What each tag actually means

Beach

Strict

Sand you'd actually spend a day on.

Real, swimmable beaches within reach of the place — not just water somewhere nearby. For rocky shores, harbours and seaside towns without the sand, pick Coast instead.

Not the same asCoastIsland

Coast

Strict

Life by the sea, sand optional.

Cliffs, harbours, promenades, fishing towns — the sea as part of everyday life rather than as a resort. Choose Beach if what you want is a day lying on it.

Not the same asBeachIsland

Desert

Strict

Dunes, canyons and dry open land.

Dry, open landscape you can reach in a day — dunes, canyons, salt flats, oasis towns. One of the rarest tags here: it narrows the world to a few regions.

Not the same asNatureScenic

Hiking

Picky

Trails you can walk in a day.

Walkable country from a trailhead nearby — hills, forests, gorges, coastal paths, marked routes. This is the tag for walking itself, at any height; if it's the mountains you're after, pick Mountains or High peaks.

Not the same asMountainsNature

Island

Strict

Islands, and towns that live off them.

Island destinations, plus mainland bases with island hopping on the doorstep. Say Beach or Coast if it's the water you're after rather than the crossing.

Not the same asBeachCoast

Lakes

Picky

Lakeside towns and swimmable inland water.

Lake districts and towns on the shore — swimming, boats, a walk around the water, mountains reflected in it. Counts lakes reachable from the place, not only the ones inside it.

Not the same asNatureScenic

Mountains

Strict

Real mountain ranges, up to four kilometres.

Proper mountain ranges and the valleys under them — the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Tatras, the Balkan ranges — whether you climb them or just look at them. Rolling hills and low ranges belong to Hiking; four-thousanders and above have their own tag, High peaks. Scored mostly on the surrounding region, so a town at the foot of a range qualifies.

Not the same asHigh peaksHikingScenicSki

High peaks

Strict

Four thousand metres and up.

The top tier: peaks of 4,000 metres and higher — the Alps' four-thousanders, the Caucasus, Ararat, the Himalaya. For high-altitude climbing, glacier routes and treks toward the big summits, or just seeing them up close. Far stricter than Mountains: only a handful of places qualify.

Not the same asMountainsHiking

Nature

Easy

Wild and green, whatever shape it takes.

The broad one: forests, parks, wetlands, wildlife, clean air, room to breathe. It only adds points, so it works best next to a stricter tag that says which kind of nature you mean.

Not the same asScenicHiking

Scenic

Easy

Views worth the trip on their own.

Places that simply look extraordinary — fjords, viewpoints, dramatic old towns, roads worth driving slowly. Nature is what surrounds you; Scenic is what you stop the car for.

Not the same asNatureMountains

Ski

Strict

Winter sports within reach.

Slopes you can get to from the place — the resort doesn't have to be in town, it has to be reachable from it. Seasonal by nature: the tag says the skiing exists, your dates decide whether it's open.

Not the same asMountains

Thermal baths

Strict

Hot springs and bathhouses to soak in.

Places to get into hot water — natural hot springs, historic spa baths, onsen, hammams. Budapest, Iceland and Japan set the bar; a hotel with a spa floor doesn't count. The springs can be a drive away, as long as the trip gets you there.

Not the same asVolcanoLakes

Volcano

Strict

Craters, lava fields, black sand.

Volcanic landscape you can actually visit — craters, hot springs, lava fields, black-sand shores. Rare and unforgiving: only a few dozen places on earth qualify.

Not the same asMountainsScenicThermal baths

Architecture

Easy

Buildings worth looking up at.

Cities where the built fabric is the attraction — landmark buildings, a skyline of styles, streets that hold together. Style-agnostic: Gaudí and concrete housing blocks both count. For one particular era, add Medieval, Brutalism or Skyscrapers.

Not the same asBrutalismSkyscrapersHistory

Art

Picky

Museums and galleries worth a whole day.

Great collections and art still where it was made — old masters, modern galleries, frescoes and altarpieces in the churches they were painted for. Weighs the city first: one regional gallery won't carry a place, a Prado or a Louvre will. The buildings themselves are Architecture.

Not the same asArchitectureHistoryAuthentic

Fashion

Picky

Shopping, design and dressing up.

Design capitals and shopping cities — flagship streets, local labels, vintage districts, a city that pays attention to how it looks.

Not the same asStreet Art

Food

Easy

Somewhere worth arriving hungry.

A place with a kitchen of its own — markets, street food, a regional cuisine people travel for. Weighs the region and the country too: food culture rarely stops at the city limits.

Not the same asAuthentic

Nightlife

Picky

The city keeps going after midnight.

Bars, clubs, live music, late kitchens — cities that stay awake. Scored on the city itself: the region around it doesn't lift this one.

Not the same asFashionStreet Art

Skyscrapers

Picky

A skyline that goes up.

Towers, glass, observation decks, a downtown visible from far away. Rare in Europe by definition — this tag pulls you towards the Gulf, Asia and North America.

Not the same asArchitectureBrutalism

Sports

Easy

Stadiums, matches and big events.

Places where watching or doing sport is part of the trip — football cathedrals, race weekends, cities built for running and cycling.

Not the same asSkiHiking

Street Art

Picky

Murals, graffiti, walls worth walking.

Districts painted end to end, mural trails, a living graffiti scene. Usually the same neighbourhoods that carry the city's nightlife and its independent side.

Not the same asArchitectureNiche

Ancient

Picky

Rome, Greece and what they left standing.

The classical world you can still walk through — Greek and Roman cities, temples, amphitheatres and mosaics, plus the Mediterranean that came before them: Minoan palaces, Punic ports, the megalithic temples of Malta. Scored as an atmosphere rather than a date: a northern city with a few Roman stones under a shopping street stays low, however good its antiquities museum is, and burial mounds and stone circles belong to History instead.

Not the same asHistoryMedievalArchitecture

Brutalism

Picky

Concrete, mass and post-war ambition.

Raw concrete architecture and the planned districts around it — civic monuments, housing estates, transport palaces. An acquired taste, scored honestly: a place ranks high for having a lot of it, not for it being pretty.

Not the same asArchitectureSoviet-era

History

Easy

Layers you can still walk through.

Places where the past is on the surface — ruins, old quarters, museums that matter, somewhere that has been important for a long time. Any century; for a specific one use Ancient, Medieval, Vikings or Soviet-era.

Not the same asAncientAuthenticMedievalArchitecture

Medieval

Picky

Walls, castles, crooked old towns.

Intact old towns, city walls, castles and cobbles — the Middle Ages still standing rather than excavated. Everything older than that — Greek, Roman, prehistoric — is Ancient.

Not the same asAncientHistoryArchitecture

Soviet-era

Strict

The Eastern Bloc, still visible.

Cities marked by the Soviet decades — planned districts, monuments, metro palaces, mosaics, and the particular atmosphere of a place that came out the other side. As much a geography as a style: it maps to one part of the world.

Not the same asBrutalismHistory

Vikings

Strict

Norse sites and the North Atlantic.

Longships, burial mounds, rune stones and the museums built around them — the Nordic countries and the coasts the Norse reached. Narrow by nature, so expect a short list.

Not the same asHistoryMedieval

Big city

Picky

A metropolis you never run out of.

Scale is the point: districts that feel like towns of their own, a metro to cross them, crowds, something open at any hour. London, Paris, Tokyo and Istanbul are the measure — a pleasant capital you can walk across in an afternoon is not. Sits against Small town.

Not the same asSmall townSkyscrapersNightlife

Small town

Picky

A few streets, one square, quiet nights.

Places small enough to cross on foot, where the evening is calm and the morning starts at the same café. It is the feel, not the head count: a tiny capital like Valletta counts, and so does a famous village with its day-trippers — add Niche if you want it empty too.

Not the same asBig cityNiche

Budget

Easy

Your money goes further once you land.

How cheap the place is on the ground — meals, beds, local transport. The ticket there isn't part of it: the card shows that price on its own. It only lifts cheaper places and never hides the rest, so pair it with what you actually want to do.

Not the same asNiche

Authentic

Easy

Local, and unmistakably itself.

How much of the place is its own rather than the global default — language, habits, food, streets that could not be anywhere else. Not a count of museums, which is Art and History: a small town can outscore a capital here.

Not the same asHistoryNicheFood

Niche

Picky

Few visitors, no queue, no postcard.

Places that never make the standard list — quiet, under-visited, occasionally an odd choice, and rewarding for exactly that reason. Sits naturally beside Authentic and against Touristy.

Not the same asTouristyAuthentic

Romantic

Easy

Built for two and a long dinner.

Slow evenings, old streets lit well, a view over dinner, small hotels — places that work for a trip with someone.

Not the same asScenicMedieval

Touristy

Easy

The famous ones, crowds included.

The places everybody knows and everybody goes to — the landmarks, the guidebook list, the queue. Pick it when you want the classics; leave it off when you'd rather not share them.

Not the same asNiche