Western-Europe

Zurich, along with Oslo, Norway is one of the few unassuming expensive European cities that I would not recommend visiting. The joke goes that Zurich whose German pronunciation is tsü-rich/त्सुरिच is “too rich”. The city is entirely unremarkable in terms of tourist attractions. A day is more than sufficient to see the city. I would recommend starting with a walking tour, it will give you basic idea of the city. The old town is small and can be covered in a couple of hours. ...

Singapore is hot, humid, and opulent. Luxembourg is cold, windy, and opulent. By some measures, Luxembourg is the richest country in the world. It is also one of the safest. It is the only duchy, that is, a country ruled by a duke (a level below a king), in the world. It is also one of the smallest countries in Europe. The best way to see is to get in early via a direct train from Brussels to Luxembourg 5:30 AM -> 9 AM for about 26 Euro. ...

Antwerp is easily accessible from Brussels in about ~1 hour by train or ~40 minutes by bus. Compared to Brussels, Antwerp is small and charming. I would recommend starting the day with Legends of Antwerp tour. One great thing about this tour is that you get to see both a church and a museum for a short time for free. Both of these have entry tickets otherwise. This statue of a man throwing the hand of a giant (who used to demand tribute and punish sailors if they didn’t pay) into the sea gave the name to Antwerp. “Hand werpen” means “to throw a hand” in Dutch. ...

Brussels is a charming European-style city with cobblestone streets, historic architecture, and a rich cultural heritage. Brussels . I would recommend doing a day-trip to Brussels if you are visiting Paris or Amsterdam. Every street/area in Brussels has two names - one in French and one in Dutch. Sometimes, they are not even similar. The Grand Palace (Grote Markt) is the central square of Brussels and a UNESCO World Heritage site. ...

Dublin is a small city. Despite its high per-capita GDP, unlike Singapore or Tokyo, the city feels fairly low-key and more of a middle-affluent country. The official languages are Gaelic and English. To preserve Gaelic, all laws are officially passed in Gaelic! Day 1 The city of Dublin is not huge. You can walk everywhere and even skip public transport. I would recommend starting with a walking tour that gives you a great idea of the city. Rick Steve has great guides as well. ...

Day 1 - West Minster Start the day with a walking tour that gives you a nice history & geography of the city of London. Many of the royal palaces and crown-related buildings are in the city of “Westminster” which is next door to the City of London. Then head to the British Museum. Like most government-owned museums, it is free to access. However, I would recommend booking a reservation in advance. Rick Steves has a nice audio guide on touring the British Museum that I would recommend. ...

Lisbon has a quintessential old European city charm to it. Compared to Madrid, it is more rundown though. Day 1 - Baixa-Chiado area Check out the main square (Baixa-Chiado), see the oldest running bookstore, and learn the history of the various parts by doing a walking tour. A big earthquake came in 1755 in Lisbon. Apart from the red-light district, most of the city was destroyed and that made people start questioning God. One Church, Convento De Carmo, has some last ruins to indicate the impact of the earthquake. ...

Vienna is a historic city. First, a pivotal battle between the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe was fought in 1683, and then, during the second world war, significant support to Hitler came from Vienna. Some tips for the first-timers The dominant spoken language is German, but it is not hard to find English speakers. Public transport is great and a 24-hour pass costs 8 Euros. Most of the good spots are near the city center, so don’t stay too far away. Toilets inside shopping malls, big grocery stores, and restaurants are usually free. Outside ones charge 0.5 Euro. Which museum to see Vienna is full of museums, and one can spend a week just checking out the museums. Entry cost varies from 4 Euros to 20 Euros. I would recommend deciding what you want to see and make a decision based on that. I was not interested in checking out natural history or art museums since they are similar to the museums I have seen before. Therefore, I picked “Museum of Art Fakes” and “Museum of Abortion and Contraception.” Both unusual and unique to Vienna. ...