Nineteen Distinctive Towns and Cities: Colour, Architecture and Everyday Life

Colour can be the first thing that draws you to a place: a row of houses beside a canal, warm timber against plaster or small buildings scattered below snow-covered mountains.

Once you arrive, the colours become part of a larger story. The four places explored first introduce nineteen settings where a beautiful view can lead towards local history, conversation and something new to learn.

1. Burano, Italy: follow colour towards craft

Burano’s bright façades and canals make a distinctive combination within the Venetian lagoon. A walk gives you a changing palette as one group of buildings opens into another.

The island is also associated with lace-making. Let that be a second interest: look for opportunities to learn about the craft and ask how a particular piece was made before choosing a souvenir.

The Burano visitor guide introduces the island’s houses, craft traditions and transport options. Check the boat timetable for your actual departure point, then leave enough time to enjoy the island between services.

For a wider lagoon trip, our Venice Grand Canal guide offers a different perspective on life and architecture beside the water.

2. Colmar, France: look beyond the canal photograph

Colmar’s timber-framed buildings and waterside streets invite a slow wander through the historic centre. The area commonly called Little Venice is one part of that wider setting.

Use the Colmar Tourist Office to choose a walk, museum or event that matches your interests. Then give yourself time to notice signs, rooflines and the details above shopfronts.

A satisfying visit need not chase the same canal composition from every possible angle. Choose a few views, then let a second interest—art, regional food or architectural history—shape the rest of the day.

3. Oia, Greece: give the village more than sunset

Oia on Santorini is known for its white buildings, coloured doors and views towards the caldera. Its appeal changes throughout the day as light moves across the closely arranged forms.

Our Santorini guide and island-base comparison help decide whether Oia suits your stay or a shorter visit. Think about your preferred pace and transport as well as the view from a room.

Keep to public routes and respect gates and terraces. The most memorable photograph may come from noticing a modest detail rather than trying to enter a private viewpoint.

4. Tasiilaq, Greenland: colour in an Arctic landscape

Tasiilaq’s buildings sit within a dramatic East Greenland setting of hills and water. The scale of those surroundings gives the town’s colours a very different character from a compact European canal street.

Visit Greenland’s Tasiilaq guide explains the seasonal activities and connections through Kulusuk. Outdoor excursions need local planning suited to Arctic conditions; this is a destination to organise carefully rather than add casually between nearby towns.

Choose a reason to stay a little longer

Craft in Burano, urban detail in Colmar, changing light in Oia or the landscape around Tasiilaq: each gives the colour a context.

Pick the place whose wider experience interests you most. The photographs will then remind you of something you did and understood, as well as a scene you admired.

Savannah and Newport

Savannah’s squares and tree-framed streets offer a different urban rhythm from Newport’s coastal setting and historic houses. Both are living cities, not decorative villages arranged for visitors. Their attractive buildings sit within histories of work, wealth and unequal opportunity that deserve attention alongside the views.

Júzcar and Český Krumlov

Júzcar’s blue-painted appearance in the historical photographs contrasts with the river setting and clustered roofs of Český Krumlov. Their visual identities arose in very different circumstances. A colour-led image can introduce a place, but learning why it looks that way gives the visit a more specific subject.

Wengen and Giethoorn

Wengen places its buildings within an Alpine landscape, while Giethoorn is closely associated with waterways and small bridges. Those settings imply different daily movements and visitor logistics. The appeal is not simply that either looks quiet in a selected photograph; both need to be understood through the routes people actually use.

Alberobello and Bibury

Alberobello’s trulli and Bibury’s stone cottages bring distinctive rooflines and building materials into the collection. Looking at repeated details across several buildings helps reveal a local pattern that a single postcard view may hide. Residential doors and gardens remain private even when the surrounding street is well known.

Èze and Old San Juan

Èze’s hilltop arrangement on the French Riviera and Old San Juan’s streets and fortifications in Puerto Rico offer different relationships between settlement and coast. Their changing levels, corners and distant views can shape a walk. They should not be treated as equivalent stops simply because both produce colourful photographs.

Key West and Shirakawa-go

Key West’s island-town buildings contrast with the steep-roofed houses associated with Shirakawa-go in Japan. Climate, materials and ways of life contribute to those differences. The original shorthand “Shirakawa” is better read in the context of the traditional village landscape shown, rather than as a label for every place sharing that name.

Yvoire, Split and Hallstatt

Yvoire on Lake Geneva, Split on the Adriatic and Hallstatt beside its Austrian lake complete the collection. Split is a substantial city whose historic core includes Diocletian’s Palace, not a tiny untouched village. Water is prominent in all three settings, but each offers a different scale of urban life and historical development.

A beautiful place does not reveal everyone’s circumstances

The nineteen settings and fifty-three photographs range from large historic cities to village landscapes and island towns. Compare the scale before choosing a visit: an afternoon in a compact lane and several days exploring a city's museums are different commitments. Attractive buildings do not reveal every resident's circumstances, so let daily life remain part of the scene. A useful next step is to choose one interest beyond colour or rooflines, then give the place enough time to answer it.