Last month, cruise giant Royal Caribbean got into trouble by advertising a trip “departing from Venice (Ravenna)” – when even the youngest geography student is sure that the historic city, while beautiful, is also a two-and-a-half-hour drive away Italy’s floating masterpiece.
The Advertising Standards Authority warned of further misleading campaigns, but arguably a bigger crime has been committed than simply reducing distances on a map. Reducing Ravenna to a bracketed place – a means to a more famous end – in itself does a huge disservice to a beautiful destination.
And Ravenna isn’t the only city sidelined by its bucket-list neighbor. For years, budget airlines have lured unwise travelers to cities miles away from advertised destinations, reducing these less-loved stars to a sad supporting role.
Because they deserve more recognition, it’s time for these cities to break free from the snags that have limited them for far too long.
Bergamo (instead of Milan)
Italy’s fashion capital may have a monopoly on haute couture hangouts and designer hotels, but it’s certainly not the best-dressed city in the region. Classic in style, the hilltop village of Bergamo looks much prettier and has been trendy for hundreds of years.
Pull back layers of history by exploring its many levels. A funicular tram runs to the older upper district, Citta Alta, where cobbled streets are lined with Venetian walls and basilicas with gilded interiors. Milan may have Leonardo’s Last Supper, but there are equally impressive works to admire on the gallery and church walls of its (not so close) neighbor. See masterpieces by Botticelli, Bellini and Raphael at the Accademia Carrara art gallery, one of the best collections of Italian Renaissance art.
Surrounded by lakes and mountains, this is a city dedicated to scenic views. Climb 230 steps to the top of the 52-meter-high Torre del Campanone, where a bell rings every evening at 10 p.m. in memory of an ancient city curfew.
Stay: The opulent Relais San Vigilio al Castello has double rooms from £186 per night, with breakfast (00 39 035 265 0987)
Beauvais (instead of Paris)
Sure, Monet, Degas and Renoir may have found inspiration on the streets of Paris – but 80km away and more than 150 years later you can find painter André Van Beek making brushstrokes among the dahlias, water lilies and hydrangeas of his poetic garden in Saint -Paul, a ten minute drive from Beauvais. This soothing space is a fitting introduction to the capital of the Oise department, steeped in just as much romance as its chic, flashy big brother.
While Notre Dame continues to rise from the ashes, the Gothic Cathedral of Beauvais stands tall against the skyline, enticing visitors with its sparkling stained glass windows and ornate astronomical clock. Next door, in the former Episcopal Palace, the MUDO (Musée de l’Oise) may not be the Louvre, but it still boasts an impressive array of archaeological artefacts and bombastic works of art.
In the city centre, Place Jeanne Hachette has a host of pretty facades, fountains and canopied terraces, while strolls along the riverbank along the pretty Le Thérain waterway are a peaceful alternative to strolls along the Seine.
Stay: A short walk from the cathedral, Hôtel Mercure Beauvais Center Cathédrale has double rates from £122, with breakfast (00 33 3 44 04 04 11)
Girona (instead of Barcelona)
Far from official, slapping a ‘Barca’ label on the Costa Brava’s gateway airport was a sneaky marketing ploy by truth-bending budget airlines – and it’s not just misleading, it’s downright rude.
A setting for scenes in cult fantasy series Game of Thrones, the medieval walls and cobbled streets of this Catalan city are among the best preserved in Europe. Snap photos on the picturesque stone steps of the Baroque Staircase of Sant Domènech, admire the perfectly symmetrical bell tower of the Monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants and stroll through the exceptional Arab Baths (which make our own West Country Baths look like a paddling pool).
Once you’ve finished climbing steep alleys and strolling through the colonnaded streets of the Jewish Quarter, focus on the bright emblematic facades of houses along the Onyar River. Architect Rafael Masó’s former family home, an Art Nouveau showpiece of carved wooden furniture and engraved glass, is open for a tour.
Located along the golden-edged Costa Brava and the forest-lined Pyrenees, there is also plenty of room to explore the nearby nature.
Stay: Casa Cacao, a boutique hotel run by the gastronomic Roca family, has double prices from £186 per night with breakfast (00 34 972 28 28 28)
Vasteras (instead of Stockholm)
Sweden’s capital isn’t the only city with aquatic charm; there’s plenty of water action 100 kilometers away in this lesser-known archipelago on the shores of Lake Mälaren. Beaches and promenades are the obvious attractions in summer; and once the water freezes, the area becomes a huge ice rink.
As you’d expect from a Scandi city, there’s no shortage of strange attractions. Watch fish swim past the window at the underwater Utter Inn, designed by artist Mikael Genberg, hunt for ghosts at Engsö Castle (a female figure emerges at 8 p.m.), or zigzag through the stones of Sweden’s largest burial mound, Anundshögen . It is also possible to swim in white water at various points along the coastline, but if the stories of sea monsters give you shivers, you can relax in the hot tubs and slide down the slides in the eight-storey Kokpunkten water park.
Stay: Steam Hotel, a lakeside hotel in a former power station, has double prices from £217 with breakfast (00 46 21 475 99 00)
Memmingen (instead of Munich)
It’s a bit confusing to confuse this with the Bavarian beer-drinking capital – a stretch of 115 kilometers in fact. Before you zoom off, spend some time getting to know one of Germany’s best-preserved medieval old towns. Step over 700-year-old stones along the Kohlschanze-covered city wall and stop at prison towers called Witches, Beggars and Adulterers – which will give you an idea of the shenanigans that once took place there.
On the other side of town, colorful, intricate facades provide the backdrop for a strange fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Stop at the Fisherman’s Day Fountain, built in honor of an annual July festival, when a watercourse is drained and local men with giant nets compete to catch the largest trout.
In addition to the churches, castles, palaces and patrician houses, there are an overwhelming number of breweries on tap. Try Barfüßer Hausbrauerei to drink pints with Maultaschen – a kind of ravioli filled with meat – or make a pilgrimage outside the city to Ursberg Abbey, where monks have been brewing bottom-fermented beers since 1623.
Stay: Equipped with its own brauhaus, Joesepp’s Hotel has double rooms from £85, room only (00 9 8331 9278104)