Top 25 Things to Do in Europe
 |
| Rome - a traveler favorite in 2007 |
After much pummeling of calculators and mashing of spreadsheets, we’ve calculated our Top 25 Things to Do in Europe for 2007. As always there are some surprises on the list as well as some notable absences.
In the former category: Rome and Paris. Both of these cities continued to dominate travelers’ itineraries in Europe.
It’s a similar story with London and Florence, both of which maintained their popularity with travelers (and that’s despite the strong pound sterling!). We’re also very pleased to see Granada, Munich and Milan on the list.
And the absences? I’ll admit it, I have a soft spot for Istanbul, Dublin and Madrid. Yet none of these cities made it onto our list. Let’s agree to disagree for the time being.
(We’ll tackle these three cities - and why you should factor them into your 2008 travels - in a future post.) Anyway, enough of the overview let’s get into the winners…
Viator’s Top 25 Things To Do in Europe: 2007
25. Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Entrance Tickets, Rome, Italy
24. Capri and the Blue Grotto Full Day Tour, Rome, Italy
23. Florence Day Tour, Rome, Italy
22. Skip the Line: Guided Tour of the Louvre Museum, Paris, France
 |
| #16 - The Royal Castle of Neuschwanstein |
21. Eiffel Tower Dinner and Seine River Cruise, Paris, France
20. Chianti Region with Wine Tasting Afternoon Tuscany Tour, Florence, Italy
19. Alhambra and Generalife - UNESCO World Heritage Site, Granada, Spain
18. Giverny and Versailles Day Trip, Paris, France
17. Bateaux Parisiens Dinner Cruise on the Seine, Paris, France
16. Royal Castles of Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Day Tour, Munich, Germany
15. Siena and San Gimignano Full Day Tuscany Tour, Florence, Italy
14. Florence City Sightseeing Morning, Afternoon or Full Day Tour, Florence, Italy
13. Paris City Hop On Hop Off Tour, Paris, France
12. Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s Rooms and St Peter’s, Rome, Italy
11. The Paris Pass, Paris, France
10. Venice in One Day - The Original Venice Walk and Grand Canal Boat Tour, Venice, Italy
9. Dinner and Show at The Moulin Rouge, Paris, France
8. Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Rome Walking Tour, Rome, Italy
 |
| #3. Eiffel Tower Dinner and Moulin Rouge Show |
7. Paris Illuminations Tour and Moulin Rouge Show, Paris, France
6. Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Georgian Bath, London, England
5. Rome Hop On Hop Off Double Decker Bus Tour, Rome, Italy
4. Sightseeing Tour including il Cenacolo - Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, Milan, Italy
3. Eiffel Tower Dinner and Moulin Rouge Show, Paris, France
2. Naples and Pompeii Day Tour, Rome, Italy
1. Skip the Line: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Tour, Rome, Italy
Do you have your own list of favorite things to do in Europe? We’d love to hear about them. Simply leave us a reply below and we’ll add them to the list.
Stay tuned for our final ‘Best of’ lists in the coming days, to help you plan your next trip across the globe. In the meantime, if your curious about the top things to do last year in Europe, keep on reading…
* * * * * * * * * *
 |
| Rome & the Vatican |
What were the big surprises in 2006? Certainly the popularity of hop-on hop-off bus tours across Europe. These aren’t every travelers cup of tea, and few people would argue that a hop-on hop-off bus tour will change your life or blow your travel socks off. That said, we were pleasantly surprised by the consistently positive reviews these bus tours received: travelers love the geographical and historical orientation they provide, not to mention the low-cost and easy on, easy off transport the buses offer.
So without further ado, may I have the envelope please, and the winners for 2006 are…
Viator’s Top 25 Things to Do in Europe: 2006
25. One Day in London with Eurostar, from Paris, France
24. Old Amsterdam by Candlelight Cruise, Amsterdam, Netherlands
23. Venice in One Day - The Original Venice Walk and Grand Canal Boat Tour, Venice, Italy
22. Papal Audience at St Peter’s, Rome, Italy
 |
| #24 - Old Amsterdam by Candlelight |
21. Seine Cruise, Illuminations and Dinner on the Champs-Elysees, Paris, France
20. Afternoon Tour to the Chianti Region with Wine Tasting, from Florence, Italy
19. The Original Sound of Music Tour, Salzburg, Austria
18. Half-day sightseeing tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello, Venice, Italy
17. Ancient Rome Walking Tour - Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Rome, Italy
16. Barcelona Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Turistic, Barcelona, Spain
15. Guided tour of Versailles, Paris, France
14. Full-day tour to Siena and San Gimignano, from Florence, Italy
13. Morning, afternoon or full-day Florence sightseeing tour, Florence, Italy
12. Louvre Museum: A Guided Visit, Paris, France
11. Eiffel Tower Dinner & Moulin Rouge Show, Paris, France
 |
| The Eiffel Tower in Paris |
10. Half-day tour to Auschwitz - Birkenau Museum (UNESCO World Heritage Site), from Krakow, Poland
9. Rome Hop-On Hop-Off City Bus Tour, Rome, Italy
8. Day tour to the royal castles of Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, from Munich, Germany
7. Milan City Sightseeing Tour including il Cenacolo - Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Milan, Italy
6. Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & Georgian Bath, from London, England
5. Illuminations and Moulin Rouge Show, Paris, France
4. Paris City Sightseeing / L-Open Hop-On Hop-Off Tour of Paris, Paris, France
3. Full-day tour to Naples and Pompeii, from Rome, Italy
2. Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy
1. Walking tour of St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy
There you have it, Viator’s list of Top 25 Things to Do in Europe for 2006. This list showcases the tours and activities that were most popular on Viator.com in 2006.
And remember: it’s never too early to start planning your next trip to Europe. And as much as we feel passionate about the Top 25 things to do listed above, we also think it’s important to strike off on your own, get off the beaten path, and find a quiet corner of Europe to enjoy.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard is to split your trip in half, mixing a better-known destination or two with something less mainstream. This is doubly true if you’re planning to visit Europe in June, July or August when things are at their busiest.
A good example of this “mixed trip itinerary” are combinations like Italy and Malta, Germany and Poland, England and Scotland, Turkey and Greece, Spain and Portugal, France and Belgium. But as we say at Viator, it doesn’t really matter where you go, just go!
Happy travels in 2007
Get articles like this one delivered to your favorite RSS feed reader. Subscribe to Viator Travel Blog now.
December 21st, 2006 at 6:01 am
I was interested to read the your Top 25 Things to do in Europe. I observed that 4 out of the top ten were in Rome. I agree that many of these are worthwhile doing, I have done number 2, visiting the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. What I did not enjoy about the Vatican was the crowds (and this was in February), you couldn’t move at your own pace through the rooms, you were almost propelled forwards.
However I would say that you could get a lot more of out of trip in Europe if you just spend time wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere, going at your own pace, visiting some less well known destinations instead of rushing around on a tour or just sticking to tourist magnets.
I tried to think of my top 3 things to do in Europe. However it is difficult for me to say specific trips/attractions. For example, I spent 4 days in Rome and enjoyed the whole experience, I wouldn’t rate the Vatican as the number one thing I did, although it added to the overall experience. We literally walked around for 4 days. Rome really is a living museum, you can walk in an alley and suddenly you are in a beautiful piazza. You go to sit in cafe and watch the world go by.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
[...] list of the Top 25 Things to Do in Europe in 2006. Which reminds me, stay tuned for our 2007 lists of top things to do, including our list of [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:56 am
[...] not caught up on our lists of Top 25 Things to Do around the world, these links will help: Europe, Asia, USA & Canada, Australia, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East & [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:58 am
[...] Europe (#1 thing to do: Walking tour of St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel in Rome) [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:58 am
[...] far we’ve covered the Top 25 in Europe, Asia, the USA & Canada, Central & South America, and the Middle East & Africa. Now [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:58 am
[...] time for another installment of Viator’s Top Things to Do list. So far we’ve covered Europe, the USA & Canada, Central & South America and Asia. That makes it four continents down, [...]
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
[...] Top 25 Things to Do in Europe. This isn’t so surprising — it’s not easy to plan a trip to Europe, there are so many options, so many choices. Our list of the top tours & things to do in Europe was intended to help de-mystify what’s cool, interesting, new, fun and popular in Europe. And it looks like we succeeded. [...]
January 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] - Again, what a surprise that the #1 thing to do in Europe gets a lot of [...]
January 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Nice bucket list! It’s a pity that Scotland didn’t have any entries on the top 25. Things like playing a round of golf St Andrews, virtually the birthplace of golf… Oh well, perhaps in 2008.