24 TV Series Set in Europe That’ll Inspire Your Next Vacation

Struggling with picking a destination? Or just feeling lazy and want to experience the magic of Europe from your couch?

As someone who’s explored Europe extensively (25 countries and counting) and fallen in love with travel destinations through both screens and real-life experiences, I’ve curated a list of TV shows set in Europe that don’t just show Europe—they make you feel it.

From the foggy streets of Sherlock’s London to the luxurious halls of Versailles, these shows have inspired my travel adventures and led me to visit filming locations across Europe, from Granada’s Alhambra to Cardiff in search of a TARDIS.

Whether you’re a history buff drawn to royal dramas or an adventure seeker craving Scottish highlands, this list will transport you to Europe’s most captivating destinations with some top tips from my own travels to spark your wanderlust.

A Note on These TV Shows Set in Europe

Most are for the PG-13+ crowd, but a few are more geared toward a child-friendly audience.

I have ensured that, where possible, they film at least partly on location, which means no shows like Reign (which I adore) that were filmed in Vancouver, Canada, as a replacement for France. I want you to see real-life locations, not set pieces, whenever possible.

I also narrowed it down to shows that depicted where they were shot, meaning if it’s supposed to be London but they filmed in Budapest, I left it off the list.

If you’re looking for movies to watch or travel TV shows featuring Europe, I’ve got you there, too!

As well as Netflix’s travel movies, however, not all are set in Europe.

TV Shows Set in England

1. BBC Sherlock

Sherlock depicts “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes solving various mysteries in modern-day London.

He is assisted by flatmate and friend Dr. John Watson, who has recently returned from military service in Afghanistan with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Although Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade and others are initially suspicious, over time, his exceptional intellect and powers of observation persuade them of his value.

Both ordinary people and the British government ask for his help.

As I’ve been a fan of all forms of Sherlock for a long time, I’ve visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London and created a self-guided, Sherlock-inspired walking tour.

So this is certainly a personal favorite of mine on this list of the best TV shows set in Europe, especially since it showcases central London so well!

2-3. Bridgerton + Queen Charlotte

Bridgerton revolves around an eponymous fictional family and is set in the competitive world of Regency-era London’s ton.

During the social season in the early 1800s, young marriageable nobility and gentry are introduced into society.

The series also created a spin-off titled Queen Charlotte.

Both series have filmed extensively throughout England, including one of my favorite locations, Hampton Court Palace, which’ll you’ll often see in garden scenes.

Available on Netflix

4. Downton Abbey

The series is set on the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926.

It followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era and the effects the great events of the time have on their lives and the British social hierarchy.

These events include:

• News of the sinking of the Titanic (I highly suggest a day trip from Dublin to the Titantic Belfast Museum)
• The outbreak of the First World War
• The Spanish influenza pandemic
• The Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State
• …and much more

The sixth and final series introduces the rise of the working class during the interwar period and hints at the eventual decline of the British aristocracy.

There are also three feature films.

For those looking to dive into the lives of the aristocracy, there is no better pick on this list of TV shows set in Europe, especially given the phenomenal cast of characters.

You can also visit their home, but in real life it’s called Highclere Castle.

5. The Crown

The Netflix series The Crown traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her 1947 wedding through to the 2005 wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

The first season depicts the early part of her reign through to 1955, with Winston Churchill resigning as Prime Minister and the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret deciding not to marry Peter Townsend.

The second season covers the Suez Crisis in 1956, the retirement of the Queen’s third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, in 1963 following the Profumo affair political scandal, and the birth of Prince Edward in 1964.

Subsequent seasons cover the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, Margaret Thatcher’s term as prime minister, the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer, the resulting divorce, Tony Blair, Diana’s death, as well as Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, and the early relationship of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

If you’re interested in the British royal family at all, there is no better series, and it focuses on London, which is one of my favorite cities in the world to visit.

If you’re looking to plan your own trip, check my 2-day London itinerary, which includes royal spots such as Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Available on Netflix

6. The Spanish Princess

Teenaged princess Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Spanish rulers Isabella and Ferdinand, finally travels to England.

There she meets her husband by proxy, Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent of Henry VII of England, to whom she has been betrothed since she was a child.

Unwelcomed by some, she and her diverse court, including her lady-in-waiting Lina, who is of Moorish ancestry, struggle to adapt to English customs.

When Arthur dies suddenly, her destiny as the one who will bring peace between Spain and England seems in doubt until she sets her sights on Prince Henry.

This series was also filmed in Spain at two of my favorite palaces, the Real Alcázar in Seville and the Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada.

So if you’re planning to hit up both countries, it’d be a great show to check out!

7. The Tudors

Chronicles the period of Henry VIII’s reign, where he is tested by international conflicts, political intrigue, and other infamous characters.

Cardinal Wolsey plays a major part in the series, acting as Henry’s trusted advisor (and from whom Henry swoops Hampton Court).

Beginning with the pressure of fathering a male heir, Henry questions his marriage to his Queen, Katherine of Aragon.

Anne Boleyn catches Henry’s eye and is encouraged by her father and uncle to seduce the King.

Natalie Dormer, who plays Anne in this series, is my favorite actress to portray the character, which inspired me to take a day trip from London to Hever Castle, Anne’s childhood home.

This series around filmed a fair amount in Dublin, a few of the filming locations are featured on my 2-day Dublin itinerary.

8. Victoria

The first series (covering 1837–1840) depicts the first few years of the reign of Queen Victoria.

Depicting everything from her accession to the British throne at the age of 18 (1837) to her courtship and early marriage (1840) to Prince Albert of Germany, and finally to the birth of their firstborn child and eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal (born 1840).

The second series (covering 1840–1849) follows Queen Victoria’s struggles to balance her queenly role as the youngest monarch with her duties to her husband and children.

In the third series (covering 1849–1851), Victoria and Albert have six children and have just entered their early 30s while navigating difficulties in their marriage.

Those interested in Queen Victoria will not be disappointed in this series, as it’s a really insightful look into their lives.

I found myself fascinated by these two actors portraying Victoria and Albert!

If you find yourself in the same situation, be sure to check out the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

9. Peaky Blinders

Peaky Blinders is a British historical crime drama set in Birmingham that follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War.

The fictional gang is loosely based on a real urban youth gang active in the city from the 1880s to the 1920s.

While the show’s definitely strongly associated with Birmingham, when I was on a bus tour in Liverpool, I was surprised to find out how many famous sets were actually in the hometown of the Beatles!

It would be super easy to put on a 20s getup and strut around without looking out of place.

I adore this show for its roughish vibe, but also the strong family dynamics.

TV Shows Set in France

10. Emily in Paris

Emily in Paris follows Emily Cooper, an American from Chicago with a Master’s degree in communications, who moves to Paris for a new job opportunity.

She is tasked with bringing an American point of view and social media presence to a venerable French marketing firm.

Cultures clash as she adjusts to the challenges of life in Paris while juggling her career, new friendships, and an active love life.

While I didn’t love the city of light as much as Emily, I still have some solid tips to pretend to live a little like her for a few days in Paris.

Those who want an easy watch with gorgeous locations won’t be disappointed.

Available on Netflix

11. Riviera

Set in the French Riviera, the series follows American art curator Georgina Clios, whose life is upended after her billionaire husband Constantine dies in a yacht accident.

Georgina becomes immersed in a world of lies, double-dealing, and crime as she seeks to uncover the truth about her husband’s death.

If you’re at all interested in the art world or the lives of the uber-rich, then this show is for you!

I began it while researching for my novel, which focuses on art heists!

12. Versailles

In the wake of the Fronde in 1667, the French nobility began to rebel against the monarchy.

Young King Louis XIV chooses to relocate the court from Paris to his father’s old hunting lodge in Versailles. He uses this move to compel their obedience.

The Versailles TV series tracks Louis as he renovates and expands his Palace.

Because of this, the nobles are displaced from their usual surroundings, leading them to surround the king. Which, in turn, creates increasingly dangerous problems for the court.

Versailles is a personal favorite of mine on this list of TV shows set in Europe.

The cinematography and acting are flawless, as are the locations, since they actually filmed at Versailles! While I didn’t love my trip to Versailles, I still appreciated seeing it brought to life on screen.

13. The Serpent Queen

The series follows the story of Catherine de’ Medici, who marries into the French Valois court as a fourteen-year-old teenager expected to bring in a fortune in dowry and produce heirs.

Despite many challenges, a lifetime of clever political maneuvering allows her to rule France as queen for 30 years.

For those of you who enjoyed Reign, this is the more grown-up version of that tale, in my opinion.

While Catherine was certainly forceful in her attempts to keep power, I respect her cunning in her situation, especially as a woman at the time, which is what makes this series so intriguing to me.

Key filming locations included the Château de Chenonceau, Château de Chambord, and Château de Villandry.

14. Lupin

The story follows professional thief Assane Diop, the only son of an immigrant from Senegal who had come to France to seek a better life for himself and his child.

Assane’s father is framed for the theft of an expensive diamond necklace by his employer, the wealthy and powerful Hubert Pellegrini, and takes his own life in his prison cell, leaving the fourteen-year-old Assane to fend for himself on the streets of Paris.

Twenty-five years later, inspired by a book about gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, his father had given him on his birthday, Assane sets out to clear his father’s name and get revenge on the Pellegrini family, using his charisma and mastery of thievery, subterfuge, and disguise to expose Pellegrini’s crimes.

If you’re a fan of heists or thrillers, this is the show for you! I found out about it during COVID and have been eagerly awaiting each new season’s release since.

If you’re planning a trip to Paris, you’ll certainly see some famous Parisian sites while watching, such as the Louvre, Jardin du Luxembourg, Musée d’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, and the Catacombs of Paris.

The latter of which I really regret not knowing about until I returned from my trip!

Available on Netflix

🍿 Looking for more to watch? Check out 27 binge-worthy TV shows and films set in Paris!

TV Shows Set in Ireland

15. Bodkin

Gilbert Power, an American podcaster, travels to Bodkin, an Irish coastal town, to investigate a cold case involving the disappearance of three people during a Samhain celebration several decades prior.

He is joined by Dublin-born Dubheasa “Dove” Maloney, an investigative journalist in London who is sent on assignment after the death of her source, a government whistleblower, and Emmy Sizergh, an aspiring journalist.

Watching this series made me immediately think of my trip to Killarney and the Ring of Beara in the Southwest of Ireland.

If you’re itching for a murder mystery set in a small town, this is the TV show set in Europe for you!

Available on Netflix

TV Shows Set in Italy

16. Medici

Set in 15th-century Florence, where Cosimo Medici has been elected head of the Florentine Republic.

Cosimo has inherited the Bank of Medici from his father, Giovanni, who has been mysteriously poisoned.

Through various flashbacks (20 years prior), we are introduced to Florence at the time of Giovanni.

As well as to his relationship with his sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo.

If you’re heading to Florence, this is one of the best series to give you an idea of just how influential the Medici were.

Honestly, it’ll be hard not to hear their name while touring the city, so it’ll give you some context before you arrive.

I highly recommend checking out the Palazzo Vecchio and the Medici Chapels.

17. White Lotus S2

The bodies of multiple guests at the White Lotus in Taormina, Sicily, are found off a nearby beach.

A week earlier, a group of guests arrived at the White Lotus, greeted by its short-tempered manager.

Among them is a husband and wife in a strained marriage with their young assistant, as well as a recent Stanford graduate who is exploring his ancestral roots in Sicily alongside his father and womanizing grandfather.

Meanwhile, a married couple joins their brash college roommate and his wife on a trip to Sicily, and a local prostitute sneaks into the resort with her friend and goes to meet her latest client.

White Lotus is a wacky ride, but it also beautifully shows the sights of Sicily, so much so that you’ll be wanting to book a flight ASAP!

I highly recommend this show, as I found myself dying to know who got murdered and why!

TV Shows Set in Northern Ireland

18. Derry Girls

The series follows Erin Quinn, her cousin Orla, their friends Clare and Michelle, and Michelle’s English cousin James as they navigate their teenage years at the end of the Troubles in Derry, where they all attend a Catholic girls’ secondary school.

The friends frequently find themselves in absurd situations amid the political unrest and cultural divides of the times.

Although the plot lines of Derry Girls are fictional, the series frequently references actual events of the Troubles and the Northern Ireland peace process.

This is one of my comfort shows, as I just adore the friendships between them and their quirky families.

If you’re a ’90s kid, as I am, you’ll also adore the soundtrack, which features popular music of the era.

On my trip to Northern Ireland, I nearly visited Derry because of this show, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any tours on the dates I was there. However, I do plan to go back and hopefully book one!

Available on Netflix

TV Shows Set in Scotland

19. Outlander

Claire Randall is a former Second World War military nurse in Scotland who, in 1945, finds herself transported back in time to 1743.

There, she encounters, falls in love with, and marries a dashing Highland warrior (there’s a great Highlanders museum at Stirling Castle) named Jamie Fraser, a tacksman of Gabaldon’s fictionalized version of Clan Fraser of Lovat.

Here, Claire becomes embroiled in the Jacobite rising.

The series moves about quite a lot, so only the Scottish parts seem to be filmed where they are set; other locations, such as Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC, and the Paris-set season, were shot on stages in Scotland.

TV Shows Set in Spain

20. Memories of the Alhambra

After receiving an email regarding a groundbreaking AR game about medieval battles in the Alhambra, Yoo Jin-woo, CEO of an investment company that specializes in optical devices, travels to Granada, Spain , to meet the creator of the game, Jung Se-joo.

However, Se-joo has gone missing, and there Jin-woo meets Se-joo’s older sister, Jung Hee-joo, who owns the hostel he stays in and is a former guitarist.

Both get entangled in mysterious incidents, as the border between the real world and the AR world built by Se-joo begins to blur.

Before my trip to Spain got cancelled in 2020 due to COVID, I binged this series as I was dying to soak up some of Spain before my departure.

I was immediately enraptured by this thrilling series, itching to know whether the game was killing people, and it inspired my 2021 trip to the Alhambra in Granada.

Available on Netflix

TV Shows Set in Wales

21. Merlin

Merlin is a young and powerful warlock who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius.

He then discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon, outlawed magic twenty years earlier in an event known as the Great Purge.

He has also imprisoned the last Dragon deep under the kingdom.

After hearing a mysterious voice inside his head (the dragon), Merlin makes his way to the cavern beneath Camelot.

He then finds the Great Dragon, who tells Merlin he has an important destiny: to protect Uther’s son, Arthur, who will return magic to Camelot and unite the land of Albion.

While a large chunk of the series was filmed in Wales, the filming location for Camelot is the very real Château de Pierrefonds in France, which I visited with my aunt, making Merlin a personal favorite of mine on this list of TV shows set in Europe as it was a truly magical experience!

It’s also one of the few family-friendly picks on this list, so check it out with the fam.

22. Doctor Who

Doctor Who follows the adventures of the titular character, a rogue Time Lord known as “the Doctor.”

The Doctor fled Gallifrey, the planet of the Time Lords, in a stolen TARDIS (“Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space”), a time machine that travels by materializing into, and dematerializing out of, the time vortex.

Across time and space, the Doctor, relying solely on ingenuity and minimal resources like the sonic screwdriver, gets involved in crises.

The Doctor rarely travels alone and is often accompanied by one or more companions on these adventures; these companions are usually humans because of the Doctor’s interest in planet Earth.

While the Doctor does traverse time and space, his base is in Cardiff, Wales, which I was thrilled to visit on a solo trip as a massive Whovian.

I took an excellent audio-guided walking tour by VoiceMap of a load of filming locations that have stood in for destinations across the world and across time.

TV Shows Set Across Europe

23. Sense8

A woman called Angelica gives birth to eight strangers from different cultures and parts of the world.

Discovering they share a psychic connection, the eight now form a cluster of “sensates.”

Human beings who are mentally and emotionally linked. They can sense and communicate with one another and share their knowledge, language, and skills to help each other.

Sense8 was filmed almost everywhere, surprisingly, but specifically in Europe:

• Germany
• England
• Iceland
• The Netherlands
• Scotland
• Malta
• Italy
• France
• Belgium

Not only is the storyline intriguing, but the fact that they filmed in SO many epic locations also makes this TV show a feast for the eyes!

Available on Netflix

24. Killing Eve

Killing Eve is a British spy thriller that follows Eve Polastri, a British intelligence investigator tasked with capturing psychopathic assassin Villanelle.

As the chase progresses, the two develop a mutual obsession.

This is another series that shot in so many European cities that it’s hard to keep track, but some of my favorites are:

• Barcelona, Spain (I adored my 3 days in Barcelona)
• Paris, France
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands (particularly The Rijksmuseum)
• Rome, Italy (they visited Villa Adriana, but I adore the Roman Forum)
• Tuscany, Italy
• London, England
• Berlin, Germany

Related Film Tourism Travel Guides

• Guide to Visiting Château de Pierrefonds, BBC Merlin’s Castle in France
• 30 Scenic Movies Set in Greece You Need to Watch Before You Visit
• 28 Fantastic Movies & TV Shows Set in Paris, You Need to Watch Before Visiting
• 13 Sound of Music Filming Locations in Salzburg, Austria + How to Visit Them
• 6 Famous Filming Locations in Portugal from Film and TV, and How to Visit Them
• 24 TV Series Set in Europe That’ll Inspire Your Next Vacation
• 75 Movies Set in European Destinations to Inspire Your Next Trip

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