1. Nice
   Frankfurt
2. Paris

Located along the banks of the River Seine, Paris is known as the City of Lights. Home to sites like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, it's also one of the most popular cities in the world for tourists.

1. Sparta
   Brussels
2. Athens

Athens, Greece, is one of the oldest cities in Europe and serves as the Greek capital to this day. The city is known for its classical monuments, including the Acropolis and the Parthenon.

1. Madrid
   Rome
2. Sicily

It's true that all roads lead to Rome! This Italian capital city has been occupied for at least 10,000 years, and it is home to such masterpieces as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Pantheon.

1. Cork
   Warsaw
2. Lublin

Situated along the Vistula River, Poland's capital city of Warsaw was decimated during WWII. Since then, much of the Old Town has been reconstructed, and the city still serves as an important location in the history of the Jewish faith.

1. Madrid
   Tuscany
2. Lisbon

Madrid became the capital of Spain way back in 1606, just as Spanish conquistadors were colonizing parts of the new world. Today, this bustling capital city is known for its food, fashion and culture.

1. Copenhagen
   Washington D.C.
2. Lisbon

Denmark's capital city of Copenhagen started off as a small Viking village. Today, it's a major city and popular tourist destination, thanks to sites like its famous statue of The Little Mermaid and Tivoli Gardens -- the world's second-oldest amusement park.

1. York
   London
2. Liverpool

Founded by the Romans back in 43 A.D., the U.K.'s capital city of London was the largest city in the world from the early 19th century to the 1920s. Today it remains a cultural and economic powerhouse -- as well as one of the most visited cities on the planet.

1. Prague
   Istanbul
2. Zagreb

Located in the Czech Republic's capital city of Prague, the majestic Prague Castle was built in the 9th century, It is the largest remaining ancient castle in the world.

1. Berlin
   Athens
2. Lisbon

Occupied since Neolithic times, Lisbon was nearly flattened by a 1755 earthquake. Today, it's the westernmost capital city in continental Europe.

1. Brussels
   Denmark
2. Helsinki

Founded in 979 A.D., Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but also the home of major political organizations and governing bodies for the European Union.

1. Paris
   Ljubljana
2. Milan

The capital city of Slovenia is Ljubljana -- a city which uses the dragon as its symbol, based on ancient Slavic myths related to fertility. Images of dragons can be found on the city seal, local castles and the iconic Dragon Bridge.

1. Munich
   Bern
2. Prague

Bern has been the capital of Switzerland since 1848. its Parliament Building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, open to the public.

1. Paris
   Budapest
2. Chicago

Once two separate cities -- Buda and Pest -- Hungary's capital city of Budapest became a single unified city in 1873. Today, the entire central downtown area along the Danube is a UNESCO heritage site.

1. Zagreb
   Cork
2. Warsaw

Croatia's capital city of Zagreb is located in the northern part of the country, along the Sava River. It didn't become the capital until 1945, making it one of Europe's newer capital cities.

1. Tirana
   Helsinki
2. Valletta

Albania's capital city of Tirana combines Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman influences. The area has been occupied by humans for more than 30,000 years.

1. Bucharest
   Minsk
2. Dublin

The capital city of Minsk is built into the hills of Belarus. Like the rest of the country, the city is heavily forested.

1. Riga
   Rome
2. Venice

Riga is both the capital and largest city in Latvia, with around a third of Latvia's entire population calling Riga home.

1. Notre Dame
   Amsterdam
2. Kiev

Amsterdam is known as the land of canals, and as the home of Anne Frank after her family left Germany. While Amsterdam serves as the official capital city of the Netherlands, most government and administrative business is conducted at The Hague.

1. Zurich
   Oslo
2. Stockholm

Founded in 1252, Stockholm is the most populous city throughout all of the Nordic countries. It's also a coastal town, set on 14 islands along the southeast coast of the country.

1. Oslo
   Helsinki
2. Reykjavik

Founded in 1040, Oslo has served as the capital of Norway since the 1300s, though the city was actually known as Christiania or Kristiania from 1624 until 1925.

1. Estonia
   Cyprus
2. Bucharest

Situated on the banks of the Dambovita River, Bucharest became the capital of Romania in the 1860s. It's still a popular launching point for visitors preparing to explore the country's vampire legends.

1. Latvia
   Vilnius
2. Sofia

Historically the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius once again became the country's official capital city after the Soviet Union recognized Lithuania as an independent state in 1991.

1. Galway
   Shannon
2. Dublin

The River Liffey runs through the heart of Dublin, Ireland; it was actually this meandering waterway that gave Dublin its name.

1. Berlin
   Hamburg
2. Nuremberg

Located in northeast Germany, the capital city of Berlin was divided by a wall after WWII. By 1990, the wall was torn down and the city reunified.

1. Kiev
   Moscow
2. Deva

Located along the Dnieper River, Ukraine's capital city of Kiev celebrated its 1,500th anniversary in 1982.

1. Tallinn
   Vienna
2. Paris

More than one-third of Estonia's people live in the capital city of Tallinn, which is situated on the Gulf of Finland and happens to be the home of tech giant Skype.

1. Oslo
   Helsinki
2. Fjallbacka

Founded in 1550, Helsinki celebrated 100 years of independence from Russia in 2017. More than one million of Finland's five million residents call Helsinki home.

1. Crete
   Santorini
2. Nicosia

The island of Cyprus sits in the eastern Mediterranean, just south of Turkey, so it's culture has been influenced by numerous nations nearby. In the capital city of Nicosia, for instance, you're likely to hear a blend of Turkish, Greek and English spoken by locals.

1. Vienna
   Rome
2. Hamburg

Known for its rich Baroque architecture -- and also as the home to Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss -- Austria's capital city of Vienna also has a surprisingly large German-speaking population.

1. Bucharest
   Transylvania
2. Sofia

Founded by the Romans thousands of years ago, the capital city of Sofia, Bulgaria, was once known as Serdica.