Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica
Centro Storico
This little-known museum, one of the few in Rome that's free to enter, boasts a small but interesting collection of early Mediterranean art. Exhibits…
Must-see attractions in Mediterranean Europe
Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti
Palermo
One of Palermo's finest examples of Arab-Norman architecture, this five-domed, 12th-century church is named for Sicilian hermit-monk and miraculous wolf…
Palazzo Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme
The Dolomites
The modern-day Magnificent Community of Fiemme is headquartered in the wonderfully frescoed Palazzo Vescovile in Val di Fiemme’s main town of Cavalese…
Venice
Avant-garde Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s 2008 bridge over the Grand Canal has been called many things: a fish tail, a glass tongue, pleasingly…
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
This mock Canarian village was designed by artist Néstor Martín Fernández de la Torre and built by his brother Miguel. It's a little unloved and the…
La Palma
Two Benahoare petroglyphs are the main attraction at the Parque Cultural La Zarza. The geometric-shaped etchings lie along a 1.5km circuit within the park…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Take a pause from glass shopping to check out The Baptism of Christ, attributed to Tintoretto, in 16th-century St Peter the Martyr's Church. The parish…
Antalya
This gem of a mosque is squirrelled away in the back alleys of Kaleiçi. It began life as the Greek Orthodox Panhagia Church in 1834 and was converted to a…
Palma de Mallorca
Work on the original Gothic Church of the Holy Cross, one of Palma's original parish churches, began in 1335. The main entrance (Carrer de Santa Creu 7)…
Padua
At the southern edge of the historical centre, this odd, elliptical garden was long used as a communal sports ground. Today it's a popular spot for locals…
Naples
Mergellina's broad boulevards seem a world away from La Torretta di Mergellina, a warren of earthy streets where the neighbourhood's fishermen once lived…
Museo del Quijote y Biblioteca Cervantina
Castilla-La Mancha
For true Don Quijote fans, this museum is worth perusing for its audiovisual show – a humorous 3D invocation of the book – and old printing presses and…
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
Thessaloniki
One of the most respected modern-art institutions in Greece, MOMus grew from an initial bequest of 30 modern masterpieces in 1979, and now exhibits over…
Trabzon
The Kostaki Mansion was constructed in 1917 for a Greek banker and briefly hosted Atatürk in 1924. The Ottoman Black Sea-style building, with its fine neo…
Monaco
This minuscule, hidden cove at the foot of Le Rocher is reached by a steep staircase near the Parking des Pêcheurs. Tucked up against steep cliffs and a…
Parma
Giuseppe Stuard was a 19th-century Parmese art collector who amassed 600 years worth of epoch-defining art linking the Tuscan masters of the 1300s to…
The Veneto
Built on a medieval base by Verona’s fratricidal Scaligeri family, the Castello complex encompasses an early-Renaissance villa, grassy courtyards, the…
Friuli Venezia Giulia
The Early Christian Museum is an archaeological site as well as a museum, housed on the site of an ancient Christian basilica, the mosaic floor of which…
Mallorca
Locals fill their own bottles (€1.5 to €3 per litre) from the vast, 18th-century vats at this delightfully old-school winery. Fashioned from olive wood…
Trento
Trento's heart is this busy yet intimate piazza, dominated, of course, by the duomo, but also host to the Fontana del Nettuno, a flashy late-baroque…
Barcelona
The whirling roundabout of Plaça d’Espanya, distinguished by its so-called Venetian towers (vaguely reminiscent of the belltower in Venice’s St Mark’s…
Lago Trasimeno
This island, accessible by ferry from San Feliciano, is a delight – not so much for its sights, of which there aren't many, but for its glorious unspoiled…
Segovia
This 12-sided church is one of the best preserved of its kind in Europe. Built in the early 13th century by the Knights Templar and based on Jerusalem's…
Iglesia y ex-convento de San Agustín
La Laguna
This church went up in flames in 1964, lost its roof and is now out of bounds and in ruins, but you can peer through the gap in the wall at the somnolent…
Castilla y León
Turégano, about 30km north of Segovia, is dominated by a unique 15th-century castle-church complex built by the then archbishop of Segovia, Juan Arias…
Athens
This ornate building, completed in 1885 and modelled on Plato's Academy, is Greece's most prestigious research institution. It was designed by Theophil…
Museo Virtuale della Scuola Medica Salernitana
Salerno
In Salerno’s historic centre, this small, slightly forlorn museum deploys videos and touch-screen technology to explore the teachings and wince-inducing…
Genoa
The best way to admire the beauty of Genoa is to head to the hills above the city centre. This leafy lookout provides some of the best views over la…
Eskişehir Science & Experiment Centre
Eskişehir
If you're travelling with kids, this colourful complex makes for an entertaining break from all the historical ruins. Like a cross between a science…
Madrid
One of Madrid's more surprising and diverse cultural spaces, CentroCentro is housed in the grand Palacio de Comunicaciones. It has cutting-edge…
Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista
Modica
Attributed to Rosario Gagliardi and marking the top of Modica Alta is this grand baroque church. Prefaced by a sweeping staircase, the church underwent…
Matera
Situated on a hill near the town centre, this 15th-century castle was left unfinished after the unpopular Count Tramontano, seemingly unaware that high…
Central Greece
Lamia's medieval castle commands great views atop a wooded hill directly above the centre, a steep 1km hike or longer drive up. Within its walls, the city…
Alicante Province
This sizeable and sober episcopal palace next to the cathedral now holds a collection of religious art. There are some fine pieces but the undisputed…
Andalucía
Matalascañas's long sandy beach stretches for 4km along the south edge of town, merging at either end into the wilder beaches of Parque Nacional de Doñana…
Northern Malta
The excavation of the Skorba Temples, in the neighbouring village of Żebbiegħ, exposed two temples and some habitations dating to the temple builders'…
Edirne Turkish & Islamic Art Museum
Edirne
The small rooms of the elegant darül Hadis (Hadith school) in the northeastern corner of the Selimiye Mosque's courtyard house an eclectic collection of…
Aragón
This imposing, thick-walled church was founded in the 9th century as part of a monastery that formed the hub of the nascent County of Aragón (a small…
Trieste
Once a Roman fort, this sturdy 15th-century castle was begun by Frederick of Habsburg and finished off by blow-in Venetians. The city museum is housed…
Madrid
Until recently this 19th-century Italianate palace was a nightclub. It has since been artfully converted to a dynamic artistic space, with major temporary…
