Five cultural European city breaks that are still under-the-radar

There’s a reason capital cities such as Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin continue to attract travellers from all over the world, but it can sometimes be worth your while to deviate from the classic city break blueprint.

Away from crowded landmarks, hectic backstreets and thronged downtowns, you could be strolling down boulevards without having to jostle for pavement space, gaily entering a museum without needing to book weeks in advance, or even just getting a seat in a restaurant or bar. Underrated bliss!

Destinations that haven’t fallen victim to overtourism are more likely to retain the original character that makes them so appealing to begin with, while they oftenoffer better value for money, plenty of opportunities to save, cheaper attractions and more space to breathe. It’s a win-win situation.

Best of all, such places are just a short flight or, even better, a train journey away.Read on for our selection of some of the best cultural European city breaks you might not have considered.

Antwerp, Belgium

Fashionistas assemble. Antwerp, home of the international diamond industry, has also long been associated with the avant garde creations of the Antwerp Six, a group of six fashion designers – including Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester – who graduated from the city’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s. These designers changed the course of high fashion and their influence can still be felt throughout the city in pop-ups, boutiques and concept stores. Visitors looking to flex their plastic should make a beeline for Nationalestraat and Kammenstraat for up and coming designers and haute couture, while high-street and luxury labels are represented in Meir and Schuttershofstraat respectively.

Creativity continues to have currency in Antwerp, with the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (known locally as M HKA) exhibiting visual arts, sculpture and video installations, while the thread of fashion continues over at MoMu, the city’s fashion museum, which reopened in 2022 after a four-year closure. Elsewhere, MAS – the Museum Aan de Stroom – is the city’s largest museum. This 60m high tower of galleries focuses on the global connectedness between people, while the city’s most famous son Peter Paul Rubens is celebrated at Rubenshuis, the 17th century…