One of the great pleasures of living in the UK is its access to the rest of Europe. It is easy to forget quite how extraordinary it is until you hear it from someone who has crossed an entire ocean to get here. The distinctly American idea of “doing Europe”, which tends to mean a couple weeks’ visit to Paris, London and Rome. The Australian astonishment that you can pack a bag in England and be eating lunch, a couple of hours later, in an entirely different country.
But for all our across-the-Atlantic friends’ tendency to regard Europe as one country, it quite defiantly resists generalisation. No two cities feel the same, even when they share a nation. There is Porto with its Douro-fringed wine bars, Lisbon’s sunlit hills, trams and tiles; Seville’s orange trees and shaded courtyards, Barcelona in all its Modernist exuberance; London and its restless sprawl, Bath’s Georgian order and pale honey stone.
With so much of Europe within easy reach, a city break need not feel like a grand undertaking. After all, some of the best trips begin with little more than a free weekend and a boarding pass.
Here are 10 of our favourite city homes and apartments for a European city break.
Greenwich Hall, London
The great appeal of London is that it can often feel like several cities at once; its neighbourhoods are vast and varied, its centre able to contain everything from theatre and sport to pubs and parks. Greenwich Hall makes that point well. Set in Eltham, its oak panelling, original tiled floors, library and orangery belong to a grander, leafier London, with half an acre of garden outside and the Art Deco splendour of Eltham Palace just down the road. And yet, from the nearby station, central London is only 25 minutes away.
Royal George Townhouse, Bath
In Bath, you need only look out of the window to understand the city’s Regency heritage. Royal George Townhouse rises through five storeys of Georgian stone, with tall sash windows, original fireplaces and rooms filled with the pale light that seems particular to the south west of England. Beyond the front door, that same discipline continues through terraces and crescents, their honey stone arranged with almost ceremonious proportion.
Saint Pierre Penthouse, Paris
Step onto the rooftop terrace of Saint Pierre Penthouse and the whole of Paris appears below you. Chimneys and rooftops spread out, the Eiffel Tower rising above them. Inside, floor-to-ceiling windows keep the skyline close, but it is after dark that the city really enters the apartment, when the lights come on across the rooftops and the tower begins to glow.
Marvila Loft, Lisbon
Marvila Loft belongs to a Lisbon removed from its usual shorthand of yellow trams and tiles. Double-height windows, lofty proportions, contemporary artwork and a courtyard pool speak instead to Marvila, one of the city’s more creative, industrial quarters. Lisbon’s historic hills are still within easy reach, but this is a reminder that the capital’s most interesting character is not always in the centre.
Casa das Palmeiras, Porto
Open the windows at Casa das Palmeiras and the first thing you see is the Atlantic. The house sits in Foz, the beach district on the fringes of Porto, where the Douro reaches the sea. There is water beyond the windows and a rooftop terrace turned towards the horizon. And though the old tram still rattles back towards Porto’s historic centre, the city feels saltier, with the beach only moments away.
Apartment Ottavia, Rome
Apartment Ottavia occupies an elegant Umbertino building, while the Colosseum, almost two millennia older, stands only a short walk away. In Rome, ancient ruins sit beside apartment blocks and Renaissance churches appear at the end of otherwise ordinary streets. It is a city where antiquity rarely announces itself from a distance. More often, you turn a corner and find it already there.
Florence View Loft, Florence
There is very little of Florence that escapes the terrace of Florence View Loft. Terracotta roofs spread below while the Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio rise above them, close enough to become part of breakfast. Inside, exposed beams and surviving 15th-century details bring the city inside the walls.
Penthouse Giralda, Seville
The name Penthouse Giralda gives away more than most. Its wraparound terrace looks directly over Seville’s Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, with the Giralda – the former minaret turned bell tower of Seville Cathedral – rising alongside it. From the outdoor dining table, the tower is close enough to fill the view, a rare vantage point from which to hear the bells spread across the city below.
Apartment Eixample, Barcelona
The first clue to Apartment Eixample’s place in Barcelona is underfoot. Intricate mosaic floors belong to the city’s Modernist age, while above them, painted ceilings rise over rooms with the generous proportions of the Eixample. The city beyond was built with much the same confidence. Casa Batlló and Passeig de Gràcia are close by, but some of Barcelona’s architectural character has already followed you home.
Villa Delvina, Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is often thought about through its stone; its walls and gates, its cobbled streets and pale façades. Villa Delvina reminds you, however, that this has always been a city of the sea. Floor-to-ceiling windows face the Adriatic, six bedrooms look towards the water, and an infinity pool seems to run straight to the sea. The UNESCO-listed historic centre is moments away, but back at the villa the horizon takes over. Dubrovnik’s walls may have made it famous; but the Adriatic is the reason they were built in the first place.
Oliver’s Travels has city homes and apartments across Europe, from leafy London houses and Georgian townhouses in Bath to Paris rooftops, Porto waterfront stays and Modernist apartments in Barcelona. Explore the collection and start planning your next European city break.
