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Ambiguous Place Names In Europe

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Introduction

In many cases there are other places, usually smaller, with the same or similar names as larger well-known places.

An additional complication, which this page ignores, is that many well-known places have different names or different spelling in different European languages.

This page also ignores places on other continents with the same name as those in Europe.

Aachen, Aarhus and Arnhem

• Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany (near the point where Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet)

• Aarhus, Denmark (on the eastern coast of the Jutland peninsula, north of the island of Fyn

• Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands (southeast of Amsterdam)

Ashford

• Ashford, Kent, England (northwest of Folkestone; some Channel Tunnel trains stop here)

• Ashford, Surrey, England (south of Heathrow Airport)

Balkans and Baltic

• Balkans - an informal name for a region of several countries in southeastern Europe, including most of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Historically a volatile area due to ethnic tensions.

• Baltic Sea - an arm of the North Sea, extending from the central islands of Denmark up to the area between Sweden and Finland. Countries bordering the Baltic Sea also include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. The Baltic States are those countries which have coastlines on the Baltic Sea.

Bangor

• Bangor, Northern Ireland (on the coast to the east of Belfast)

• Bangor, Wales (in northwest Wales, near the Menai bridge which connects the mainland to the island of Anglesey)

• Bangor, Mayo, Republic Of Ireland

• Bangor On Dee, horse racing track, southeast of Wrexham, Wales

Barnsley and Burnley

• Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England (on the M1 motorway between Sheffield and Leeds)

• Burnley, Lancashire, England (on the M65 motorway east of Blackburn)

Belfast and Dublin

• Belfast, city, capital of Northern Ireland (near the coast, northeastern Ireland)

• Dublin, city, capital of the Republic Of Ireland (very roughly half way up the east coast of Ireland)

Berne and Bonn

• Berne (also spelt Bern), the capital of Switzerland (in western Switzerland, northeast of Lake Geneva)

• Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The capital of West Germany from 1949 until German reunification. On the River Rhine south of Cologne.

Brixham and Brixton

• Brixham, Devon, England. A tourist resort on Torbay, south of Torquay and Paignton.

• Brixton, inner suburb of south London, England. It is probably fair to say that Brixton is generally regarded as being an unsafe area for visitors.

Bucharest and Budapest

• Bucharest, capital of Romania

• Budapest, capital of Hungary

Bury

• Bury, England (town, north of Manchester)

• Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England

Caernafon and Carmarthen

• Caernafon, Wales (town, castle and bay, northwest Wales, near the southwestern end of the Menai Strait which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland)

• Carmarthen, Wales (town, southwest Wales, northwest of Swansea)

Cheddar, Cheshire and Chester

• Cheddar, Somerset, England (village and nearby famous Cheddar gorge, inland from Weston-super-Mare)

• Cheshire, England (county, south of Manchester)

• Chester, England (county town of Cheshire, southwest of Manchester)

Chobham and Cobham

• Chobham, Surrey, England

• Cobham, Kent, England

• Cobham, Surrey, England

Frankfurt

• Frankfurt Am Main, Hessen, Germany (roughly a hundred miles southeast of Cologne)

• Frankfurt An Der Oder, Brandenburg, Germany (on the Polish border, east of Berlin)

Goa and Gozo

• Goa - a region of India, and therefore not in Europe

• Gozo - a small island to the northwest of Malta

Honing and Horning

• Honing, village in Norfolk (north-northeast of Norwich, between North Walsham and Stalham as the crow files but not as the main road goes)

• Horning, village in Norfolk (northeast of Norwich, east of Wroxham)

• Horning (spelt with a forward slash through the "o"), Denmark (southwest of Arhus, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula)

Keele and Kiel

• Keele, village in Staffordshire, England (near Stoke-On-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme; home of Keele University; services on the M6 motorway)

• Kiel, northern Germany (at the southeastern corner of the Jutland peninsula; also the nearby Kiel Canal which crosses the width of Jutland)

Kingston

• Kingston Upon Thames, London borough, England

• Kingston-Upon-Hull, Humberside, England (usually referred to simply as Hull)

Kristiansand and Kristiansund

• Kristiansand, Norway (close to the southern tip of Norway)

• Kristiansund, Norway (southwest of Trondheim)

La Palma, Las Palmas, Palma and Parma

• La Palma, one of the Canary Islands (which belong to Spain)

• Las Palmas, city on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

• Palma, Majorca, Balearic Isles (which belong to Spain)

• Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (between Milan and Bologna; famous for Parmesan cheese and Parma ham)

Lausanne and Lucerne

• Lausanne, Switzerland (town in western Switzerland, on the north shore of Lake Geneva)

• Lucerne, Switzerland (town in central Switzerland; also the lake of the same name)

Linz

• The city in Austria, between Salzburg and Vienna

• A small town on the west bank of the Rhein in Germany, southeast of Cologne

Lisbon and Lisburn

• Lisbon, the capital of Portugal

• Lisburn, Northern Ireland, about eight miles southwest of Belfast

Liverpool

• Liverpool, the large city in northwest England, west of Manchester

• Liverpool Street, a London mainline railway terminus from which trains depart to Essex and East Anglia. Trains to the city of Liverpool do NOT depart from Liverpool Street station.

Locarno and Lugano

• Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland (in southern Switzerland, on Lake Maggiore)

• Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland (in southern Switzerland, on Lake Lugano)

Montreux and Montrose

• Montreux, Vaud, Switzerland (on Lake Geneva, east of Lausanne)

• Montrose, Angus, Scotland (on the east coast, approximately half way between Edinburgh and Aberdeen)

Newcastle

• Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England (near Stoke-On-Trent)

• Newcastle Upon Tyne, northeast England

Palma and Parma

Ravensburg and Regensburg

• Ravensburg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany (near Lake Constance, home of the famous Ravensburg Games company)

• Ravensburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany (northeast of Hamburg)

• Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany (southeast of Nuremburg, northeast of Munich)

Richmond

• Richmond Upon Thames, suburb of London, England

• Richmond, Yorkshire, England

Slovenia and Slovakia

• Slovenia, country, formerly part of Yugoslavia, bordered by Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy

• Slovakia, country, formerly part of Czechoslovakia, bordered by Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine

So'ham and Soham

• So'ham - sometimes used as an abbreviation for Southampton, on the south coast of England

• Soham, Cambridgeshire. Sadly famous for a pair of fairly recent child killings.

St Ives

• St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England

• St Ives, Cornwall, England

Stratford And Stretford

• Stratford - inner suburb of London, England

• Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, England (famous for William Shakespeare)

• Stretford - suburb of Manchester, southwest of the city centre

Sutton

Sweden and Switzerland

• Sweden - country of northern Europe, on the eastern side of the Scandinavian peninsula. Neighbours include Norway and Finland. Mainly fairly flat in the south, with some mountains in the north. Extensive areas of lakes and forest.

• Switzerland - country of west-central Europe. Neighbours include Austria, France, Germany and Italy. Mainly mountainous (the Jura and especially the Alps).

Scilly Isles and Sicily

• Scilly Isles (pronounced "Silly Isles") - the group of small islands to the west of Lands End off the southwest coast of Britain. Part of Britain.

• Sicily - the large island to the west of the southern tip of mainland Italy. Part of Italy.

Swindon and Swinton

• Swindon - town in south-central England, on the M4 motorway between Reading and Bristol

• Swinton - suburb of Manchester, located to the northwest of the city centre

Vanern and Vattern

Walsall and Warsaw

• Walsall, England (a suburb of Birmingham, northwest of the city centre)

• Warsaw, the capital of Poland

Woking and Wokingham

• Woking, Surrey, England (north of Guildford)

• Wokingham, Berkshire, England (between Bracknell and Reading)

Wrexham and Wroxham

• Wrexham, Wales (town, west of Stoke On Trent)

• Wroxham, Norfolk (village, northeast of Norwich)

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Most recently modified 15-Feb-06