(Even though this is a personal request, I feel ok submitting it to news.yc, because visiting "fossil" towns is one of the best ways I know to understand history.)
Thanks in advance!
Fits the bill reasonably well. Very prominent in earlier history, but fell out of prominence in 1600. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakow
Despite auschwitz being down the road it escaped bombing in WWII - and whilst the communist era didn't help, recent restoration efforts are simply stunning. Amazing amount of fantastic architecture in a very compact town. The town centre, including the castle is UNESCO listed.
It's one of the nicer places I've been to in Europe. Also.. It's not quite a prime target on the tourist radar yet - which can be a big plus.
- Lucca is a good one, as someone mentioned below.
- Verona has a great mix of stuff, from the Roman Arena (which is very impressive) to the Scaligeri castle, to other things dating from the Venetian era.
- In the Veneto, Monselice and Montagnana are smaller towns that are worth about half a day each. You could combine those with some touring around the Colli Euganei. Arqua Petrarca is a cute little town famous for being the final resting place of Petrarch, and a pleasant place in its own right. In terms of history, Monselice had its high point when it was the local center of power for the Lombards - Padova fell along with the Roman empire. Montagnana, along with Cittadella to the north of Padova, was an outpost against neighboring city states. To this day, the province of Padova includes Montagnana and Cittadella, whereas Treviso's own outpost, Castelfranco, delimits the edge of that province.
http://www.welton.it/photos/monselice/
http://www.welton.it/photos/colli_euganei/
- Central Italy is filling up with tourists: Umbria and Le Marche are a bit more off the beaten path. Perugia is a wonderful town where I have good memories, Urbino is good too, although it's kind of small. San Marino is someplace I've never visited, but it has been pretty much by definition left alone over the years (thus its independence). The whole area has been 'passed over', s you're quite likely to discover your own favorite, off the beaten places by renting a car and exploring, if that's your idea of a good time.
- I don't know southern Italy quite so well, but I had a great time visiting my friend Salvatore in Ragusa - the old part of that city is impressive.
http://www.welton.it/photos/ragusa/
Let's see... I don't know so much about Austria, but Innsbruck is ok for a day (much more if you like outdoor sports like hiking), and Salzburg has a lot to see and is relatively well preserved. Hall in Tirol is worth an afternoon, and in the middle ages was more important than Innsbruck. They minted coins from the nearby silver mine there until the whole enterprise collapsed as 'cheap' silver from the new world put them and the mine out of business.
I could probably write a book about Italy, email me know if you have any more questions. Depending on my availability, I'd be happy to show you, or anyone else from this site, around the Padova area, where my wife's family is from, or at the very least put you in contact with friends down there. Of course, should anyone stop by Innsbruck, I'm always happy to meet hacker/startup types... I'm pretty lonely here from that point of view.
Edit: Damn... now I miss Italy...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber
Not exactly off the beaten path today -- it's been Tourist Central since the 1880s -- but it was off the beaten path for hundreds of years before that, which is the important part.
Stay overnight. Many tourists don't, which makes it a good way to avoid some of them. Wandering around the corners of medieval buildings near dusk makes the whole vibe even more fun.
I also can't argue with Bruges, Belgium, which has the advantage of having actual non-tourist-industry inhabitants. Plus, Belgian beer! (Not that Bavaria is lacking in the beer department.)
The downside is that it is very tourist-y. It almost seemed like the only things there were hotels, museums, and gift shops.
The upside is that it still feels authentic. I picked my hotel pretty much just based on price and availability, and it was charming - you can even see it in random pictures like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Street_in_Rothenburg.JPG (I forget the name, but it's the one with the bell sign). My friends stayed at a different hotel, and had the same experience.
Walking along the walls at night can be an amazing experience - it had rained earlier, it was foggy, street lights reflected off the cobblestones, and no tourists in sight... it felt like we were transported to a different century.
As for taverns, I would recommend Zur Höll (meaning "Hell"), it's supposed to be over 1000 years old - and if you manage to get the table in the basement (which is actually a giant bellows), that claim seems quite believable.
Make sure you visit the museums of criminology (aka torture museums) in these towns/
Year . . . . Population
1372 . . . . 3,250
1772 . . . . 6,954
But I've haven't visited yet, so I'm not sure.
Another somewhat similar place close by is old town in Stockholm, aka "Gamla Stan" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan). The feeling there is a bit less medieval though, could be that some of the buildings are a bit newer or maybe just look that way.
I have visited both places many times.
And while you're at it, go check out Turku in Finland. Some nice old buildings and my home town. :) Castle is from 1280s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle
However, research the ones that are left before you spend a day travelling to one of them, as chances are it'll be pretty but very, very small (thinking of Doesburg and Bronkhorst, for example).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent
"Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved and restored. Its center is the largest carfree area in Belgium."
I was there last month, it was pretty nifty.
Bruges is super-touristy, Ghent slightly less so. You should try to check out a non-touristy town as well, that nevertheless has a significant amount of medieval architecture. Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuven
(disclosure: I practically live there)
One of my favorite movies :-)
Julius Caesar called it Villa Optima. It was destroyed in 1213 and rebuilt by 1232. It was occupied by the Romans, France, Austria, Germany, among others over the years. There was also some damage in WWII but despite all that the city is mostly intact.
And don't be fooled by the modern convenience of the Outlet Mall (which is beyond the remnants of the old city wall). Most of the shoppers are German (not that there's anything wrong with that) and incidentally there are several short-haul bike routes into Germany. There's a bike shop next to the train station and there are a few cute German towns within 20km.
Close by is the island of Hvar, which is also pretty amazing. It was built by the Venetians as a trading outpost: http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/72157604497939272/
A great resource for someone wanting to learn about how these kinds of places help mold our modern business world, I recommend Nick Szabo's blog Unenumerated. See this post about Genoa for example:
More to the north, near the Coast (if you also want some beach) there is Pals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pals
Also, in France but also pretty near to Barcelona you can visit Carcassonne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne
Finally, but not completely intact, the Barri Gòtic in Barcelona may interest you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barri_Gòtic
If you ever com here, and need anything don't hesitate to drop a mail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Foix
Aachen in Germany should probably be on the list - it was once the centre of Charlemagne's empire, but today it has been eclipsed by nearby Cologne and Bonn. It was bombed pretty badly during the war but the town hall and cathedral survived intact.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encodin...
I think there's something to be said for simply wandering though (perhaps armed with some good books), especially seeing as how there is way more history and stuff to see in a place like Italy or France than you could possibly hope to absorb over a few weeks. It's "fractal", too: you can look at the big ticket items, like wars, conquests of this or that country, but you can also get into the local goings on, which are often quite interesting in their own right.
For instance, one of my favorite things in Padova is the University Tour, where they have a lectern that Galileo's students built for him. It's awful looking, because they were wealthy kids, not the sons of craftsmen, so they mangled it pretty thoroughly. They wanted to make it themselves though, rather than commission it, as a sign of dedication.
An exchange student suggested I go on this pilgrimage with her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_... I'm not a religious person but I don't think that that is really important. It seemed to be more of a summer break thing with the added bonus of possible redemption. I suppose you could even take a car and just follow the route. Actually this might be a bit sacrilegious.
We especially enjoyed Civitella del Tronto: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civitella_del_Tronto
and the surrounding area includes pretty sweet hikes including one that visits a cave (Grotte Sant'Angelo) with documented religious uses back to BC times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca
Also a lot of interesting places at "World Heritage Sites" list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in...
I have friends who live there and they like it a lot. Especially cool during the Christmas festivals, lots of markets with mulled wine and decorations for sale.
Each district of Siena has a horse in a (quite violent) race around the square.
Whilst it's generally a massive attraction for tourists the locals take it very seriously and it's not just a tourist attraction at all. After the race the winning district put out their banners and have a massive party.
Also, you might also be interested in Lviv, Ukraine.
Have fun!
Centrally, Tours and Troyes are gorgeous, as is Orleans.
Besancon in the East is very attractive, but more recent battlements.
In the North, you get a panorama over all of the Flanders plain from the battlements of Cassel, just as the generals did in the Great War.
The great thing with France is that nearly every town has an unspoilt centre; the development has been kept to the environs.
Enjoy your visit.
And when visiting French towns, they all have a 'petit train' which takes you around the sights for a small cost; I like to do that before deciding where to explore on foot.
Gubbio was very important between 1000-1300 when it was independent. After that its decline started, and that's probably what kept the town small and contained. I still remember walking inside Gubbio and how it felt so... medieval and different from other Italian towns. I grew up in a small Italian medieval town but Gubbio is quite unique.
It's actually worth checking out in Winter - It's freezing - but, there are hardly any tourists and the cold and the snow actually compliments the city in a way.
Try Ceske Krumlov, a small town to the south, for something more medieval.
Otherwise, I can vouch for Bruges, Siena, and Regensburg.
Montepulciano was amazing as well, but perhaps falls under the Siena category.
Cuzco, Peru -- at least the central core -- may be an example as well. As would other Inca settlements.
Full disclosure: I'm from Arad, right near the historic region of Transylvania, Romania. Quite biased, even after living for years in Spain and France.