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, Spain
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, Spain
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.
Carcassonne, France
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, Italy
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.
Rhodes, Greece
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.
York, England
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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To Ralf
Thanks for the story idea - we have just published a short piece about Visby - check it out at: http://www.tourism-review.com/article/1888-visby-best-preserved-medieval-city-in-the-north#
Northern Europe's best preserved walled city
...is without doubt Visby in Sweden! It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the well preserved state of the medieval city. Read more about the city and wath photos in the Wikipedia article >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visby
Medieval walls of Toruń in POLAND
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.
More on Hulst
Where can I get more information about Hulst? In English?
Dr.
walled cities ... there are thousands of them still "alive", in Europe and Asia alike. ... they attract tourists as impressing and sometimes romantic landmarks, adding to the historic flavor of bygone days - what would an "old town" be without walls and towers which add value to tourism magnets? ... last not least they should also remind about mankind's reality and hardships: the struggle for power, the need of defense, the reflection of blood and war. This makes us thinking about a possible future tourism trend: tourists pilgrimaging to war sites as e.g. in Iraq or Afghanistan, enjoying sceneries which background is anthing else from what they might suggest. in sum: walled towns need memos in word, sound and picture to tell their full story. They are priceless mementos for all present and future generations which blessedly live in safety and peace. a.Prof.Dr.Engelbert Altenburger I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Sept 2009
Walled Cities
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.