6 European Spots That Sparked My Creativity

It’s not just the classic metropolises like London, Paris or Berlin that offer interesting motifs. The six places I’ve put together here are a personal selection, meant to highlight locations you haven’t thought about as much.

They offer a huge amount of inspiration for sketching: Hossegor, Tropea, Dublin, Belfast, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf and Oslo. Each city has its own atmosphere, its own light, its own details and stories waiting to be discovered.

Hossegor (Les Landes)

Hossegor feels like a piece of California in France. Wide beaches, pine forests, and small cafés give the town a relaxed, almost playful vibe.

Surfers are everywhere, vans line the beach, young people hang out in cafés and all of it creates endless scenes worth capturing. The Basco-landais architecture, with its white facades and exposed timber framing, keeps drawing me in.

What I love most is how nature, everyday life, and architecture come together in such a compact space. Every scene feels both lively and balanced.

Great for sketching:

• Beach life and surfer scenes

• Vans and vanlife motifs

• Basco-landais architecture

• Cafés and everyday moments

Hossegor (Seignosse), 2023

Tropea

Tropea has something truly magical about it. The rock with the church Santa Maria dell’Isola rises dramatically out of the sea, while the old town is tight, winding and full of life, especially in summer.

People, boats, colors. For me, it’s the perfect place to capture landscape, architecture, and figures all at once.

If you want to explore further, you can take a boat to the islands of Stromboli, Lipari or Vulcano, opening up even more possibilities for diverse sketches.

Great for sketching:

• Dramatic coastlines and cliffs

• Narrow streets and colorful scenes

• Figures in a summer setting

• Boat trips and landscape studies

Dublin & Belfast

Dublin has a very special energy to me. Pubs, music, people, the city feels alive. Places like Temple Bar or the Guinness Storehouse always draw me in.

Belfast feels calmer, but the harbor, Titanic Belfast and the cranes create strong contrasts that I love capturing.

Both cities remind me: it’s not about the famous highlights, but about what you personally notice and connect with.

Great for sketching:

• Pub scenes and people

• Industrial harbor structures

• Interior spaces with atmosphere

• Urban life and perspective studies

Amsterdam

Amsterdam fascinates me every time. Canals, bridges, narrow brick houses, everything has a clear structure that can be endlessly varied.

Bikes, boats, people: there’s always movement, which brings every sketch to life. Reflections in the water and the mix of old and new are especially interesting.

The city has its own rhythm that translates perfectly into sketches. Especially during winter with all the lights.

Great for sketching:

• Architecture and canal perspectives

• Street scenes with people

• Reflections and water surfaces

• Historic and modern buildings

Düsseldorf (Little Tokyo)

Little Tokyo feels like a small piece of Japan in the middle of Europe. Immermannstraße, with its restaurants, shops and signs, is full of details worth capturing again and again.

In contrast, the EKŌ House of Japanese Culture offers quiet, calm spaces.

This mix of busy streets and peaceful moments makes it incredibly inspiring. A place where new sketch ideas constantly emerge.

Great for sketching:

• Japanese everyday culture and food scenes

• Interiors and gardens

• Signage and small details

• Urban contrasts and old town life

Little Tokyo, 2025

Oslo

Oslo is calm and that’s exactly what makes it inspiring.

The harbor with the Opera House, viewpoints like Holmenkollen and the fjord create clear perspectives between city and nature.

Minimalist architecture, open spaces, small saunas by the water: all of this offers subtle but powerful motifs that stand out in their simplicity.

Great for sketching:

• Minimalist architecture and clean lines

• City-nature contrasts

• Wide perspectives

• Quiet everyday scenes

Oslo, 2025

Often, the most important thing is simply to step out of your own bubble and experience something new.

As long as it connects to the right theme, almost anything can become a source of inspiration. You just have to allow yourself to see it.