5 European Countries I'd Go Back To

Last updated on 24 April 2025

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In 2024, I spent nearly 7 weeks gallivanting around Europe and the UK on a huge Contiki tour. It was a lot of fun, and I am so glad I made the decision to go. There were so many stunning European countries and cities that we visited along the way – I ended up going to 17 that trip! – and while I would really love to go and explore nearly all of them again and with more time, there are five that come to the top of the list quite quickly.

5 European Countries I’d Go Back To

Switzerland
Italy
Croatia
Slovenia
Germany
And some shout-outs at the end!

Switzerland

We started our Contiki in London, went to Paris for two nights, and then straight to Switzerland. It was about day 3 or 4 when we arrived at our hostel in Lauterbrunnen, and the moment we stepped off the coach, I knew that it was going to be a top spot on my favourite list. And I’d already been to London and Paris before, so it was the first ‘new to me’ country.

Despite the fact that I had declared this so early on in the trip and that may not have been wise given we still had a heck-of-a-lot of countries to see … I was right. It was up there as possibly my favourite spot. I’d go back in a heartbeat and hope that I get the opportunity someday.

Italy

While Italy as a whole was stunning and we visited a bunch of places – Venice, Florence, Pisa, Verona, Rome, and Pompeii – I’d like to specifically go back to Rome. Okay, I’d go back to anywhere in Italy, but Rome was somewhere that I could definitely see myself exploring a lot more.

We were able to a bunch of things in Rome, like visit the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and then also made a trip into the Vatican City, too. But there is so much more to see! Heading back to Rome and then doing some more of Italy would be amazing – I’d like to see some of the southern spots, more, as we just drove from Rome to Pompeii and then to the eastern coast to get the ferry across to Greece. Italy deserves to be explored more.

Croatia

Oh Croatia. We spent most of our time either inside, hiding from the torrential rain or outside getting absolutely drenched. There was so much rain when we were in Croatia – specifically Dubrovnik, but also when we came back into Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit Plitvice Lakes – that we waded our way out of Old Town, ankle deep. My shoes took 2 days to dry out.

But even though the rain and the grey, Croatia was beautiful. Dubrovnik was an incredible city, and I loved the Old Town and the coastlines. We were meant to do a boat tour, but alas, it was cancelled due to the severe weather, but the little bits we did get to experience of the city were brilliant.

The other spot in Croatia we went to, as I mentioned, was Plitvice Lakes, in the north of the country. Again, damp and rainy, but it was absolutely stunning and the waterfalls were incredible.

It probably doesn’t need to be said, I’d love to go back and not get drenched, and see Dubrovnik and other spots around Croatia in the sunlight.

Slovenia

This surprised me! Of course, I knew that Slovenia existed, but I didn’t know much about it as a country, and I have to say I don’t think it was on my list of countries to visit (though to be fair, I’ll go anyway haha). But Slovenia was so cool.

We spent two nights in the capital of Ljubljana, with one full day to explore a bit of the area. In the morning, we jumped back on the coach and headed to Lake Bled, which was a stunning lake with beautiful churches and castles. There’s a loop walk you can do around the lake, which is about 6km, so a group of us did that. I seem to recall I video-called my parents back in New Zealand as I was wandering, so that was a fun thing to do!

Then it was back to the city for the afternoon. While my friend went and checked out the museums, I headed off up to Ljubljana Castle. It had such a fun few hours wandering around, venturing into museums, climbing up towers to get a few from the city (which, again, it was raining, but it was still worth it), and learning more about the history of the castle, the city and the country.

We also had a traditional Slovenian night out, with dinner, and were introduced to traditional Slovenian fashion and dancing. Lots of fun!

Even just the Lake and the city (with all the dragons!) made me want to go back and explore Slovenia more!

Germany

Our Germany experience was very short-lived.

It was a quick pop into Munich for the afternoon once we arrived in the city, before staying the night there. We did a little bike ‘tour’ which was really just biking from the bike hire places with a guide through a huge (and beautiful!) park, and stopping for a drink and pretzel in the beer garden.

Then we had dinner in the city, some people went drinking German beer, and the next day we were up-and-at-em on the way to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. It was an incredibly short stop at Dachau – only 45 minutes – and it was not long enough at all. That night, we stayed in Sankt Goar for the night before moving on to Amsterdam.

I enjoyed what I saw of Munich a lot and would love to go back and spend a few days there. Again, needed more time in Dachau and I’d go back to read more and really take it in. Checking out some of the small towns would also be high on my to-do list.

Shout out to other European countries that I’d go back to

To be honest, I’d go back anywhere. But shout-outs to:

The Netherlands: I’ve been to Amsterdam before, back in 2013 and loved it then, too. This time we got to experience Edam, too (like the cheese!), and I’d love to see more of the country
Montenegro: Another one of those surprise ones! We only spent a lunchtime in Montenegro, but it was so beautiful that I’d love to go back.
Austria: We spent time in Hopfgarten im Brixental, at one of the Contiki Special Stays, and the weather hit us again with a snowstorm. But the little we experienced of Austria … beautiful!

Of course, if you gave me a plane ticket, I’d probably go anywhere. But these are just some of the European countries I’d go back to if given the opportunity; they’re top of the list.

I’d love to know if you have either visited any of these places or if there are places you’d love to go back to in Europe! Drop them in the comments!