Europe

Europe is the western end of the Eurasian landmass, bounded by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic to the west and the Mediterranean and Black Seas to the south. The eastern limit is conventionally drawn along the Ural Mountains, and transcontinental states such as Russia and Türkiye make any country count depend on the definition used. The main ranges are the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians and Caucasus; the Volga, Danube and Rhine are the principal rivers. Travellers usually think in subregions: the Nordic countries and Iceland, the British Isles, Western Europe around France and the Benelux, Central Europe from Germany to Hungary, the Baltic states, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. Distances are modest by world standards but not trivial, and a trip from Lisbon to Helsinki or from Athens to Reykjavik is a flight, not a rail journey.

Greece holds the oldest layer most visitors seek out: the Minoan palace at Knossos on Crete and the Acropolis in Athens, where the classical city-state left its temples. Rome then spread across the continent, and you meet it at the Colosseum in Rome and at Pompeii in Italy, the Pont du Gard in France, the theatre at Mérida in Spain and Hadrian's Wall in England. Stonehenge in England is older than all of these. Medieval and later Europe is on show at Mont-Saint-Michel in France, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, and the walled old town of Dubrovnik in Croatia, while Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Türkiye, records the Byzantine and Ottoman eras. The twentieth century is the most heavily documented: the Normandy landing beaches in France, the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial in Poland and the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse in Germany explain the two world wars and the Cold War division.

The main international hubs are London Heathrow (LHR), Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA), Munich (MUC), Madrid (MAD), Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and Istanbul (IST). Low-cost carriers such as Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air link secondary airports across the continent. On land, national high-speed networks, including France's TGV, Germany's ICE, Spain's AVE and Italy's Frecce, connect major cities, and Eurostar runs through the Channel Tunnel from London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Interrail and Eurail passes cover many national operators, and ÖBB's Nightjet runs overnight services between Austria, Germany, Italy and other countries. Ferries matter on the Baltic, such as Helsinki to Tallinn, as well as the North Sea, the Adriatic between Italy and Greece, and the English Channel. Flying is necessary for Iceland, the larger islands, and the long runs between the Iberian, Nordic and eastern ends of the continent.

Climate follows latitude and distance from the Atlantic. The Mediterranean coasts of Spain, Italy and Greece are hot and dry from June to September, with daytime highs often around 28–33°C, while April–May and late September–October are milder, at roughly 18–25°C. Central Europe, including Germany, Austria and Czechia, suits May to September, when highs are around 20–27°C; winters sit near freezing. In the Nordic countries, June to August brings highs of roughly 15–22°C, the midnight sun in northern Norway runs from about late May to late July, and the northern lights are seen from around September to March. Eastern Europe has cold winters, with January in Moscow well below freezing. Alpine ski resorts operate from around December to March. Crowds and closures peak at Christmas and New Year, at Easter in March or April, and in August, when France and Italy take their main holidays and Ferragosto falls on 15 August.

Most EU members share the euro, but several keep their own currencies, including the pound sterling, Swiss franc, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish kronor, Polish złoty, Czech koruna and Hungarian forint. Continental Europe mostly uses Type C and F plugs; the UK, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus use Type G, Switzerland has its own Type J, and Italy and Denmark have local variants, so carry an adapter. Traffic drives on the right except in the UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. English is widely understood in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, while German, French, Spanish and Russian each help over wide areas.

• The Volga, flowing through Russia, is generally cited as Europe's longest river.
• Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state in the world.
• Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus strait.
• Iceland sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between two tectonic plates.
• The Danube passes through ten countries on its way to the Black Sea.