10 Fairy Tale Destinations in Europe

Are you dreaming of centuries-old half-timbered houses perched beside a picturesque lake? Or maybe you’d like to see a historic castle that looks like it belongs in a movie?

No, travel isn’t (just) about seeing pretty things, or living out Disney-fueled fantasies of walking through medieval towns. But it’s undeniable that Europe is full of beautiful destinations that will have you feeling like you’ve been dropped right into a fairy tale.

Here are ten of my favorites to inspire your own travels.

1. Hallstatt, Austria

One of the most charming places you’ll ever see, Hallstatt is a tiny town perched on a small strip of land between a steep mountain and a gorgeous lake. Wonderfully, the best way to reach it is actually by boat, which offers amazing views of the magical town and its surroundings.

Boosting its fairy tale credentials, some people even claim that Hallstatt was the visual inspiration for Arendelle in Frozen. I have my doubts about this, given that Frozen is loosely based on Scandinavian mythology — and Austria is, uh, not Scandinavian — but purposefully or not, there are some vague similarities between Hallstatt and Arendelle.

While Hallstatt is totally doable as a day trip from Salzburg (or even Vienna), stay overnight for the best experience. Hallstatt is an extremely popular tourist destination and the tiny town is flooded with day trippers between 10 am and 6 pm or so. If you stay overnight, you get to see the town in the early morning and evening, with a much more reasonable number of people.

2. Colmar, France

France is absolutely full of small towns and cities that will have you feeling like you’ve stepped into Beauty and the Beast, but one of the best is Colmar.

Colmar is located in the Alsace region, which borders the western edge of Germany. As is common in this region, Colmar is full of colorful, half-timbered buildings. Add some canals and gorgeous flowers, and you have a recipe for real fairy tale magic.

3. Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Lauterbrunnen is a truly magical place. It’s a tiny village nestled in a picture-perfect valley, where thousand-foot waterfalls spill over towering cliffs and snow-capped mountains preside over the whole scene.

In fact, Lauterbrunnen is so beautiful that it actually inspired (okay…probably inspired) J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of Rivendell — the waterfall-filled home of the elves — in Lord of the Rings. Tolkien traveled through Switzerland as a young man and his descriptions and drawing of Rivendell bear some remarkable similarities to Lauterbrunnen.

I recommend visiting Lauterbrunnen during a longer trip to the Jungfrau region of Switzerland, where Lauterbrunnen is located. While you can get a great sense of the Lauterbrunnen Valley in as little as one day, the Jungfrau region deserves lots more attention.

4. Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

I first learned about Rothenburg ob der Tauber through an actual fairy tale of sorts — the classic children’s movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I watched approximately 1000 times (give or take a few) as a kid. Rothenburg features prominently in the movie as the location of the Vulgarian village scenes.

However, Rothenburg is much more famous as a beautifully preserved medieval town. In actuality, much of modern-day Rothenburg is reconstructed rather than preserved, as the town sustained a lot of damage during World War II. Thanks to donors from all over the world, who recognized the historic value of Rothenburg, the town was rebuilt and looks much as it did before the war — or, in some places, much as it did centuries ago!

Today, you can walk Rothenburg’s fully intact walls, get fabulous views from several towers, and admire colorful half-timbered homes.

Unlike many small towns in Europe that make for easy day trips, Rothenburg usually requires transfers if traveling by train. It’s also several hours from major cities by car. As a result, I recommend you spend at least one night in Rothenburg (ideally, two or more!). You’ll enjoy your visit more this way, too, as you can experience quiet mornings in town before day trippers arrive.

Rothenburg makes for an especially great stop between visits to the Black Forest and Bavaria.

5. Neuschwanstein Castle

Okay, I swear this isn’t a post about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but that movie also introduced me to another fairy tale destination: Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein’s history is simply fascinating. It is not, as you might guess, an ancient piece of German history. Rather, Neuschwanstein was the dream of King Ludwig II, who ruled Bavaria in the second half of the 19th century and envisioned himself as sort of the aesthetic successor to King Louis XIV of France. At heart, he was a dreamer rather than a leader, and spent much of his time (and money) designing and building elaborate castles — to the displeasure of many of the men who surrounded him.

This all culminated in, essentially, a coup, where a group of his government’s own ministers conspired to have Ludwig declared incapable of ruling due to paranoia. He was deposed, and the following day, he died under mysterious circumstances.

Neuschwanstein was never completed, as it was still under construction at the time of Ludwig’s deposition and possible murder (???) in 1886. You wouldn’t know it from the exterior, though, and if you tour the inside, you’ll see the few spectacular rooms that Ludwig managed to complete.

Neuschwanstein might be a basic American’s idea of a fairy tale European castle, but I can’t help it: I love it. The setting is even dreamier than it seems in photos, and it’s worth braving the typical hordes of tourists to see.

6. Semur-en-Auxois, France

Of all the places on this list, I’ve spent the least time in Semur-en-Auxois, and it’s probably the one where I’m most eager to return.

Semur is a small, hilltop town in the Burgundy region of France. I got to see it during a trip to Beaune, when our tour guide took us to Semur one day. My immediate impression of Semur-en-Auxois was that it’s an absolute dream, and the closest that I’ve been to feeling like I might actually be able to step back in time.

Semur-en-Auxois sits on a pink granite plateau and features a beautiful cathedral, picturesque arched bridges, and ivy-covered homes perched on the hills.

7. Bruges, Belgium

“It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it? How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s f***ing thing? How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful f***ing fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody’s f***ing thing, eh?”

In Bruges

Well, okay, I might have used different language, but I can’t say that Ralph Fiennes’s character is wrong: Bruges really is a fairy tale town, thanks to its well-preserved medieval character.

Like Rothenburg, Bruges maintained so much of its historic design because the city fell into poverty centuries ago. As a result, it was never redeveloped into bigger and more modern structures in the same way that many other other medieval cities were.

That wasn’t a great thing for the people of 16th-century Bruges, but it’s to the benefit of the tourists of today. During a visit to Bruges, you can admire centuries-old cathedrals, climb a 270-foot tower, take a boat ride alongside swans, and much more.

8. Dinant, Belgium

During a trip to Brussels, I took a day trip to Dinant more or less on a whim — and thank God I did. I was stunned by Dinant, which features a striking Gothic cathedral with an unusual onion dome, plus a citadel perched dramatically on a steep cliff.

Dinant was substantially destroyed during a German invasion in World War I, but thankfully it was largely reconstructed. It’s a small city, but absolutely worth a visit. You can tour the citadel, take a boat ride on the river, and visit a monastery-turned-hotel-slash-beer-museum.

9. San Marino

As one of just three sovereign nations that are also enclaves — that is, located entirely within another country — San Marino is best known for being fully surrounded by Italy.

But San Marino is much more than this quirk of geography. Its historic center is, incredibly, perched along the top of a mountain and lined with three picturesque towers. The result: unbelievable views of not just the rooftops of the city, but also the surrounding countryside, all the way to Italy and the sea beyond.

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