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Rome is a big, bustling, polluted metropolis, which for some reason everyone and their Mom wants to or already has visited. It’s a beautiful city, rich with culture, history, and good food. While there’s no end of sites to see, it is also terribly overrated. Try getting off the beaten track and mixing in with the locals or you will end up following the same tourists all over the city, seeing the same tired old sites. The few art museums, which for the most part were completely void of tourists, made a far greater impression on me than sitting at the Fontain di Trevi or shuffling around the dust of the old Forum.

Verona is a quiet romantic city although not terribly enthralling. Attending an evening opera in the coliseum is worth the trip. The people were very friendly, the hostel on the hill was nice, but I did not feel especially comfortable walking in the quiet streets alone at night.

Unless you are looking for a quiet, relaxing spa town vacation, Baden Baden is not much of a destination. The hostel was very nice and clean, nestled up on a hill among trees, and with a beautiful view. The streets were pretty and lined with green but terminally sleepy. Got lost because none of the tourist maps of the city seemed to have the train station on them. I sometimes wonder if Baden Baden is the nexus of the Universe.

I visited Aberystwyth only briefly on a trip through Wales. It was January and chilly but the pebbled beach made quite an impression on me. I would love to go back – especially after having read the cheeky comedic detective novels of Malcom Pryce, which incidentally are set in Aberystwyth.

A nice place to live, especially given its proximity to London, but not the most riveting place to visit. Picturesque, lively high-street, a nice town to walk around in. Castle ruins, Lewis Carroll landmarks, and Pilgrim’s Way are definite highlights.