From top: Maison Carree in Nimes, France; Vienna’s opera house and Hotel Sacher
Nîmes for Rome While Rome continues to attract the crowds for its food, history and culture, there are alternatives. But if it’s the city’s ancient remains that are the draw, here’s a simple way to get a Latin fix without having to join endless queues: go to Nîmes in southern France instead. Roman culture flourished here for 500 years, and it still has the monuments to prove it. Most striking is the Roman amphitheater, whose relentless, arcaded circuit of walls still stomps through the town, 70 feet tall. But it’s the exquisite little temple dedicated to the grandsons of the emperor Augustus that is the most intact. Known as La Maison Carrée, it’s so small, graceful and perfectly-formed it’s hard to believe it’s not some kind of modern, half-sized copy.
Vienna for Paris Vienna gets fewer than half the visitors that throng Parisian streets, and yet it offers the same enchanting mix of historic architecture, groundbreaking art history and delicious things to eat and drink. In 2024, Vienna was ranked the most liveable city for the third year in a row in the Global Liveability Ranking, a yearly report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Therefore, visitors shouldn’t be surprised if they find its pace more relaxing. Vienna’s golden age of art came in the late 19th and early 20th century when Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka led the charge into Expressionism. Many of Vienna’s key works have stayed in the city — among them, Klimt’s The Kiss, and Schiele’s Seated Male Nude. There are other treats such as nights at the Wiener Staatsoper opera house, free classical concerts and waltzing lessons at the Elmayer dance school. For anyone in love with culture, holidays here are a giddy whirl.