In recent years, following the low-cost travel revolution and the EU Enlargement to the former Eastern Bloc (and with the potential of further expansion to the Western Balkans), traveling all over Europe and discovering new destinations became a privilege for your generation. In addition, the Erasmus program has been contributing to young people’s mobility for two decades now, and provides a chance for them to get to know some new countries and cities, along with their cultures and traditions.

What’s your story on this? Which city in Europe did you like most and which one would you never go back to? Why? Tell us about your impressions, good moments, bad moments…

Perceive and observe

I would say it is impossible to label anything "the best" or " the worst".
Anything. Person, experience, simply said, anything. And no way I can judge some place to be ugly or really bad, not worthy to see or visit. No single thing can possess any superlative, just because you can never know what comes next. But from my personal experience, I would name some of the most influential places on the map of Europe:

For me it will always be Rome with its history on every step you make there, with its immense beauty of architecture, art, with pulsing life. It is Paris with its romantic atmosphere, in day and at night, both fascinating you when you let it. Munich with its friendly atmosphere, Berlin with its cosmopolitan and young spirit looking at you from every corner, Florence that makes you believe that past is always present and alive. There are many places you can consider more or less nice, according to your experience, but I can always say that visiting it has enriched my life! And that´s important to me and I would like it to be this way.

The message of the third year - thousand should be the connection of the whole world. People have expected it with peace, without any fear, what failed, unfortunately. Of course there is a travel revolution happening now. But you must be very patient and must give up some of your personal freedom, in order to respect security policy and rules. Anyway, I find it a great opportunity to travel and to move all over the world. Another important message should be therefore to perceive and observe, to connect but not unify without expecting the unique, the beauty and freedom. Only then can travel revolution bring us pleasure and give us what it claims and offers - the life experience that enriches us. Veronika, Slovakia

C(id)ies that influence the ID of our generation…

Mobility is written in our generation. The meaning of ‘traveling’ gains now different time perspective: one-week conference, one day visit, three-month long internship or a long-term business contract…. it influences you more than just ‘holiday traveling’ 10 years ago.

The city branding’s role is to assure us that the place we chose (because European and Global Mobility gives us this choice now) guarantees our personal development and that atmosphere of this city can help us to (id)entify our plans and raise motivation for our future actions.

But leaving city promotion behind, there are the moments that create experience.

I will always recommend:

…seeing the whiteness of snow in the mountains in Torino (IT) in the winter.
…tasting beer during the Oktoberfest and baked chestnuts in the autumn in Munich (DE)
…feeling the breeze when sailing in Nice (FR) in the summer
…smelling the tulips nearby Amsterdam (NL)
…and finally… experiencing Lisbon (PT) the whole year around.

And the next best thing…

…Thanks to European mobility, you can always come back there… Monika, Poland

Paris, The Hague, Luxemburg and Vienna

To my mind, it is always rather difficult to label something “the best one” and “the worst one”.
These are relative and subjective conceptions and therefore should be used with care. However, I dare name some of the cities in Europe that seemed to be rather fascinating to me. These include Paris, the Hague, Luxembourg and among recently visited ones – Vienna.

I did not expect much from Vienna when I was going there. “In Austria they speak German and it should be another typical German city”, I thought. What I expected to see was again Rathaus (City Administration) and Marktplatz (Market Square) as it is everywhere in German-speaking world. However, since my first steps in the city I sharply changed my mind. Of course there are many gorgeous buildings and the architecture is impressive. However, there are some unique features of Vienna as well. First one is the presence of huge amounts of horses in the streets, which makes you feel like in the 19th century. They are almost everywhere! Second, the center of the old city is inside a ring, with all major sightseeing places being situated along it. Tram 1 and 2 goes infinitely along the ring, so that before you start exploring the city on feet, you have a possibilty to see everything at once. Finally, it is not only the center that is exciting to visit. Our hostel was situated in Hütteldorf, which is in the outskirts of the city (20 min by U-bahn to city center). But I liked the place not less than the center. It is so peaceful and silent in the morning. Because it is situated on a hill, you can observe both the city and the forest surrounding it from 3 sides. Vienna is not as large as Paris, however it could be named one of the best cities of the middle size in Europe.

I would not like to name the worst city, because every city has its own inhabitants, for who it is their home and for who it is the best place to live in. Small towns may not be so exciting or fascnating for the youth as the big ones, but they perfectly meet the needs of old people or families bringing up children. Speaking about the city could be compared with speaking about a profession. Which one is the best? You can't know for sure. It differs from person to person and that is what makes our world wonderful. Olga, Ukraine