What are some fairytaleish cities in Europe? (Dubrovnik, where, Paris)

[Kobber]

I found Bern, the capital of Switzerland, to be very fairytale-ish.

[robertpolyglot]

I was expecting to like Munich and Bavaria. I couldn't stand it.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by oddstray

... Mainz, Essen, possibly Dresden ...

Aachen - not Essen! I've never seen Essen.

[Rozenn]

^^ And you're not missing much.

Not city but pretty much any town/village in Baden-Württembeg and Bavaria in December would fit the bill. I was especially impressed by the Christmas illuminations in Rottenburg (not Rothenburg, which is amazing with or without them).

[chielgirl]

I drive past Rottenburg on my way to Munich and the Alps.
I've never stopped in, I think I will now.
I wanted to stop for the name, if nothing else.

[eling]

rent a village - Weindorf - Veranstaltungsort - Groveranstaltung

Check out in Flickr:

Beausoleil, Eze/Eze-bord-de-mer in France

Click on the English link on the left menu if there is one, or just click on a name/copy paste it into Flickr:
Altstadt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Historischer Stadtkern
Liste der Städte mit historischem Stadtkern
Rüdesheim Valley Drosselgasse; Regensburg; Bingen; Hessen; Blaubeuren Blautopf; Hermagor/Sankt Veit an der Glan/Friesach/Gmünd/Weitra; Straßburg; Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Altstadt, Bernkastel-Kues; Reichsburg; Schwarzwald: Schwarzenbach/Gertelbach/Geroldsau?/Triberg;
Cochem-Zell in Germany

Gmunden, Enns, Bad Ischl-Salzkammergut, Innsbruck in Austria

Rheineck, Lucerne, Gstaad/Interlaken Valley; Grindelwald Valley; Wengen Lauterbrunnen Valley Gimmelwald; Luzern Kapellbrücke/Alps; St. Gallen; Basel in Swizterland

Isole di Brissago in Lago Como Isola Bella/Domodossola in Lago Maggiore
Campo Ligure; Pieve Ligure/Chiesa di Sori; Case Mortola/Camogli
Borgo Verezzi: Piazza Sant’Agostino/Rosea Prospettiva; Varigotti; Celle Ligure: Chiesa St. Michele/via agli archi/Loc Sanda; Varazze: centro storico
Ventimiglia; Vallecrosia Bellavista; Diano Marina; Alassio; San Remo Villa Nobel, Loano centrico storico/porta ovest/antichi palazzi/caruggi; Pietra Ligure;
Valle dell’Isonzo, San Rocco, Portofino, Valle d’Aosta, Chiavara, Sorrento, Cinque Terre, Chianalea, Santa Domenica, Nicotera, Calabria Centro Storico/Capo Vaticano, Capo Rizzuto in Italy

Bucuresti Biserica Silvestru, Cluj-Napoca, Valea Cernei, Caraşova in Romania

Český Krumlov in Czech Republic

Sopron inner city, Szentendre in Hungary

Dubrovnik in Croatia

Lovers Lane, Soča River, Savinja Valley, Nova Gorica in Slovenia

Genoa, Italy

Kasteel Carelshof, Kasteel van Bornem, Kasteel Marnix van St. Aldegonde, Kasteel Croy, Kasteel ten Berghe, Kasteel Oud Wassenaar; Leuven - Stadhuis townhall, Boetfort Kasteel; Hotel de Ville/Maison du Roi, Grand Place,Torgny, Brugges in Belgium

Sea Shell Thatched Cottage Rambouillet, Biscarrosse Beach, Place Stanislas Nancy; Loire Valley - Château de Vitré, Château d’Ussé, Château de Maulmont, Château de la Guerche, Château de la Rocheport; Strasbourg, Colmar, Frankreich/Kaysersberg/Elsass/Eguisheim; Rochefort-en-Terre, Josselin, Palais Idéal, area around Nice, Villefranche-Sur-Mer, Carcassonne in France
Riviera Palace in Monaco

Ajaccio, Tiuccia, Porto Vecchio in Corsica

Zaragoza Cathedral, Bierzo Castillo Templario de Ponferrada, Cordoba, Barcelona Gaudi/Poble Espanyol/Ciutadella La Cascada/Sanxenxo Beach, Navarrés in Spain

Quinta de Aveleda in Penafiel; Óbidos; Alentejo; Viana do Alentejo Alcáçovas shell house;Paços do Concelho/Palácio da Pena/Parque da Pena/Quinta da Regaleira/Quinta da Monserrate/Câmara Municipal de Sintra; Lisboa - Bairro de Alta/Torre de Belém, Armação de Pêra, Algarve, Monsaraz in Portugal

Boldt Castle/Heart Island in New York, Coral Castle in Florida

Rowallane Garden, Ballynahinch in Ireland

Ardverikie Castle; Arduaine Garden, Glenarn Garden in Scotland

The Garden House/Escot Fantasy Woodland; Liverpool - Bold Street, Yorkshire - Staithes; Trelissick Park; Colby Woodland Garden; Conwyn: Bodnant Garden Laburnum Arch; Isles of Scilly, Dunge Valley Hidden Gardens/West Burton Yorkshire Dales, Pixie's Foss Yorkshire/Cragside House Gardens Rothbury; Cherkley Court grotto, Surrey Scotney Garden Kent, Waddesdon Manor/Turn End Garden, Buckinghamshire; Beaumont House Hotel Romantic Road Five Valleys = Minterne Gardens/Peto Garden Ilford/Courts Garden - Wiltshire, Cirencester Cerney House Gardens Sezincote House Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Bibury/Castle Combe/Burford/Lacock/Painswick/Winchcombe/Tetbury/Malmesbury; Brighton Royal Pavilion, Margate Shell Grotto in England

Copenhagen - Vor Frelser Kirke, Tivoli Gardens; Aeroskobing, Christania in Denmark

Wartburg Eisenach, Rhön Mountains/Fulda Valley trails; Kasteel Löwenburg Park/Wilhelmshöhe Kassel; Alten Botanischen Garten Marburg, Königswinter Schloss Drachenburg, Thuringia Erfurt, Burg Satzvey, Schloss Marienburg, Zwingenberg; Gotisches Haus, Rathaus Dahme, Schloss Schönfeld, Leuchtturm beim Fasanenschlößchen bei der Moritzburg, Landsberg am Lech Mutterturm; Romantische Straße Neuenstein Schloss; Nibelungenturm Worms/Trierer Dom/Wormser Wasserturm/Der Wormser Dom/Dom St. Peter Liebfrauenkirche, Treves;Marktbreit am Main; Schnatterloch, Miltenberg am Main; Capuchin Chapel Dinkelsbühl; München Royal Residenz grotto, Kreuztor das Wahrzeichen der Stadt Ingolstadt; Blaubeuren Blautopf; Loretto Chapel - Oberstdorf; Linderhof Castle/Garden, Schloß Neuschwanstein - Füssen; Bernkastel-Kues, Hotel Hornburg; Braunfels Castle, Buldern Castle, Kasteel de Haar, Mespelbrunn Castle, Amalienburg Castle, Hohenzollern Castle, Castle Solitude; Haus zum Walfisch Freiburg; Mieminger Plateau, Neckar River in Germany

Kasteel de Haar Haarzuilens in Netherlands

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Estonia

Riga, Latvia

Tromsø, Norway

Kyiv - Cathedral of Dormition, St. Andrews Cathedral, St. Michaels Monastery, St. Volodomyr's Cathedral, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Voludmyrskiy Sobor; Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra/Percheska Laavra, St.Panteleimon, Kozaki Church, St. Mikhail, Feofania; Odessa Passage, Krasnaya Hotel at Pushkinskaya Street, Svyatogorsk, Pirogovo, Sergei Posad church, Yalta church in Ukraine

Valletta, Comino, Blue Lagoon, Blue Grotto in Malta

Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere Palace, Imperial Palace, Vienna - Christkindlmarkt/Weihnachtmarkt, Melk Abby; Gmunden in Austria

Zurich, St. Gallen; Basel City Hall in Switzerland

Venice during Carnivale, Trieste

Peles Castle, Pelisor Castle, Sighisoara in Romania

Danube Riverboat tour

Ljubljana Castle Otocec in Slovenia

Budapest Castle Hill/Fisherman's Bastion/Gerbeaud/Vajdahunyad Castle; Bory Castle in Hungary

Karlovy vary in Czech Republic

Bratislava, Bojnicky Palace in Slovakia

Otok Biševo/Komiža/Viz; Krka/Šibenik; Krašovani in Croatia

Bitola, Macedonia

Corfu, Galixidi, Nafplio, Oia/Fira - Santorini, Páros, Sími in Greece

Districts near these places: Dolmabahçe Palace, Yıldız Palace, Çırağan Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, Haydarpasha Station; sail Marmaris to Bodrum on Gulet - Büyükada in Turkey

[JD47john]

Rome, Venice, Paris, Turin, Caen, Dublin, Bruges, parts of Barcelona. Disneyland Paris:lol:

[Green Irish Eyes]

Originally Posted by chilaili

Rothenburg ob der Tauber!

Rothenburg is a lovely little walled city. It's very tourist-oriented, but still worth a visit.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by Mooseketeer

Tallinn

That's what I've heard.

I'd also say Riga, Latvia. I've been there twice, and loved it.

[french user]

It seems each one has its definition of what "fairly-tale" ambiances are; so that relatively hard to give an answer.
That said, I felt that many people reffers to the imaginary of Grimm (especially thru American "disney" image of it that has been spread worldwide since 60 years...). So the refference of of these Ambiances are somehow the idealized vision of southern Germany's medieval towns and surrounding areas. In France such kind of ambiance would be found in the town of Colmar, in Alsace just after the German border.
http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewik...r_-_Alsace.jpg
This is the "medieval southern German" ambiance (half-timbered colored walls), in the idealized vision of it (because in medieval times half-timber walls were covered, we would not see the wood frame!)

The "medieval revival" in which is based the grimm/disney imaginary of fairy-tales is a 19th century phenomenon. It was at that time that Neuwshanstein type of casltes has been made (not sure the spelling is good), with the idea of re-reating what people at that time imagined of what was supposed to be a castle in the middles ages (like disney did 80 years later).

http://www.8thingstodo.com/wp-conten...le-Germany.jpg
http://www.airstop.be/library/photos...disneyland.jpg



The Neuwschanstein was in part inspired on the Chateau de Pierrefonds, north of Paris, whose ruins has been restored in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, making already a sort of reinterpretation of the middle ages castle (many things have been invented then).
http://membres.multimania.fr/menoud/...efonds1024.jpg

Chateau d'Ussé, a 15/16th century medieval-inspired renaissance castle of the Loire Valley (very close to where I live).
http://www.larolandiere.com/usermedi...?dummy=0&h=800
As been a inspiration for Charles Perrault (who himself inspired the Grimms). his version of Cindirella tale was supposed to take place in that castle.

Other medieval castles have inspired the imaginary of fairy-tale castle, such as the Alcazar of Segovia in Spain.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...via_1-7-07.JPG