental you brits drive. And I don't only mean the side of the road you use, which definately isn't the right side.
The nicest, most well mannered people in europe, but as soon as they're behind a steering wheel, the road rage starts.

A quick comparison: approaching a zebra crossing (pedestrians crossing for the americans. Named after the stripes, not because zebras cross there...) to cross the street.
In Austria: Drivers gently stop, greet you with a friendly nod and beckon you to cross the road, to calmly continue their journey once you safely crossed the street.
In London: You hear a suddenly higher revved engine, shortly followed by an angry honk. Fists get shaken at you for just looking at the road in a funny way. If you happen to be already on the road when the vehicle approaches, be prepared to be driven by as close as possible with the highest speed the driver could achieve by flooring it when he saw you.

On a sidenote, because drivers here brake for pedestrians, admitedly because it's enforced by law, crossing streets can become quite dangerous for us Austrians in foreign countries, as we're used to just step on the street if a car is visible, but distant enough to safely come to a halt.

 

[Killyouall]

Venice, Saint Petersburg, Seville and Barcelona are among the most beautiful cities I've seen.

 

[Panzer Meyer]

Prague.

 

[I. Kant]

Out of my fondness for the place, even though it doesn't meet all of the hard criteria you've posted (though it meets an awful lot of them, in my view), I'd say Edinburgh. It's jist wicked doon thar.

 

[Mahnsikir]

You may like Barcelona if you are ok with the high unemployment rates, cause it sounds pretty close to what you are describing.

Yeah Barcelona is nice and it does sound like it would be a good place for you, if you can find a job there.

Zebra crossings

When you first mentioned driving, I thought to myself British drivers are generally pretty sedate compared to some, but yeah that's damn true about crossings like that, you feel like its your fault for wanting to cross the road.

Probably because half the time its more normal for you to just leg it over the road at a break in traffic than actually use a crossing and slow them down, it is nice and refreshing when abroad and people actually stop/slow down to let you cross without grimacing at you.

Out of my fondness for the place, even though it doesn't meet all of the hard criteria you've posted (though it meets an awful lot of them, in my view), I'd say Edinburgh. It's jist wicked doon thar.

Aye Edinburgh is great and certainly fits all the city needs that NoxNoctum wants (especially if you can be there for the festival) only issues are that while it does punch above its weight, Edinburgh is still kinda small and most decent out doorsy stuff would be a few hours or more away, though I guess thats true for most cities.

 

[Homuth]

Prague is indeed good, Amsterdam as well.

And my whole province in particular:

 

[JCoquillon]

I'd like to point out the noise issues in a place like Barcelona (or most Spanish cities). Friends who live there regularly end up with only managing to catch 2-3 hours sleep due to the constant noise on the streets. A great place to visit and party, but it can take it out of you to live there.

I'd say generally capitals are best avoided.

 

[The Masta]

Stuttgart

 

[Xendance]

Stockholm or Helsinki.

 

[DraKon2k]

Vienna. Not too expensive, very interesting historical spots, huge number of students, good nightlife, many beautiful places to relax.

 

[REZ]

I've never been there but I've heard Copenhagen is a really cool place to visit. I'd like to see St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, and the Hoegaarden brewery in Belgium

 

[fiftyone]

I'd say generally capitals are best avoided.

I would just like to agree with this point.

I've done most of the pre

 

[Alexander Ostmann]

In my opinion, not London. I have never eaten such terrible food or been so depressed in my life in a single city. The only thing good there is the Imperial War Museum.

I recommend Florence, both the city and the surrounding area. I would probably move there if it weren't for those filthy, dirty, disgusting, despicable, coniving gypsies. And the fact that I can't speak Italian.

Edit: To agree with above poster, major Italian cities seem to have the most well-dressed women that I've seen in a while.