13 U.S. Destinations That Feel Like Europe

Several distinctive U.S. cities and destinations have a certain architectural style, cultural influence, cuisine, and vibe reminiscent of Europe.

With its blend of Spanish and French architecture, New Orleans feels more like Europe than an American city. The city of Solvang with its windmills and bakeries resembles a Danish village more than what people usually associate with Southern California. Even the brick buildings and historic streets of Boston seem like someplace in actual England instead of New England.

Although European influences are found everywhere in the United States, which was founded by European settlers, the following destinations stand apart from the rest. How many have you visited and made you feel as if you traveled to another country?

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, aka the Big Easy, is arguably the most unique city in the United States. The French Quarter in the heart of New Orleans is known for its Creole and Cajun cuisine, French- and Spanish-inspired architecture, Mardi Gras celebrations, voodoo, weathered cemeteries, and French-language street signage. Oh, and beads — lots and lots of beads.

If you find yourself enjoying some étouffée and a beignet on the iron-railed balcony of a Bourbon Street restaurant before embarking on a ghost tour to see the grave of voodoo queen Marie Laveau or the haunted mansion of socialite-turned-serial killer Delphine LaLaurie, you’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Solvang, California

Solvang is located in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, California. In 1911, a group of Danish Americans settled in the area to establish a Danish community far removed from Midwestern winters.

Dubbed “The Danish Capital of America,” Solvang’s quaint streets are lined with windmills, European bakeries, boutiques, and wineries that give it an Old World feel. There is even a historic wooden streetcar pulled by draft horses that makes its way through the town with a population of about 6,100 people.

Fans of the movie Sideways will recognize Solvang as one of the places where the characters played by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church tasted wine and bumbled through their midlife crisis.

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is a coastal city located about 95 miles north of Los Angeles. The picturesque city with a population of about 89,000 is known for its beaches, proximity to wine country, Spanish missions, and institutions of higher learning.

The Spanish founded the Mission Santa Barbara, aka “The Queen of the Missions,” in 1786. Surrounded by white stucco buildings with red-tile roofs, Santa Barbara earned the nickname “American Riviera” for its Mediterranean vibe and climate.

Leavenworth, Washington

Leavenworth is a small town in Chelan County, Washington with a population of only 2,263 people, according the 2020 Census. Nestled in the Cascade Mountains, Leavenworth’s main street and town center were modeled after a German Bavarian village.

With its alpine-style architecture and annual celebrations such as Oktoberfest, Maifest, and Autumn Leaf Festival, Leavenworth was deliberately designed in the 1960s to resemble southern Germany. The unofficial motto for the town is “Holy Schnitzel!”

Frankenmuth, Michigan

Frankenmuth, aka Michigan’s Little Bavaria, is a city of about 5,000 people located in Michigan’s Saginaw County.

Lutheran immigrants from Germany settled in the region in 1845 and founded Frankenmuth. The two-square-mile city is known for its chicken dinners, Bavarian architecture, a large Christmas store, and for housing an impressive number of garden gnomes.

St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine, Florida is the oldest continuously inhabited European-settled city in what is now the United States.

Founded in 1565 by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the “Nation’s Oldest City” is known for its Spanish colonial architecture, forts, and plazas. Castillo de San Marcos, built in the 17th century, is the oldest masonry fort in the lower 48 states and continues to draw tourists to this seaside community on the Atlantic Coast.

Venice, Los Angeles, California

Venice is a seaside neighborhood in Southern California founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a resort town. Now a part of the city of Los Angeles, Venice is known for its eclectic boardwalk, Muscle Beach, and its many canals designed to resemble the Italian city after which it is named.

Abbott Kinney Boulevard with its bars, restaurants, art galleries, and retail shops intentionally resembles a European promenade and is a principal attraction in the neighborhood.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

Carmel-by-the-Sea — a town of many hyphens located on California’s Central Coast — markets itself as a “fairy-tale village.”

Known as an art colony and seaside resort, Carmel is known for its wine tasting, restaurants, white-sand beaches, galleries, and film festival. The town’s many European-style cottages and cobblestone streets make it feel like a Mediterranean village.

San Antonio, Texas

Founded as a Spanish mission in 1718, San Antonio is the oldest municipality in Texas and the first charted settlement in what is now the Lone Star State.

Once a part of the Spanish Empire, San Antonio is best known for the Alamo, an 18th-century Spanish mission and fortress where the Battle of the Alamo was fought in 1836 during the Texas Revolution. San Antonio’s five missions, including the Alamo, are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Napa Valley, California

Located north of San Francisco, Napa Valley is considered one of the top wine regions in the world. John Patchett was the first winemaker to take advantage of Napa Valley’s Mediterranean climate and establish the region’s first commercial vineyard in 1858. After the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, the world came to know Napa Valley as a region that produces premium wine on par with the best regions in Europe.

Drive around Napa Valley and you’ll notice that the numerous vineyards and Tuscan-style estates make one feel as if they are traveling through the Italian countryside.

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and the largest city in New England. The historic city is the site of several important events during the Revolutionary War, including the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill.

If you ever wondered what London looks like but don’t want to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, Boston’s brick buildings, historic neighborhoods such as Beacon Hill, and cobblestone streets remind one why the region is called New England.

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia and attracts millions of visitors every year. This seaport city of more than 404,000 people was a strategic port during both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.

With its cobblestone streets, lush gardens, Victorian Historic District, and Spanish moss dangling from trees, Savannah looks more like a southern European city than a typical American one. The book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil are set in Savannah’s historic and haunting downtown area.

Vail, Colorado

Vail is a small town nestled in the mountains in Eagle County, Colorado. The municipality is known for the Vail Ski Resort — the third-largest single-mountain ski resort in the United States.

If situated in the center of Vail surrounded by alpine-style buildings framed by mountains in the background, it’s easy to believe that you’re vacationing in Austria or Switzerland instead of the state where South Park is set. The city hosts an annual six-week classical music festival called Bravo! Vail.