Where to Stay in Europe

We don’t stay in one type of place when we travel Europe. Sometimes it’s a hotel. Sometimes it’s an Airbnb. It depends on the destination, the length of the trip and how we plan to spend our days. Over the years, we’ve learned what actually works for us and that mix has changed from trip to trip.

This page pulls together the places we’ve stayed, researched, or confidently recommend across Europe. You’ll find hotel guides by city, notes on neighborhoods and practical options for different travel styles. The goal isn’t a perfect stay. It’s finding places that make the trip feel easier and worth repeating.

Hotel Guides by City

How We Choose Where to Stay

We care more about where a place is than how many stars it has. Being able to walk out the door and be in a neighborhood we actually want to spend time in matters more to us than a long list of amenities.

We look for places that make it easy to get around on foot or by public transport, with enough space to be comfortable after a full day out. We’re not chasing trends. We’re choosing places we’d stay again, and in many cases, places we already have.

Everything you’ll see here comes from that mindset.

Hotels vs Airbnbs in Europe

We use both, depending on the trip.

Hotels make sense when we’re in cities for a shorter stay, want a central location, or know we’ll be out most of the day. They’re often easier, especially in dense city centers.

Airbnbs work better for longer stays, traveling with more people, or when having extra space makes the trip more comfortable. In some places, they also make it easier to stay in quieter residential neighborhoods.

You’ll see a mix across our guides because that’s how we travel.

Want to see how we plan our trips and why our guides look the way they do? Start here: How We Plan Trips Across Europe.

You can also browse our destination guides by country to explore where we’ve traveled and what we’ve covered.