Best smaller European cities to visit, from seasoned traveler

I'm an American who's traveled to 18 European countries and spent four years living in London while at university. Moving from Chicago to the UK opened easy access to nearby destinations — a two-and-a-half-hour train to Paris or a 45-minute flight to Amsterdam — and over time I found myself preferring smaller cities that feel intimate and uncrowded.

Cassis and Tarragona are two such places. Cassis is a fishing port lined with cafés, bakeries, and wine bars and includes part of Calanques National Park, where towering limestone inlets feel like canyons and Plage de la Grande Mer sits at the town center; visitors can also climb Cap Canaille, one of Europe’s highest sea cliffs, for wide Mediterranean views.

A little over an hour south of Barcelona along Spain’s Golden Coast, Tarragona mixes Roman ruins and beaches; I visited the Catedral de Tarragona and walked to Playa el Miracle, and a five-course tasting at Osteria del Lab featured a standout shrimp-and-octopus salad.

France, Spain, Cassis, Tarragona

cassis, tarragona, calanques, cap canaille, barcelona, golden coast, osteria, shrimp salad, fishing port, paris