I am a 27 year old male from Vancouver. I work in sales and really enjoy meeing new people. I also love a good deal, so expensive cities will not do as well with me and cheaper ones will do that much better.
I love beer and great food as well as good places to consume both. I like to be constantly occupied and having fun. I don't take much "down time". To me a great hostel can make up a lot for a lousy city and vice versa. I love a welcoming place to lay my head at the end of a crazy day. I really love social hostels where everyone gathers at the end of the day to chat and have a few drinks. The appeal of a cities women will have a bearing on my opinion of it. To give you an even better idea, here are my favorite overall cites forget their reputations.
1) Amsterdam, Netherlands (not for the drugs but the whole package. I've been there at least 10 times and still find new things to do here)
2) Prague, Czech Republic (georgeous people and buildings, good cheap beer and plenty of fun to be had here)
3) Munich, Germany (A sloshing good time and the most interesting museum I've ever seen...the Deutches Museum)
4) Interlaken, Switzerland (A charming gem of a place deep in the Alps lots to do and a few of Europes top hostels)
5) Budapest, Hungary (you want charachter, you got it. Budapest is a mixture of so many different things. Budapest has it all but in an Eastern Europe kinda way. You may get a bit culture shocked but give Budapest a chance. I liked it more the longer I stayed. If I'd been there a month it may well have topped this list)
(in my humble opinion)
Zagreb is one of the nices cities I have ever seen. The people are friendly and very good looking, Zagreb is cheap. I had this image of Zagreb as a war torn pile of rocks and I'm sure others do too. I assure you that you will be very pleasantly surprised by Zagreb.
2) Hamburg, Germany
High Class but with a fun attitude about it. A great waterfront, great food, people and beer made Hamburg a great surprise to me. Don't miss the Reeperbahn!
3) Cologne, Germany
Much of my description for Hamburg also goes for Cologne. Cologne is a great shopping city with great nightlife.
4) Edinburgh, Scotland
I'm not sure how under-rated it is but this northern charmer is worthy of a good visit if you are anywhere nearby. I love their accents.
(again, in my humble opinion as I'm sure they have redeeming qualities)
1) Zurich, Switzerland
The UN says it has the highest standard of living in the world (my home town Vancouver was 2nd I might add) and I'd believe it. That has it's ups and downs. The city is one of the nicest looking I've seen but that does not make up for it's lack of charm and charachter. The prices are enough to hurt even the loosest budget. $7 for french fries, come on! I found the people to be cold. I checked out several hostels all of which were spartan and boring.
2) Geneva, Switzerland
More or less for the same reasons as Zurich except that the hostels are better and it is a bit cheaper.
3) Rome , Italy
The first time I was in Rome I was a bit younger and left feeling ripped off and dirty. A few years later I decided that I must have missed something. It was a bit better the next time as I did see a few sights before running back to cleaner air up north but leaft almost as dissapointed because I expected to love Rome. I love good wine and pasta but that was not enough to save Rome in my eyes. I felt like my wallet was in danger the entire time I was there. I felt safer and cleaner in eastern Hungary. I know thatmost Roman visitors love this place. I, however, am not one of them.