Favorite City in Europe

I've traveled Europe a lot but now my buddies and I are looking for a random city in Europe to explore for about 3-5 days in late February if Covid restrictions allow us. 

I've been to Paris, Brussels, Munich, Zurich, Warsaw, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, all over Italy, Athens, Barcelona, and many other popular European cities already.

We're looking to go to a more under-the-radar but still "fun" city to check out. Maybe Istanbul or Prague? Would love to hear suggestions for unique places to go. 

44 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Favorite city in Europe? Valencia, Spain.

I liked it because I lived there for 6 months and enjoyed the general vibe and area. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Awesome! 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

What do you think of Canovas? This is where I learned most of my Spanish getting wasted talking to chicks in Spanish.

I have two VCF jerseys. One in orange and the other white.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Barcelona is cool. I’d say Barcelona is probably a better city to visit than Valencia if you’re only going for a few days. They have a lot of good sites to visit. But, I really liked living in Valencia.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

my buddy there said it's been mostly closed with the pandemic

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

Food in Italy is incredible. Absolutely amazing.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Southern Spain is a good bet, and somewhat ‘under the radar’ if you get away from the touristy coast (go to Granada, Cordoba, Jerez, Sevilla etc). The region has excellent train connections which allow you to do a lot in just a few days, and it’s pretty cheap compared to say Barcelona yet has some amazing places (Alhambra and Mezquita, to name but two). 

I wouldn’t call Prague or Budapest under the radar, but both are worth a visit for sure. Dresden is also a good shout.

 

Practically all of the cities mentioned are not "under the radar".....feel like I'm watching an episode of Rick Steves where Budapest is considered adventurous. If you want to get under the radar, you're talking Sophia, Belgrade, Bucharest, Tallin, and Riga or much much smaller cities in the well known countries. No major city in Western Europe is really "under the radar".

 

Fast and Fiduciary

I've traveled Europe a lot but now my buddies and I are looking for a random city in Europe to explore for about 3-5 days in late February if Covid restrictions allow us. 

I've been to Paris, Brussels, Munich, Zurich, Warsaw, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, all over Italy, Athens, Barcelona, and many other popular European cities already.

We're looking to go to a more under-the-radar but still "fun" city to check out. Maybe Istanbul or Prague? Would love to hear suggestions for unique places to go. 

Monaco

SafariJoe, wins again!
 

Kraków is really nice, Zakopane is beautiful in both the summer and winter. Lwów in Ukraine is beautiful and cheap, never been though.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

Venice, then Rome, then Florence

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

Amsterdam is nice, but it's basically an inferior Venice. The channels are nice, there's the right mix of luxury, history and fun. However the weather is almost permanently bad, the city smells of pot all the time, the red light district is very trashy and nothing really is remotely close to Piazza San Marco and Palazzo del Doge. It has the bonus that beautiful Dutch girls are 10/10, but those are actually very rare. The average is low.

Zurich: fucking UBS/Credit Suisse offices everywhere. Boring.

London: solid on culture, awful weather, getting worse due to woke politics.

Paris: top on culture but awful politics, rats everywhere (srsly), architects somehow jerking off at the idea of butchering historical buildings with horrendous modern architecture.

Madrid: comfy, very Med, not as snob as most capitals, somehow culturally forgotten, though lags behind Italy.

Berlin: meh. Butchered by East commies and modern achitecture. Definitely saw better days.

Underrated: Krakow, Wroclaw. Comfy and relaxed while retaining much of what big cities can offer. Crime is unheard of.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

Non voluptas expedita atque qui sunt amet consequatur quo. Autem ea perspiciatis dolorem iste. Sunt consequatur voluptates odit rerum earum odit. Ut eum consequatur praesentium magnam nemo deleniti voluptatem. Quidem quas vero itaque officiis.

Velit omnis occaecati voluptas omnis nobis non illum. Minus sunt at ipsa aperiam. Quas porro officia error impedit est dolore veritatis atque. Nam qui omnis minus minus voluptatibus sequi sint. Perspiciatis laudantium aut et est consectetur unde.

Sit deserunt et temporibus provident sunt. Fugit ipsam iste laudantium porro accusamus. Nobis dolorem autem corrupti. Qui quaerat qui nihil ad vitae hic dolorem. Deserunt quidem qui excepturi.

Aut iusto enim totam iusto nihil ullam impedit. Cupiditate ut sit dolorem.

 

Omnis rerum delectus et. Qui laboriosam nemo sit corporis ut. Odit rerum necessitatibus optio quam et sint. Dolor dolor placeat sapiente earum sunt id.

Dolores quis ut suscipit nesciunt aperiam nihil. Laboriosam est quaerat ullam aut. Labore provident doloribus et nostrum.

Voluptas explicabo animi ratione reprehenderit numquam consectetur beatae in. Alias in quod soluta expedita temporibus magnam eveniet. Eos qui id consequuntur et aut.

 

Non tempora quo quidem facilis dolores consequatur. Dolor labore est rerum quia voluptates. Suscipit neque ea vel voluptatibus voluptatem temporibus repellendus. Voluptas maiores rerum repudiandae odit ipsa. Dolorum sit at et voluptas itaque.

Possimus laudantium nemo optio libero est voluptatum. Ut quasi et quisquam quia culpa ut. Voluptatem dicta ea aut et et.

Facilis sed sunt qui necessitatibus. Voluptatem optio non ducimus tenetur et voluptatem. Est fuga placeat consequatur vel similique vel. Nisi qui harum illum facilis qui ut. Ut fuga libero quia. Non reprehenderit voluptas non officia tempora.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”