Medieval walled cities are definitely one of the most romantic places to see. Until today they maintain their medieval atmosphere and you can easily imagine soldiers guarding the gates, armies trying to conquer the city, medieval markets… So let’s go for a trip to the Middle Ages! Tourism-review.com brings you the top best preserved walled cities in Europe according to About.com!
Ávila is located in Castile-Leon in Spain. The walls of Ávila are the most preserved medieval walls in Spain. They were built in 11th century. It is advisable to make a one day trip from Madrid to visit this city, since Ávila is not a tourist destination by itself.
Girona is another walled city in Catalonia in Spain that is worth seeing. Although all the walls of Girona were systematically destroyed and rebuilt in 19th century this city lures visitors for its medieval atmosphere. The wall walk is opened daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; another walk is outside the town walls where you can enjoy a very nice view of the old city from there. The path is lined with cypress and flowers and it is a nice place for romantic walks. Girona was founded by Romans and became a medieval hub where Christians, Jews and Arabs converged and so an architecturally interesting city emerged.
Carcassone has 46,500 inhabitants and is located 808 km south of Paris. Its walls come from the 6th, 7th, 8th century and you can be sure you can’t find better preserved walls coming from that period anywhere in the world. The landscape around Carcassonne is littered with romantic castle ruins. So there is much to see also outside the city.
Lucca’s walls were built in the 16th century. In 19th century trees were planted on the walls, so you can now walk or cycle on the 5 km long oval ramparts.
Medieval city of Rhodes is surrounded by walls with 7 gates and a moat. There is also a castle in the city. In 1309 the Knights of Saint John found a haven in the city of Rhodes, when they were booted from the Holy Land.
The walls of York are 3.4 km long and are the longest best-preserved town walls in England. The walls have 5 main gateways and 45 towers. The famous York ginnels – fifty little thoroughfares within the city walls – are also to be found here. You can use these medieval shortcuts to explore the city as if you were running from trouble in the big streets.
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There is a small city in Southern Netherlands which is a very old walled city with a very rich history. The city is Hulst in Zeeuws Vlaanderen and worth visiting. Antwerpen, Gent and Brugge are all close by and the whole area is just beautifull.
There is a beautiful city of Toruń in POland with well preserved medieval city walls and other medieval atractions. At night most of them are illuminated. Really worth seeing. It's only 200 km north west from Warsaw, capital of Poand.
...is without doubt Visby in Sweden! It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the well preserved state of the medieval city.