Pisa
Pisans claim that Campo dei Miracoli is among the world's most beautiful urban spaces. Its walled lawns provide a photogenic setting for the candy-striped…
Must-see attractions in Europe
Patriarchal Church of St George
Istanbul
Dating from 1836, this church is part of the Greek Patriarchate compound. Inside the church are artefacts including Byzantine mosaics, religious relics…
Jewish Museum & Centre of Tolerance
Moscow
Occupying a heritage garage, purpose-built to house a fleet of Leyland double-deckers that plied Moscow's streets in the 1920s, this vast museum, filled…
Oltrarno
Dating from 1345, iconic Ponte Vecchio was the only Florentine bridge to survive destruction at the hands of retreating German forces in 1944. Above…
Granada
The richly decorated Sala de Dos Hermanas (Hall of Two Sisters), in the Palacios Nazaríes section of the Alhambra, sits on the northern side of the Patio…
Athens
Athens is short on green spaces, so this vast seaside park is a blessing. Covering a man-made slope that incorporates the roof of the Stavros Niarchos…
Granada
The celebrated Patio de los Leones (Lion Courtyard) sits at the core of the Palacio de los Leones, the palace built in the Alhambra in the second half of…
Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines
Moscow
Growing up in 1980s USSR was a peculiar, but not necessarily entirely bleak experience. Here is an example – a collection containing dozens of mostly…
Lyon
This eye-catching building, designed by the Viennese firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, is the crowning glory of Lyon's newest neighbourhood, the Confluence, at…
Zamoskvorechie
Overlooking the river, the Ascension Church, sometimes called the ‘white column’, is Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve's loveliest structure. Built between 1530…
St Petersburg
Facing Millionnaya ul, the New Hermitage was built for Nicholas II in 1852, to hold the growing art collection and as a museum for the public. Designed by…
Belém
Jutting out onto the Rio Tejo, this Unesco World Heritage–listed fortress epitomises the Age of Discoveries. You'll need to breathe in to climb the narrow…
Tyrol
Swarovski crystals sparkle in all their glory at the fantasy fairy-tale Kristallwelten. A giant’s head spewing water into a pond greets you in the park,…
Budapest
Housed in a gorgeous Ödön Lechner–designed building (1896) decorated with Zsolnay ceramic tiles, this museum was closed for renovation at the time of…
Delphi
Of all Greece's archaeological sites, Ancient Delphi has the most potent spirit of place. Centring on the mountainside Sanctuary of Apollo, home to the…
Zamoskvorechie
Moscow's premier venue for 20th-century Russian art, this branch of the Tretyakov Gallery has much more than the typical socialist-realist images of…
Ulan-Ude
Roosting high above the city’s far north, the inside of this new and unexpectedly modern Tibetan temple looks like a kind of Buddhist-themed bus terminal,…
Portugal
Wild-spending Dom João V poured pots of Brazilian gold into this baroque palace, covering a mind-boggling 4 sq km and comprising a monastery and basilica…
Rhodes Town
From the outside, this magnificent castle-like palace looks much as it did when erected by the 14th-century Knights Hospitaller. During the 19th century,…
St Petersburg
This stunning mint-green, white and gold profusion of columns, windows and recesses, with its roof topped by rows of classical statues, was commissioned…
The Golden Circle
Follow the path to where a circle of people is usually waiting in anticipation. They are here to see this magnificent geyser spurt water up to 40m in the…
Listvyanka
Listvyanka’s best viewpoint, overlooking the source of the Angara, is named after Jan Czerski, a 19th-century Polish gentleman explorer. It is best…
Strasbourg
Criss-crossed by narrow lanes, canals and locks, Petite France is where artisans plied their trades in the Middle Ages. The half-timbered houses,…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Turn your back on the bevy of ticky-tacky souvenir stalls flogging David statues and boxer shorts and take in the spectacular city panorama from this vast…
Schloss Charlottenburg - Neuer Flügel
City West & Charlottenburg
The palace’s most beautiful rooms are the flamboyant private chambers of Frederick the Great, designed in 1746 by the period's star architect Georg…
Rhodes Town
Austere and somewhat forbidding, the Street of the Knights (Ippoton) was home from the 14th century to the Knights Hospitaller who ruled Rhodes. The…
Lorraine
Comprising 7km of underground galleries, this cavernous subterranean citadel was designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in the 17th…
St Petersburg
The classical Small Hermitage, which evolved from a series of buildings constructed between Palace Sq and the Neva between 1764 and 1769, was used by…
Colmar
If you see just one thing in Colmar, make it the Little Venice quarter. Canal connection aside, it doesn’t resemble Venice in the slightest, but it's…
Northeastern Switzerland
Often hailed as Switzerland’s most beautiful town square (no mean feat!), the elongated Rathausplatz often elicits little gasps of wonder because it's so…
Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude’s main square is entirely dominated by the world’s largest Lenin head that creates an ensemble with the grey constructivist government building…
Château de Versailles Gardens & Park
Versailles
The section of the vast gardens nearest the palace, laid out between 1661 and 1700 in the formal French style, is famed for its geometrically aligned…
Vienna
Within the sprawling, partially forested Schlosspark, the beautifully tended formal gardens of the palace, arranged in the French style, are a symphony of…
Bulgaria
The massive Belogradchik sandstone and limestone rock formations cover an area of around 90 sq km and tower over the town. The rocks, standing up to 200m…
Alsace
On its fairy-tale perch above vineyards and hills, the turreted red-sandstone Château du Haut Kœnigsbourg is worth a detour for the wraparound panorama…
Granada
This is one of the star rooms in the Alhambra. Boasting a mesmerising octagonal stalactite ceiling, it's the legendary site of the murders of the noble…
Granada
The Chamber of the Ambassadors is where the emirs would have conducted negotiations with Christian emissaries on the Alhambra. Located in the Torre de…
Vatican City, Borgo & Prati
Entry to the dome is to the far right of the basilica's main portico, where you also buy your ticket. A small lift can take you halfway up, but it’s still…
Kraków
The vast Main Market Square is the focus of the Old Town, and is Europe's largest medieval town square (200m by 200m). Its most prominent features are the…
Central Museum of the Armed Forces
Moscow
Covering the history of the Soviet and Russian military since 1917, this massive museum occupies 24 halls plus open-air exhibits. Over 800,000 military…
