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Traveling has become so streamlined and

commonplace that it’s easy to forget it’s really fun.

Add to that the ubiquitous smartphone—walking directions to

guide us, notifications from followers to distract us, work constantly

pinging—and the delight of travel can be lost.

The solution? Consciously create time and space as you go. Get off the

beaten path. For seasoned travelers this means revisiting old haunts

with new eyes.

We’ve put together this guide to give you the

lay of the land in some of Europe’s most easily

accessible, tech-progressive cities. And you

don’t have to be on a Grand Tour: even a four- to

six-hour layover is long enough for you to get

out and explore. So set an away message, focus

your camera, and join us in discovering the eye-

catching, connected, and cutting-edge.

Amsterdam

Once a prerequisite stop for alternative travelers searching out coffee

shops and scenic views, Amsterdam is now a digital destination. This

sub-sea level city of canals hides a polished sophistication, due in no

small part to its booming tech economy.

The preternaturally progressive city’s fabulous royal zoo has its

own one-of-a-kind natural history museum, Micropia. Part science

experiment and part Fantastic Voyage, Micropia is home to the largest

public collection of the world’s smallest creatures—microalgae, bacteria,

molds, viruses, water bears, and much more. High-powered microscopes

throughout let you peer at these beings, and a backlit wall housing a

huge display of Petri dishes reveals the decidedly psychedelic beauty of

these unique life forms.

For a different perspective on the urban Dutch experience—and fewer

tourists—take a 40-minute ride southwest to The Hague. This city

is home to the UN’s judiciary Peace Palace as well as Mauritshuis,

which has more than 800 works from the Dutch Golden Age, including

Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Fans of M.C. Escher will marvel at

Escher in Het Palais, housed in a former winter residence for royals.

The collection takes visitors through the artist’s process; the top floor

includes an iconic stairway that leads right into his work and helps you

appreciate not only Escher—who consulted mathematicians to achieve

infinity on paper—but your own brain’s ability to sense and sometimes

misinterpret perspective.

Prague

With its well-earned reputation for being one of the most beautiful

cities in Europe, featuring architecture that represents a millennium of

technical innovation, Prague is a blend of East and West. It’s no wonder

that one of its most beloved cultural institutions is Cross Club.

This daytime and long-into-the-nighttime favorite among the

international boho crowd offers a curated program of dance parties,

art installations, experimental theater, live music, readings, and panel

discussions. It thrives within a labyrinth of nightclubs, bars, and cafés.

Most everything inside and out of this block-wide complex—from the

DJ booths and stages to its decor and stairwells—is made from upcycled

automobiles, industrial detritus, reclaimed woods, and ceramics.

Though the club’s sound system is reportedly audible from a kilometer

away and touted as one of the best in Prague—no small feat for a city

renowned for its endless nightlife—nearby Cross Café offers a relaxed

atmosphere away from the din. Here you can have a full meal and actual

conversation before diving into the wide assortment of entertainment—

from Afro-Austrian jazz to American electronica.

There’s no need to rush either—the café doesn’t open until midnight

and stages run until 5 am on weeknights. From Old Town Square you

can hop a tram to the nearby Křižík Fountain. Built in 1891, it was the

first fountain to sync music, water, and colored lighting. Now digitally

controlled, it’s an exemplary display of timeless Czech ingenuity.

Frankfurt

Inside the economic powerhouse of Europe, within the financial nerve

center of Germany, stands Frankfurt, with its modern skyline and

elaborate digital infrastructure.

The historical center of the city is Römerberg, with its 600-year-old

city hall and pristine examples of neogothic German architecture; the

technological center is the Europaturm. More than 1,000 feet tall, this

telecommunications transponder

tower once housed a revolving

restaurant, but now contains the

world’s largest internet hub and

network operations center below

ground.

Not too far from this undercover

tech monument is the ever-verdant

Palmengarten. Established in 1868 as

an exotic garden for hosting lavish social events, today this sprawling

botanical complex houses one of the largest collections of palm tree

varieties in the world. Situated on over 50 acres, this hub for botanical

research and education invites visitors to hop between a number of

greenhouses that replicate global climates – from lush jungles and

forests to the arid deserts of Africa.

While touching the plants is strictly verboten, the real treat is tagging

along on the garden’s rotating lineup of geeky horticulture tours. For

the budding mixologist there’s the Distilled and Liqueurs tour, which

schools visitors on tropical fruit used for distilling, fermenting and

brewing. Tours dedicated to the botanicals behind famous perfumes

and medicines round out the programming, along with the occasional

classical and jazz concert offered with the garden’s lush grounds.

Stockholm

Situated on 14 islands between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea,

Stockholm is a city built for making connections. In fact, the City

Between the Bridges is home to one of the best fiber optic networks

in the world, supporting a booming marketing and media sector and

the largest concentration of unicorn billion-dollar startups outside of

Silicon Valley.

To get a sense of Stockholm’s reverence for creative and intellectual

hybrids, head to the Nobel Museum. The museum blends technology and

great design to celebrate the life and work of Alfred Nobel, the prize he

began awarding in 1901, and the rich and varied work of its recipients.

On view through September 10th of next year, a featured exhibit explores

how experimentation allows humanity to experience the invisible, think

through the unknown, and get answers. Several famous moments in

science are recreated here, including the work of American evolutionary

biologist Thomas Hunt Morgan. His modest-looking experiment,

featuring Petri dishes and the lowly fruit fly, led to an incredibly

important discovery: the role of chromosomes in heredity, for which

Morgan won a Nobel in 1933. Reflecting the Scandinavian way of life, this

exhibit shows how the simplest designs are often the most profound.

Once you’ve soaked in as much inspiration as you can handle, be sure

to stop at Bistro Nobel. The chairs in the café are signed by Prize

recipients. No one will blame you for ordering the ice cream either: it

comes with a Nobel just for you, made of chocolate.

Berl in

Berlin is unquestionably unique. Mostly destroyed during World War II,

rebuilt into two cities, then reunified in 1989, Berlin is still very much

developing its identity. As it does, the creative class from all over the

world is flocking to the inchoate capital, taking advantage of its low

cost of living, high quality of life, and the opportunity to make a major

metropolis virtually from scratch.

Where talent, cheap real estate, and an experimental culture thrives,

startups soon follow. Modern Berlin serves as the European home base

for more than a few. Some complain

that Berlin’s beloved counterculture is

disappearing. But it’s still there. Take

a walk through even trendy Mitte and

you can still have an only-in-Berlin

experience.

In Mitte you’ll find plenty of

boutiques, bars, galleries, and

gourmet hot spots. Tucked next to

Checkpoint Charlie, the site where only the select few could pass during

the Cold War, you’ll find Game Science Center, an exhibition space

dedicated to interactive technology that encourages visitors to immerse

themselves in locally developed VR experiments and eye- and gesture-

based games.

Afterward, head to funkier nearby Kreuzberg, where twin pleasure

centers await.

Initially housed in a large circus tent next to the Berlin Wall, the

distinctive venue Tempodrom tried several locations since its 1980

inception before finding its home on the site of an old train station. The

now-permanent building hosts popular music acts nearly every night of

the week.

And finally there’s Liquidrom, a science-fiction-looking spa with a

thermal saltwater bath featuring an underwater sound system. There’s

also a regular infusion schedule in each of its four saunas. As they say in

Berlin, “Come for the flower ceremony at 4; stay for the infusion at 10.”

(©Sebastian Greuner)

(©Brendel Matyas)

Tempodrom tried several locations since its 1980 inception before finding its home on the site of an old train station.

Today this sprawling botanical complex houses one of the largest collections of palm tree varieties in the world.

Café-Restaurant de Plantage in Amsterdam.

Prague’s Cross Club.

© Petr Dvoracek

Palmengarten in Frankfurt.

Stockholm’s Nobel Museum.

Tempodrom in Berlin.

FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATIONFinding Europe’s Secret Techie Sights