Which European City for my 50th - Lakes/Mountains/Views/Scenic/Historic

[mumma24]

Any suggestions please on which City to visit ?
The only European city we have been to is Paris. We would like to fly and preferably not too far from an airport.

so far looking at Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark

We love walking, photography, old buildings, lakes, mountains, views, hills,

Thank you

Salzburg, Vienna, Bologna, Florence, Bern

Stockholm, ljubljana - no lakes ( nice river though) Krakow, Seville, Hamburg- great lakes /no mountains, Lisbon- lots of photo opportunities.

Como, fly into Milan. Stay in Como itself or one of the little towns around the lake. Lots to do and see, all reached by the lake ferries. Fab food, lovely hotels, beautiful scenery, wonderful lakeside gardens, mountains...

Heidelberg, fly into Frankfurt

Interlaken, Switzerland
Lucerne is lovely too.

Salzburg. Vienna too - you can take a sweet tram to Grinzing and the Vienna Woods but Salzburg has most of the things you're looking for - the airport is v close and the scenery/setting is fab.

Not Denmark if it's mountains you're after!

Lake Bled for the lake, mountains and scenery.

Florence for the absolutely stunning scenery and history. No lake though.

Lake Como for everything on your list.

Thank you for your help everyone.

Grenada , the Alhambra is gorgeous . We flew London City to Grenada . Loads of history, lots of restaurents they still do tapas with every drink so you can just go from bar to bar!

I’d second Ljubljana. The airport is between Ljubljana and Bled (which does have a beautiful lake as mentioned by a PP). I actually prefer Lake Bohinj, but it is a bit further from the airport.

Italy for the food. For the same reason, avoid eastern Europe.

Bergen. Oslo.

Prague - just on the basis it's the most beautiful city in Europe! Interlaken is very pretty as is Salzburg. Florence can be a bit disapointing on first arrival but grows on you- no lake but plenty of history and incomparable art collections. How about Verona and take a day trip to Venice? Neither has lakes but plently of old buildings and history - Verona does have hills if not mountains! Bergen is beautiful if you don't mind rain and have plenty of cash. Carcasonne is lovely for a weekend with it's walled medieval hill tip town - no lake but there is a canal (am trying to find water 'feature'!) and there's an airport there.

Salzburg and Innsbruck tick off most of your list, and Lucerne has the lot except for an airport

Brilliant, thank you. Making a list 😃

Vienna - the best city to live in the world according to the surveys

Rome - because it has the Pantheon

Another vote for Salzburg. Ticks all the boxes. Went in November and it was stunning. We caught the bus out to St Gilgen to see Lake Wolfgangsee and get the cable car up the mountains. Was beautiful

Malaga then trips to Seville (easy day trip) and Granada (bit further but mountains) and/or Cordoba (day trip). You'd only be missing the lakes, Malaga airport to the city is a doddle, cheap short flights, and the train links are brill.

We went to Funchal for my 50th, although we already knew the island of Madeira quite well. Hired a small car and stayed at the Royal Savoy (get the 8th floor rooms, which are actually at sea level as its a topsy turvy hotel) Views are unsurpassed, cuisine amazing, walks around town v interesting, beautiful mountainous landscapes, lovely levada walks, even driving is an adventure.
I love Madeira so much.