The Forum sits on low ground between the Palatine and the Capitoline hills. Walk in without a map and it reads as a field of broken columns. Walk in with one and it reads as a city: this was the political, administrative, social and commercial centre of ancient Rome, the place where senators governed and merchants traded, and it remained a centre of Roman public life for more than a millennium. The last monument raised here was a column honouring the Byzantine emperor Phocas. Over the following centuries abandonment, flooding, sediment and the removal of stone for reuse gradually buried part of the area, which became the pasture known as Campo Vaccino.

Cornwall is very nearly an island. Only about six miles separate the source of the River Tamar from the north coast, and everything beyond that line runs out into the sea, with the Atlantic to the north and west and the English Channel to the south. Along more than 400 miles of coastline sit high cliffs, hundreds of beaches, cove-sheltered fishing villages, wild moorland and surf towns. The sheltered south coast has been dubbed the Cornish Riviera; the north faces the open Atlantic. Thanks to that oceanic setting and the Gulf Stream, Cornwall has one of the mildest climates in the United Kingdom. Cornish people call it Kernow.

The Guinness Storehouse is the single most-visited paid attraction in Ireland, and on most days a steady stream of visitors files in under the great glass atrium that runs up through its middle, an atrium built, deliberately, in the shape of a pint of Guinness. The standard Storehouse visit does not take you through the working brewery; it is a seven-storey visitor experience about how Guinness is made, marketed and poured, ending at the Gravity Bar with panoramic views over Dublin.

Castle Street climbs out of the east end of the city centre and ends at a wall of dark stone. On one side stands a cathedral consecrated in 1197 and in continuous use ever since. Behind it a rocky hill rises steeply, terraced with Victorian monuments and mausoleums, topped by a statue of John Knox facing back down at the church his Reformation did not destroy. Across the road stands the only house left from the walled quarter of clergy dwellings that once surrounded the cathedral. Historic Environment Scotland gives the cathedral's address as Cathedral Precinct, Castle Street.

Dublin wears its history at street level. The name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn, "black pool", a dark tidal pool where the little River Poddle met the Liffey, on the ground now covered by the gardens behind Dublin Castle. Vikings built a fortified base here in 841, and the city has been growing around that river bend ever since. Today it is a compact capital you can mostly cross on foot: a 1,200-year-old gospel on one bank, a seven-storey brewery on another, Georgian squares in between, and a 700-hectare park with a wild deer herd a short tram ride west.

Sheffield appears twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, as Escafeld and then Scafeld, and the name is thought to join the River Sheaf to the Old English feld, open country. Nearly a thousand years later that pairing still describes the place better than any brochure line. This is a city built on seven hills, at the eastern foot of the Pennines in the valley of the River Don, where roughly a third of the municipal area lies inside the Peak District National Park. The steel that made its name fills the city's museums and restored workshops, and the moor begins where the last bus route ends.

The red sandstone bulk of Kelvingrove faces into Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow's West End, and the city's residents regularly vote it their favourite building. It opened in 1901 as the Palace of Fine Arts for that year's Glasgow International Exhibition and became the city's civic art gallery and museum the following year. Inside, a Spitfire hangs on ropes in the middle of the West Court, diagonally above a taxidermied Asian elephant called Sir Roger, who toured the country with a travelling menagerie before living at Glasgow's Scottish Zoo. Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross has its own purpose-built gallery space. The range is the point.

From the middle of the cobbled Piazza della Rotonda, the Pantheon reads as a cliff of granite columns under a pediment, with the great drum of the rotonda behind. People collect in front of that facade every day. Step through the portico and the room does its one famous trick: sunlight pours through the oculus, the round opening at the crown of the dome. The Pantheon has stood for almost 2,000 years, and it is still a building in use, not a ruin.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach has held this stretch of South Shore since 1896, and it sits on the South Promenade. Ten roller coasters share the site, four of them wooden and one of them the Big One, the second-tallest in the United Kingdom, along with a Viking-themed log flume, a children's area themed to Nickelodeon, and the oldest purpose-built ice theatre in the world. It is the town's major draw, and it plans better than it looks from the outside.

The name says what the place was long before it said Shakespeare. Stratford comes from the Old English strǣt, meaning a street, and ford, a shallow part of a river that can be crossed on foot; Avon is simply the Celtic word for river. So the name still describes a road running down to a river crossing, in what is a medieval market town in the English Midlands. Then in 1564 a glover's son was born in the Henley Street house where his father ran a glovemaking business, and the town picked up a second identity it has never put down since. Both are still legible if you walk it.

Where the Kelvin runs into the Clyde, at Pointhouse Quay in Partick, stands a wave-roofed building with five roof peaks, and a nineteenth-century sailing ship is tied up in front of it. Inside are trams you climb aboard, a wall of classic cars, a South African steam locomotive built in Glasgow, and a cobbled street of shop fronts with genuine historic interiors. Outside, the ship is the only Clyde-built sailing vessel still afloat in the UK. Two attractions, one quay, two different organisations, and one afternoon that fits both.

Tintagel Castle is two halves of one ruin, split by a chasm on the north coast of Cornwall. A courtyard stands on the mainland; the rest is out on a headland that everybody calls an island. Seals turn in the water below and coastal birds work the cliffs, and in strong sunlight in warm weather the sea here goes a light turquoise green, because the slate and sand around Tintagel carry copper. Most of the medieval castle is the work of one man. Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, built his castle here in the 1230s, in a style already old-fashioned when he chose it, so that his new castle would look more ancient than it was.

Turn the last corner into the piazza and the Trevi Fountain is simply there, standing against the flank of a palace: Oceanus on his shell chariot at the centre, tritons and horses below him. It is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome, and probably the most famous fountain in the world.

From the Promenade with the sea at your back, the Tower reads as one shape: a red steel lattice standing on a three-storey red-brick block. Get closer and it stops being one thing. The lattice rises out of that block, and the block is full: a ballroom on the ground floor, a circus ring set between the tower's four legs, and a dungeon in the space an aquarium used to fill. It has stood there since 1894. The lift and the view are the postcard image, but they are only one part of what is inside.

Brussels spent years living down a reputation as Europe's dullest capital, and the city has quietly made the label look foolish. Its heart is one of the most complete old squares in Europe, rebuilt by the city's guilds in four years after a French army shelled it to rubble in 1695. A little bronze boy has been peeing into a fountain on a nearby corner for four hundred years. A 102-metre iron crystal, left over from a World's Fair, watches the northern skyline. Add Art Nouveau town houses, a wall of comic-strip murals and some of the best beer and chocolate on the continent, and the dull-capital line falls apart.

It is a small bronze statue of a boy peeing into a fountain, barely 55.5 centimetres tall, on a street corner a few minutes' walk from the Grand-Place. Almost everyone who comes to see Manneken Pis is surprised by how small it is. And almost everyone comes anyway, because for four hundred years this cheeky little figure has been the unofficial symbol of Brussels, irreverent, playful and entirely unbothered by the crowd taking its photograph.

Porthcurno's sand is pale for a reason you can hold in your hand. It is made of white sea shells, crushed by the sea until it is fine enough to lie on, and it is part of why the water above it turns that improbable turquoise. The cove sits a few hundred yards below the village on the south side of Cornwall's far western tip, sheltered by the bulk of the Logan Rock headland just under a mile east, with prismatic granite cliffs rising steeply on either side. In the cliff face to the west stands an open-air theatre that opened in 1932, largely built by hand into the cliffside and still a working theatre.

Stand on Blackpool Promenade after dark in autumn and the light comes at you from every side. Festoon strings run across the road at the southern end, lamp posts glow, the three piers shine and the seafront businesses are lit along with them. Blackpool Tower is lit top to bottom in LED. Trams go past wearing lights of their own. Walk north towards Bispham and the festoon gives way to tableaux, large illuminated scenes set back beyond the tram tracks that you can walk right up to. Over a million bulbs, in all, and Blackpool first lit its seafront like this in 1879.

It was meant to stand for six months. The Atomium, nine gleaming spheres held in the shape of an iron crystal, 102 metres above the Heysel plateau, was the centrepiece of a 1958 World's Fair, and the plan was to take it down once the fair closed. Decades later it is still the symbol of Brussels, and one of the strangest buildings you can climb in Europe.

Twice in every 24 hours Mersea has a high tide. Sometimes it creeps over the mud and onto the road, and Mersea stops being part of Essex. The Strood, the causeway carrying the B1025 across the marsh, is the only way on or off the island unless you arrive by boat, and on average it floods at high tide for about a week a month. About seven square miles, 400 beach huts, the Colchester native oyster and a Roman burial mound sit on the far side of it. So the first thing to plan here is not what to see. It is when to cross.

Stand on the southern rampart of Zagreb's Upper Town a few minutes before noon and you can watch the whole city laid out below: the twin spires of the cathedral, the red roofs of the old quarters, and the green ridge of Mount Medvednica behind. Then, on the stroke of twelve, a cannon fires from the Lotrscak Tower, the same daily signal that has marked midday here since 1877. Above you sits Gradec, the medieval hilltop town, with St Mark's Church and its famous tiled roof at its heart; the street that runs below, Tkalciceva, was once the creek that separated Gradec from the cathedral town of Kaptol.

Geneva is a small city that behaves like a capital. It sits at the southwestern tip of Lake Geneva, exactly where the lake narrows and empties into the Rhône, and from almost anywhere on the water you can see the Jet d'Eau firing a column of lake water 140 metres into the air. The lake itself is the largest in Switzerland, shared with France along its southern shore, and the city wraps around its final bay before the river carries it away to the west.

At high water there is barely a beach at Kynance Cove. The sea closes over the sand, fills the gaps between the rock stacks and leaves a wedge of green and red stone dropping into turquoise water. Six hours later the same place has unfolded: white sand under turquoise water, sea caves carrying Victorian drawing-room names, the four largest of its rock stacks standing offshore. Kynance is a tidal beach in the most literal sense. Almost everything worth walking down for is on loan from the sea, and the sea takes it back twice a day.

Few European capitals have been fought over like Belgrade. The fortress at its centre began as a Roman camp at the end of the first century AD, and the city below it was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times before it settled into the lively, slightly rough-edged capital you walk today. It stands exactly where the Sava flows into the Danube, and that meeting of two rivers is still the best place to begin. Is Belgrade worth visiting? If you want a capital with its history left visible and an unforced energy, rather than a buffed-up old town, the answer is yes.

Munich wears its grandeur lightly. You can walk from a medieval square to a royal palace to a river wave full of surfers before lunch, and still have a beer hall and a science museum left for the afternoon.

Inaugurated in AD 80 with a hundred days of games, the Colosseum has watched over Rome ever since. Gladiators fought there, wild animals were hunted, and, during its earliest years, before the permanent masonry underground complex was built, the arena could even host water spectacles, possibly including mock naval battles. It survived the end of the games, centuries of stone-robbing and the traffic of the modern city, and it still anchors the heart of Rome today. Few buildings anywhere have served so many purposes in one lifetime: arena, fortress, quarry, shrine and monument.

Dachau was the first regular concentration camp established by the Nazi regime, and the memorial that now stands on the site is one of the most important places anyone can visit in Bavaria.

The Wittelsbachs ruled Bavaria into the early 20th century, and Nymphenburg was their grand summer residence on Munich’s western edge. What began in the 17th century as a court retreat grew over generations into a sprawling palace complex of state rooms, gardens, canals and small pavilions.

At first glance, Munich’s English Garden is all open lawns, trees and temple views. Then, a few minutes from the southern edge, comes the stranger sight: wetsuited surfers queuing for their turn on a standing wave in the middle of the city.

In front of BMW's Munich headquarters stand two unmistakable futuristic buildings, and most visitors are not sure which one they have walked into.

Most cities show you their history. Warsaw shows you what it did after history tried to erase it. Around 85% of the historic centre was destroyed in the Second World War, yet the medieval Old Town you walk through today was rebuilt from old paintings and rubble so faithfully that UNESCO put it on the World Heritage List in 1980. Above it all stands a 237-metre Soviet skyscraper the city has never quite decided whether to love. Between the two sit Chopin's heart sealed in a church pillar, a royal castle blown up and put back together, and the museum of an uprising that lasted 63 days.

Most travellers give Bratislava an afternoon on the way from Vienna, and many leave wishing they had given it longer. Slovakia's capital and largest city sits right on the Danube, the fourth-largest city on the river, and Vienna is only about 60 kilometres away, making the two the closest pair of European capitals apart from Rome and Vatican City. That proximity is why Bratislava gets treated as a side trip. The density of what's packed into its small centre is why it deserves more.

Florence is a city you can walk across in twenty minutes and not finish for a lifetime. Its Roman origins are traditionally dated to 59 BC, when the settlement was known as Florentia, a name associated with flourishing; more than a millennium later, the city lived up to that name as one of the great centres of the Renaissance, and the proof is still stacked along these streets in marble and fresco and gilded bronze.

Cross the Arno from the crowds around the Duomo and you reach the palace where the Medici grand dukes actually lived. The Pitti Palace began as a banker's house, was bought by Eleonora di Toledo in 1549/1550, and now holds several museums under one roof. Behind it, the Boboli Gardens climb the hillside across more than 30 hectares of avenues, fountains and grottoes. One combined ticket covers both, and many visitors run out of time for the garden.

Many of Florence’s classic postcard views are taken from the same place. Cross the Arno, climb the hill on the south bank, and you reach Piazzale Michelangelo: a broad balustraded terrace, laid out in the 19th century, with the whole red-tiled city laid out below it. The Duomo, the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio and the Ponte Vecchio all line up in a single frame, which is why this is one of the city’s most familiar viewpoints. Most people come up for sunset and head straight back down, and in doing so they miss the two best things on the hill.

Piazza della Signoria is one of the rare great squares that doubles as a free sculpture gallery. Under the arches of the Loggia dei Lanzi stand Cellini's bronze Perseus holding the head of Medusa and Giambologna's twisting marble group, and you can walk right up to them without a ticket. Behind the square rises Palazzo Vecchio, still Florence's town hall after seven centuries, with a painted hall more than twice the length of a tennis court, a tower you can climb and a study most visitors walk straight past.

From a distance, the Ponte Vecchio looks less like a bridge than a row of houses that wandered onto the Arno and decided to stay. It is the oldest bridge across the river, set where the Arno runs at its narrowest, and the version you walk across today has stood since 1345, rebuilt after a flood swept the earlier one away. What makes it strange and famous is the same thing: the shops hanging off both sides, jewellers' windows full of gold, and a private corridor threaded above them.

Almost everyone who walks into the Accademia walks in for one statue. Michelangelo's David is over five metres of Carrara marble, carved between 1501 and 1504 from a single block other sculptors had given up on. It shows David in the moment before the fight with Goliath rather than after, the sling already slung over one shoulder, all the tension still ahead of him. Seeing the original here, and not the copy out in the square, is the whole point of the visit.

Toledo sits on a rocky hill inside a loop of the River Tagus, which wraps the old city on three sides like a moat. For centuries, Christians, Muslims and Jews lived here and left their mark on the city, which is why Toledo is still known as the City of Three Cultures, and its whole historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. The Romans took the hill in 193 BC and called it Toletum, and it later became a Visigothic capital and one of Castile's great royal and religious centres, before Philip II moved the court to Madrid in 1561. What all that history left behind is a small, walkable maze of monuments you can cover in a single day.

The Uffizi holds one of the world’s greatest collections of Renaissance and early modern painting: Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo’s Annunciation, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, Titian’s Venus of Urbino, and Caravaggio’s Bacchus and Medusa, all within the rooms and corridors of the offices the Medici commissioned for the Florentine state. It is also one of Italy’s busiest museums, and that is the catch as much as the draw: the hard part is rarely deciding to go, but getting in without losing half a day and knowing where the famous works actually hang.

The Duomo is not one ticket or one building. It is a cathedral that is free to walk into, a dome you climb through, 463 steps to the top, a separate bell tower, a baptistery with gilded doors, a museum that holds the originals once the copies go outside, and Santa Reparata, the remains of the early church beneath the cathedral. Florence Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, was begun in 1296 and consecrated in 1436, and it dominates the skyline from almost everywhere in the city. Getting the most from a visit comes down to knowing which of the passes to buy and that the dome climb has to be booked for a timed slot.

Malta fits a walled Baroque capital, temples older than the pyramids and a turquoise lagoon onto a compact archipelago of just over 316 square kilometres, with the main island small and easy to drive across. More than 7,000 years of history, shaped by the Phoenicians, Romans, the Knights of St John and, later, the British, have left a mark on almost every corner, and the sun shines on it for roughly 300 days a year.

The cluster of crooked, brightly painted wooden houses around Anchor Bay, near Mellieħa in the north of Malta, was built for a film rather than as a permanent village. It was constructed in 1979 as the set for the 1980 musical Popeye, starring Robin Williams, and after filming the set was retained and eventually developed into a visitor attraction. More than forty years on, Sweethaven is a family attraction with the Mediterranean as its backdrop.

We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put this short guide together so you know what Popeye Village actually is today, whether it is worth your time, and how to get there.

On Malta's south coast, where the cliffs drop into deep water at Wied iz-Zurrieq, a series of sea caves glows an almost unreal blue when the morning sun strikes the water at the right angle. That is the Blue Grotto, and the trick to it is simple: get there in the morning, and get on a boat.

We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put this short guide together so you can do the Blue Grotto right: when to go for the colour, what the boat costs, and how to combine it with a visit to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra.

Malta’s megalithic temples are older than many of the world’s best-known ancient monuments. The complexes at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra, on the island's south coast near Qrendi, began to take shape around 3600 BC and were developed during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. Their earliest structures therefore predate Stonehenge’s main stone settings and the Egyptian pyramids, and they rank among the earliest free-standing stone buildings in the world. They are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and standing among the blocks it is hard not to feel the weight of those five and a half thousand years.

We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put this guide together to help you see Malta's prehistoric temples properly: what is where, how to read them, and how to fit Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, Tarxien and the Hypogeum into a visit.

From the right angle, Mdina looks less like a town than a single honey-coloured wall rising out of the middle of Malta. Inside it, the noise drops away: fewer than 300 people live within the ramparts and cars are kept almost entirely outside the city walls. This was Malta's capital from antiquity until the arrival of the Order of St John in 1530, long before Valletta existed, and walking in through the gate still feels like stepping back several centuries.

We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put together this guide to what is worth your time in Mdina and in Rabat, the town that picks up right where Mdina's walls end.

Marsaxlokk announces itself in colour. The harbour of this fishing village in the south-east of Malta is crowded with luzzu boats, little wooden boats painted in bold reds, blues and yellows, bobbing in rows against the water. It is a photogenic working harbour, especially busy on Sunday mornings.

We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put this article together to help you make the most of Marsaxlokk: the market, the boats, where to eat, and the swimming spot just along the coast.

The Blue Lagoon is the photograph that sells Malta: a shallow channel of water so clear and bright it looks edited, lying between the little island of Comino and the even smaller islet of Cominotto. It is genuinely that colour. It is also, in July and August, genuinely that crowded, which is why the most useful thing this guide can tell you is not that it is beautiful, but how and when to go.

We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put this guide together to help you do the Blue Lagoon well: the ways to get there, the timing that makes the difference, and the quieter corners of Comino most day-trippers miss.

The Bock cliff drops forty-five metres into a green river bend. The Old Town sits on top; the lower-town Grund hides below, connected by a glass lift that costs nothing and takes thirty seconds. Most travellers visit Luxembourg City for a day, see the casemates, the fortifications and the river view, and leave thinking they have done it. They have done the first half.

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989, yet Berlin still keeps its path visible. A double row of cobblestones traces the old course through the city centre. A long painted stretch survives as the East Side Gallery, and one of the most important memorials to the Wall stretches along Bernauer Strasse, where a preserved section of concrete still stands. A handful of original watchtowers remain too, scattered across the city. This guide walks you through the places where you can still see the Wall for yourself.

Naples wears its history on the surface. Spaccanapoli, the straight, narrow street that traverses the old centre, follows the grid of ancient Neapolis, the Greek “new city” whose origins are usually dated between the late sixth and fifth centuries BC. Vesuvius sits across the bay, the volcano that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash in AD 79. In a small chapel near the old town, a single block of marble has been carved into a body under a veil so fine it looks like cloth. Modern pizza was born here. And forty metres beneath the pavements runs a whole second city.

A minute before the hour on Old Town Square, a crowd gathers at the foot of a tall Gothic tower on the south side, all facing the same section of wall. On the hour, two windows above the clock slide open and the figures of the Twelve Apostles file past, one after another. Below them four carved figures stir: a skeleton rings a bell, while the figures of Vanity, Miserliness and the Turk move beside it. A golden rooster crows, the bell chimes the hour, and it is over. This is the Prague Orloj, the Astronomical Clock on the wall of the Old Town Hall, and it has been telling the time here since 1410.

The Hohensalzburg Fortress sits on the Festungsberg at 506 metres, one of the largest and best-preserved medieval castles in Europe, and from almost every square in the Old Town you can look up and find it. Below it, the River Salzach runs through the city at the northern edge of the Alps, with Salzburg’s historic centre extending across both banks. This is Mozart's city: he was born on the Getreidegasse and baptised in the cathedral. It is also the city of The Sound of Music, filmed across both banks.

Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous border crossing of the Cold War, the third in the Allied Alpha–Bravo–Charlie checkpoint sequence, named for the C in NATO's phonetic alphabet. In October 1961, American and Soviet tanks faced each other here for sixteen hours before the crisis was defused through secret U.S.–Soviet negotiations. The passport-stamp photo business stopped in 2019 after years of criticism. The recreated guard hut is now flanked by a KFC and a Starbucks, but the Wall Museum across the street still holds one of the best-known collections of Berlin Wall escape stories and artefacts.

Wieliczka is a 327-metre-deep salt cathedral about 10–15 km southeast of central Krakow. UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the first twelve places in the world on the original list, alongside Krakow's historic centre. Nine levels run down through the rock, with about 245 kilometres of corridors in total; visitors walk a 3.5-kilometre route covering less than 2% of the mine. The centrepiece is St Kinga's Chapel, an underground Catholic chapel 101 metres below the surface, with chandeliers, altars and floor reliefs carved entirely from rock salt that miner-artists worked on across most of the 20th century. You can reach the mine from Kraków Główny station in 25 minutes for the cost of a coffee, and you can have a wedding inside the chapel.

Berlin keeps every layer. Cobblestones cut the line where the Wall stood; a 1791 gate looks east down a boulevard the Romans never reached. A little over a kilometre southeast of the Brandenburg Gate, you can stand where Kennedy and Khrushchev came within a phone call of war, and behind you, see a coffee shop younger than its barista.

Begun in 1357 and completed in 1402, Charles Bridge carried Prague across the Vltava for more than four centuries as the city’s only bridge over the river. Thirty mostly Baroque statues and sculptural groups line its stone parapet; a Gothic tower guards the Old Town end, while a pair of towers marks the entrance to Malá Strana. Most of the day it belongs to the crowd, with the bridge busiest from mid-morning to mid-afternoon and shoulder to shoulder with visitors, buskers and portrait artists. In the first hour after dawn, though, it is almost empty, and that is when you can actually read the statues and see the river.

Krakow rewards three days. The Old Town's Rynek Główny is the largest medieval market square in Europe, and the first place every visitor goes, with the Cloth Hall in the centre, St Mary's Basilica on the corner, the hourly trumpet call from its taller tower, first recorded in 1392 and linked by legend to the 13th-century Mongol attack. South of the square, the Royal Road climbs Wawel Hill, home to the castle, cathedral, royal crypts and the city’s famous dragon legend. From Kazimierz, Father Bernatek Footbridge carries you over the Vistula to Podgórze, where Schindler’s Factory tells a different Krakow. Across town there is a 1949 socialist-realist city built east of the Old Town to outshine the bourgeois centre, and an hour south-east underground there is a salt cathedral 101 metres beneath a small market town.

The Brandenburg Gate marks every chapter of modern Berlin's story. Napoleon took the Quadriga to Paris in 1806; the Wall sealed the gate shut for twenty-eight years; David Hasselhoff performed Looking for Freedom by the Wall at the Brandenburg Gate weeks after the Wall came down. Today it stands open at the western end of Unter den Linden, free, with no tickets and no regular opening hours.

Rome is a city where ancient ruins, grand piazzas, lively neighbourhoods and unforgettable food all sit within easy reach of one another. One moment you might be standing inside the Colosseum, imagining the roar of the crowds, and a few hours later you could be wandering past fountains, churches, gelato shops and candlelit trattorias in the historic centre.

The Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava on sixteen arches and is bracketed by fortified Gothic towers at either end. The Castle silhouette rises on the hill behind it. A traveller stepping out of the Old Town for the first time sees both at once, and that is what most people remember about Prague, but it is the smallest fraction of what the city actually offers.

Wawel is more than the castle name most visitors know. It is a fortified limestone hill above the Vistula, bringing together the royal castle, the cathedral beside it, the crypts beneath, a Renaissance courtyard, a 12-tonne bronze bell in Sigismund Tower and, at the base of the hill, a cave you can walk through where a dragon supposedly lived. The complex has been the symbolic heart of Poland for almost a thousand years; coronations happened here from 1320 to 1734, even after the royal capital moved to Warsaw in 1596. UNESCO inscribed Krakow’s historic centre, including Wawel, on the original 1978 World Heritage List, making it one of the first twelve sites in the world to be recognised.

You see Prague Castle before you see anything else in Prague. It stands on the spine of a hill above the west bank, and the silhouette of the towers and spires of St Vitus Cathedral fixes the city's skyline from any vantage along the river. Most travellers cross Charles Bridge, look up, take the photograph, and walk on.

Just off Paros, Antiparos, Greece, is one of the Cyclades’ most relaxed summer escapes, combining whitewashed lanes, sandy beaches, clear swimming spots and a lively but unpretentious main town. It is small enough to feel easy-going, yet varied enough to fill several days with cave visits, boat trips, sunset swims, coastal walks and long evenings in Chora.

Zurich may be known for banking, luxury shopping and Swiss precision, but Switzerland’s largest city feels far more varied once you begin to explore it. Set beside a beautiful lake and framed by distant Alpine views, it combines historic streets, world-class museums, riverside cafés, elegant boutiques and easy access to nature.

A honeymoon should feel special, but it does not have to come with a luxury price tag. For UK couples, some of the most romantic escapes are only a short flight away, with sun-drenched coastlines, charming old towns, boutique-style hotels and memorable experiences that can still fit a more modest budget.

Heraklion may be best known as the gateway to Knossos, but Crete’s capital has far more to offer than a quick stop on the way to an ancient site. As the island’s largest city, it brings together layers of history shaped by Minoan, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman influences, while still feeling lively, walkable and firmly connected to the sea. For travellers planning the best things to do in Heraklion, its appeal lies in how easily world-class museums, harbour walks, market streets and relaxed squares fit into the same city break.

London may be one of the world’s great cities, but one of its biggest advantages is how quickly it gives way to the countryside. Beyond the capital lie protected landscapes, ancient woodland, vineyard country, royal parkland and old market towns. Together, they offer short breaks that are both close at hand and strikingly varied, from the chalk hills of the Surrey Hills, Chilterns and Kent Downs to the historic parkland of Windsor Great Park and the vast woodland of Epping Forest.

A trip to Naples can unfold in several different ways, depending on whether you are drawn more to history, food, museums or the atmosphere of the streets themselves. There is no shortage of ways to spend a day in Naples, but some experiences stay with you more than others. Grand architecture, chaotic side streets, seafront views and centuries of history all sit side by side, often within the space of a single walk. You can spend the morning wandering through the historic centre, the afternoon in a world-class museum, and the evening by the water with Vesuvius in the distance.

Paros is one of the most beloved islands in the Cyclades, and its beaches are a big part of the reason why. From famous stretches of sand and crystal-clear waters to quieter coves with a more relaxed atmosphere, the island offers plenty of variety for travellers looking to spend their days by the sea, whether they prefer lively spots or more peaceful corners of the coastline.

Spring is one of the loveliest times to travel around Greece. The weather is mild, the landscapes are greener, and many places feel calmer and more authentic before the peak summer season begins. It is the ideal time for a weekend escape, whether you are after blooming countryside, mountain villages, quiet walks or a destination with a more romantic atmosphere.

Few parts of France offer as much variety for a beach break as the South of France. Along this stretch of coast, you will find everything from iconic Riviera beaches and pine-backed island coves to dramatic calanques and long sandy shores that feel far removed from the classic resort scene. From stylish seaside towns to quieter natural settings and broad beaches made for long summer days, the region offers a remarkable range of coastal escapes.

Sun-soaked beaches, whitewashed lanes, lazy lunches with sea views and sunsets that seem to stop time make up the version of Ios many travellers hope to find, and happily, it is very real. While the island is often associated with its lively summer scene, there is much more waiting to be discovered once you look beyond that first impression. If you are wondering about the best things to do in Ios, you will find an island that blends Cycladic beauty with history, culture and plenty of chances to slow down and enjoy the surroundings.

Rich in art, history and atmosphere, Florence is one of those cities that leaves an impression almost immediately. Often described as the cradle of the Renaissance, it is a destination where architectural masterpieces, world-famous museums and elegant piazzas come together with remarkable ease. With so many things to do in Florence, Italy, even the simplest walk through the city can feel like part of the experience.

Planning a Thessaloniki city break and wondering what is actually worth fitting in? Greece’s second largest city, set on the Thermaic Gulf in the north of the country, makes exploring feel effortless, all sea air, café culture, and big history woven into everyday streets. It is the kind of place where the centre stays walkable, the waterfront keeps pulling you back, and even a “quick look” at something has a habit of turning into the moment you remember most.

Malta is the kind of weekend break that feels like you have squeezed in a proper holiday, without sacrificing your Friday night to travel admin. It is compact, colourful, and full of those small moments that land perfectly on a short trip, sunset limestone, harbour views, and the sort of cafés where one quick stop turns into a lingering pause.

Porto gave Portugal its name. Under the Roman Empire the settlement at the mouth of the Douro was Portus Cale, the port of Cale, and the country grew outward from those two words. The city still behaves like a port. Its oldest neighbourhood, the Ribeira, is where Porto began to develop, and the view from its quay is the one on the covers of the guidebooks: a line of tall, narrow pastel houses stacked above the promenade, the Douro sliding past below, and the far bank lined with the wine lodges.

Wondering which European cities feel most romantic for Valentine's Day, right in the heart of winter? In February, across Europe, that colder air seems to sharpen the magic, turning simple pleasures into proper moments, from warm pastries and candlelit tables to long walks under softly lit streets. Valentine's Day and the weeks around it can be a sweet spot for a city break, with many favourites feeling calmer and easier to enjoy without the peak season crowds.

If your usual European getaway is starting to feel a little too familiar, it might be time to tweak the formula rather than the distance. Instead of chasing the biggest names or the busiest itineraries, try looking for places that reward a slower pace, where you can wander without a plan, take your time over lunch, and still feel that small buzz of discovery when you turn a corner.

Have you ever saved a photo of a place and thought, that cannot possibly look like that in real life? The truth is, it can. Across Europe, there are towns and villages where the scenery feels storybook without trying, where architecture and landscape line up in a way that makes everything look a little more cinematic. They are the kind of places that make you put your phone down for a moment, simply because you want to take it in properly, then pick it up again because you cannot quite believe the colours, the reflections, the rooftops or the mountain backdrops are actually there.

Paris doesn’t just look like the City of Light. It earned the nickname in part because it was one of the first European capitals to embrace street lighting, long before neon signs and smartphone flashlights made nights feel bright anywhere. And that’s exactly the charm: Paris is at its best when you let it glow around you, whether you’ve come for the grand landmarks, the neighbourhood atmosphere, or simply the excuse to wander with no agenda.

Snow-covered Dolomite spires, high-altitude glaciers, and quaint alpine villages make Italy a fantastic choice for a ski holiday in winter 2025-26. From the chic slopes of Cortina to the family-friendly pistes of the Via Lattea, Italy’s resorts offer a blend of spectacular scenery, delicious cuisine, and generally cheaper prices than their Alpine neighbours.

Vienna is one of those cities that manages to feel both grand and liveable at the same time. Baroque palaces, manicured gardens and a skyline marked by church spires and domes give it a storybook look, while the city’s museums, concert halls and café culture keep it very much alive rather than frozen in the past. It’s frequently celebrated for the way it balances imperial-era beauty with a world-leading arts scene and an everyday warmth that makes it easy to settle into. Vienna is a city where Mozart and Klimt sit comfortably in the same frame as rooftop bars and contemporary galleries.

Prague at Christmas feels as if it has been dressed for a fairy tale. Gothic church spires rise above cobbled squares strung with lights, the smell of svařák (mulled wine) hangs in the air and you can hear carols drifting across the Old Town. Each winter, from late November until early January, the city fills with Christmas markets, with the largest set in Old Town Square and on Wenceslas Square, and smaller, more local-feeling ones on Peace Square, Tyl Square, Republic Square and Na Kampě by the river.

Snow-sure glaciers, chic Alpine villages, and the largest linked ski areas on Earth make France a perennial favourite for ski trips in winter 2025-26. From family-friendly slopes and gourmet mountain dining to legendary off-piste terrain, France’s resorts deliver a mix of expansive terrain, reliable snow and vibrant ambiance that skiers (and non-skiers) love. High-altitude domains like Tignes/Val d’Isère and Les Trois Vallées stretch the season well into spring, while purpose-built hubs such as Avoriaz and Les Arcs keep ski-in/ski-out convenience front and centre.

Prague might already live in your head as a mix of castle silhouettes, red rooftops and river views you keep seeing all over your feed, but turning that vague image into an actual itinerary is a different story. That’s when you start digging into the things to do in Prague and trying to work out what deserves a spot on your shortlist and what can wait for next time.

What comes to mind when you think of Munich at Christmas? A single busy square with wooden huts and Glühwein, maybe a brass band in the background? That scene absolutely exists, but it’s only one small slice of what the city feels like in December. Between palace courtyards, city-centre ice rinks, neighbourhood markets and even a winter world out at the airport, Munich turns the whole festive season into something much richer than just one market on one square.

You’re getting ready for a trip to Budapest, so you’re checking dates, saving TikToks and filling your laptop or phone with tabs open for hotels and flights. Before you get completely lost in all those tabs, it’s worth taking a moment to look at the city itself: on one side of the river, Buda climbs up into the hills, with castle walls and quiet cobbled streets. On the other, Pest never really slows down, with trams, cafés, markets and bars that never seem in a hurry to close. And you, somewhere between the two, are trying to work out how to fit everything into just a few days.

With its charming alpine villages, great value, and an infectious sense of fun on and off the slopes, Austria’s ski scene hits a sweet spot that keeps international skiers coming back. This is the spiritual home of après-ski, where even a mellow blue run can end in a mountain hut pouring shots with a DJ spinning Europop classics. 

Touching down with a list in your notes app and a hunch that Lisbon is more than trams and tiles? You’re not wrong. Between hilltop terraces that open like stage sets, the clatter of vintage Remodelado cars rounding tight corners, and façades dressed in azulejos that tell centuries of stories, this is a city built for moments, not checklists. If you’ve been hunting for things to do in Lisbon, consider this your nudge to chase golden-hour viewpoints, follow the river’s glint, and let curiosity pick your next turn.

Europe’s winter map looks tidy on paper, yet once you step into it the character changes valley by valley. A morning in the Pyrenees holds the light differently to an afternoon in South Tyrol, while Norway’s high plateaux ask for a steadier rhythm than the steep bowls of Savoie. What makes a trip feel well chosen is rarely a single headline; it is the way a lift network breathes on a busy day, the way pistes connect without fuss, the way a village settles after the last chair when you are walking back with warm gloves and tired legs. For anyone weighing the best ski resorts in Europe, the difference is often in these subtleties.

Shortlisting Dubrovnik for your next escape? Great choice! Within its UNESCO-listed Old Town you’ll wander marble lanes free of traffic, scale a near-2km circuit of medieval ramparts for matchless roof-and-sea views, and—when you’re ready for the big panorama—glide up to Mount Srđ by cable car in about four minutes. It’s compact, largely on foot inside the walls, and easy to time your day around light and crowds.

Snow-sure glaciers, car-free chocolate-box villages and trains that pull you straight into the mountains are only some of the things that make Switzerland truly tailor-made for stress-free ski trips in winter 2025-26. From first turns on gentle nursery slopes to long reds with jaw-dropping views, the country’s big-name resorts deliver the mix of reliability, scenery and slick infrastructure that UK skiers (and not only) love. Car-free bases like Zermatt and Saas-Fee keep streets walkable, and rail links from the airports make onward travel simple.

There’s a particular kind of British romance that lives behind a pub door: low beams and candlelit corners, a log fire after a rain-lashed walk, and, upstairs, a bedroom you don’t have to brave the weather to reach. Today’s pub-with-rooms takes that old coaching-inn DNA and gives it creature comforts such as freestanding baths, good mattresses, even a breakfast that’s worth lingering over.

Crisp mornings, golden parks and café windows fogged with the promise of something warm—autumn is when Europe shifts to a comfortable hum. If you’re weighing up European cities for a three-day autumn getaway, you’re in the right place. As days tip past the equinox, cooler air and softer light return, creating ideal conditions for a long weekend that feels unhurried yet full.

If your idea of bliss is linger-friendly museums, vine-striped hillsides and long lunches that stretch into dusk, France in October might be just your cup of tea—sweetened by Chaumont-sur-Loire’s International Garden Festival, which runs through early November this year. And because it’s close to home (direct Eurostar to Paris in about 2 hrs 16 mins, or easy drive-and-sail options via LeShuttle and regular ferries) it’s an effortless autumn escape.

If your mental picture of Greece is all blazing summer sun and crowded ferries, allow us to gently reframe it. Autumn is when the country exhales: the heat softens, the sea often stays warm enough for a dip, and historic towns and mountain villages feel wonderfully unhurried. Travel writers and specialists consistently point to spring and autumn as the “shoulder seasons” that balance pleasant weather with fewer crowds and better value.

Zagorochoria, tucked away in the Pindus mountains of Epirus, is a land of 46 stone-built villages set amid steep gorges, dense forests and soaring peaks. Historically remote and autonomous, this region flourished in the 18th–19th centuries as locals built grand mansions and arched bridges that still stand today. Today Zagorochoria (the Zagori villages) beguile travellers with their traditional charm and breathtaking nature. Here you’ll find Vikos Gorge, a limestone chasm about a kilometre deep (listed by Guinness as the world’s deepest canyon relative to its width), as well as crystal-clear rivers, alpine lakes, and an astounding diversity of flora and fauna protected by two national parks. Whether you visit in summer for hiking and rafting or in winter for cosy nights by a fireplace, Zagorochoria offer an enchanting escape into authentic mountain life.

Fringed by the Ionian Sea’s lucid blues, Zakynthos (Zante) balances easygoing island days with quietly dramatic moments, with limestone cliffs giving way to calm bays, olive groves opening onto village squares, and evenings that drift from golden hour to starlight.

Sussex wears its quirks proudly. Beyond the photogenic piers and postcard‑ready Downs, there’s an eccentric seam of outsider art, haunted follies, prehistoric chalk figures and a pioneering rewilding project that locals affectionately call the “Sussex Serengeti.” This article gathers 10 + 1 delightfully offbeat ideas for unusual things to do in Sussex, perfect for curious walkers, weekend wanderers, and anyone who enjoys adventures with a side of “wait, what?”.

Set in the Ionian Sea, the Greek island of Corfu blends Venetian façades, sapphire coves and a food scene that’s far heartier than you might expect. If you’ve only heard whispers of a pastel-coloured Old Town, of sunsets that turn cliff faces gold, consider this your friendly primer. We’ll start at street level, then work our way to viewpoints, beaches and flavours.

Summer might be fading from the calendar, but that doesn’t mean your European travel plans have to. If you’re still on the fence about a late-season getaway (or you’ve only just started thinking about it) consider this your gentle nudge. September is one of those quietly brilliant months: the light softens, the heat eases, and the rhythm of everyday life returns to cities and islands that were buzzing a few weeks ago.

If you think all Greek islands are the same, Syros will prove you wrong. While many islands in the Aegean are known for their sandy beaches and whitewashed villages, Syros stands out as a place that offers far more than just the typical island escape. Here, neoclassical architecture meets medieval alleyways, vibrant cultural life blends with serene seaside villages, and every corner tells a story that feels both timeless and unique.

Croissant for breakfast, fish-and-chips for lunch—tempted? A pre-dawn dash under the Channel makes a day trip from Paris to London entirely possible, putting the British capital’s skyline within reach before your second coffee and turning what feels like a cross-border marathon into a perfectly feasible day out.

Washed by the turquoise sweep of the Ionian Sea, Lefkada is a Greek island that feels both wildly untamed and warmly familiar. Sheer cliffs tumble into beaches of luminous white pebbles, mountain roads wind through sleepy hamlets scented with jasmine, and sailboats drift lazily between emerald islets. Here, the hum of cicadas is as much a part of summer as the clink of glasses in a waterfront taverna.

Tuscany, a region in central Italy, offers a perfect blend of Renaissance splendor, medieval charm, and breathtaking countryside. From art-filled cities to rolling vineyards and sun-kissed coasts, each corner of Tuscany has its own appeal. This land was the heart of Etruscan civilization and later the cradle of the Renaissance, gifting the world masterpieces of art and architecture. Today, it enchants travellers with its picturesque landscapes (those cypress-lined hills and golden fields straight out of a painting), rich food and wine culture, and warm Italian hospitality. Whether you seek world-class museums in a bustling city or a quiet retreat on a hillside, Tuscany has a spot that feels just right.

Ever wondered what connects a cliff‑top biosphere trail in Menorca, a Peloponnesian wine tank reborn as a beach‑front suite, and a trullo‑topped farmstead on Puglia’s chalk‑white hills? Each is a reminder that the Mediterranean still knows how to surprise long after the postcard clichés fade. Spring paints the trails with colour, summer hangs lemons in the air, autumn rolls out the grape harvest, and the invitation to visit these Mediterranean treasures stands year‑round.

Tinos draws you in with its quiet magic, its windswept beaches, hidden coves, marble-sculpted villages, and sun-drenched hillsides that seem to pause time. At its heart lies one of Greece’s most important pilgrimage sites, the church of Panagia Evangelistria, drawing thousands each year in acts of devotion. But beyond its spiritual pull, the island offers a richness that speaks to every kind of traveller.

Perched in the sapphire waters of the Ionian Sea, Kefalonia is the kind of Greek island that seduces travellers long before the plane wheels touch the runway. Craggy limestone cliffs plunge into electric-blue bays, Venetian bell-towers peek above pastel fishing villages, and pine-scented mountains shelter family-run vineyards. It’s a destination where languid beach days blend effortlessly with gentle adventure, where a lunchtime seafood taverna can be followed by a sunset hike to a centuries-old fortress.

Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, is a sun-drenched paradise known for its dramatic landscapes and year-round springlike climate. From golden beaches and otherworldly volcanic vistas to lively resort towns and quaint historic villages, Tenerife offers a bit of everything. Imagine basking on a black-sand beach under the gaze of Mount Teide (Spain’s tallest peak), wandering cobbled colonial streets in the island’s former capital, or dancing the night away at a neon-lit seaside strip. This island’s rich history, from the indigenous Guanches to Spanish explorers, and vibrant local culture (don’t miss the colourful Carnival) add depth to its natural beauty. Whether you seek adrenaline-pumping water sports, family-friendly attractions, or a tranquil retreat, Tenerife has an area perfectly suited to your holiday style.

For many, Mallorca means crowded beaches and noisy resorts. But look beyond that, and you'll find an island of quiet coves, honey-coloured villages and golden hills rolling gently down to turquoise waters.

It's a place where mountain paths wind towards medieval towns, and peaceful beaches await those prepared to explore a little more. Whether you enjoy hiking, swimming, art or wine, this Balearic island offers a quieter, richer experience that makes it all worthwhile.

One ferry ride north of Rafina and the Aegean suddenly shifts character: cliffs grow greener, valleys ripple with running water and an elegant town of marble lanes appears where you least expect it. You’ve arrived on Andros—Cycladic at first glance, yet lush, cultured and quietly adventurous beneath the whitewashed surface.

Corfu, known as the emerald isle of the Ionian Sea, offers an enchanting mix of historic charm, lush landscapes, and sublime beaches. From the Venetian splendour of its UNESCO-listed Old Town to hidden mountain villages and lively coastal resorts, each corner of Corfu has its own distinct vibe. This island (called Kerkyra in Greek) was never ruled by the Ottomans (it passed from Venetian to French to British hands) resulting in a unique cultural blend. Italianate architecture and French-style arcades blend with British influences like cricket, and are brought to life by traditional Greek hospitality and cuisine. Verdant olive groves blanket the hills, and the coastline spans everything from dramatic cliff-backed coves to long sandy bays. Whether you’re seeking history and culture, a peaceful sun-soaked retreat, or nightlife by the sea, Corfu has an area that’s just right.

Nothing lifts a staycation like bringing the dog along. Across the country, more and more places are making space not just for guests, but for their four-legged companions too, welcoming muddy paws, wagging tails and all. Windswept coastal paths, sun-dappled forest trails and pub gardens with bowls by the bench show just how richly the UK caters to dogs and their humans.

Ibiza, the legendary “White Isle”, is a Mediterranean paradise where world-famous nightlife meets quiet rural charm. This sun-baked Balearic gem has long been synonymous with superclubs and DJs, yet beyond the glow of neon lies an island rich in history, nature, and culture. Medieval walls crown its capital, pine-scented hills hide bohemian villages, and over 50 beaches invite both party-goers and peace-seekers to enjoy turquoise waters. From UNESCO-listed fortresses to hidden coves, Ibiza offers a surprisingly diverse tapestry of experiences. Whether you come for dancing ’til dawn or a tranquil family escape, the island’s many faces ensure every traveller finds their ideal corner.

For couples, solo travellers, and anyone seeking a peaceful, more refined holiday, Greece in September is ideal. The summer crowds have dispersed and the searing heat has given way to a gentler warmth, revealing a quieter country. It's a month of balmy days and uncrowded evenings, just right for discovering the understated appeal of the lesser-known islands.

In the heart of Europe lies Switzerland, a land of storybook vistas and rich cultural diversity. Snow-dusted Alps rise above emerald valleys, medieval church spires pierce modern skylines, and four official languages weave a rich tapestry of traditions. Long known for its precision (clocks, chocolates, and impeccable trains), Switzerland also enchants travellers with its outdoor adventures and urban charms. One day you could be sipping fondue in a cosy Alpine chalet, the next shopping on a luxury boulevard or cruising a glassy lake. This famously neutral nation takes pride in its crystal-clear lakes, glacier-capped peaks, and beautifully preserved Old Towns. Whether you're here for skiing, hiking, museums, or Michelin stars, the Swiss welcome is as warm as a cup of creamy hot chocolate.

Sunshine in Britain is a fleeting but glorious thing, and when it breaks through the clouds the whole country tilts toward the nearest stretch of sand, slate-rimmed lake, or storybook village green, proof that English summer vacation ideas need not necessarily involve an airport lounge. From salt-sprayed Atlantic headlands to reed-fringed waterways, summer unfurls a side of England where surfboards, kayaks, and picnic rugs feel like essential kit rather than wishful thinking.

Malta, a small archipelago at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, offers a perfect blend of rich history, diverse landscapes, and vibrant island life. From the fortified honey-coloured streets of Valletta to the golden beaches of Mellieħa and the tranquil villages of Gozo, each corner of Malta has its own appeal. This sun-drenched nation has been influenced by Phoenicians, Knights, Arabs, and British, leaving a tapestry of Baroque architecture, prehistoric temples, and cultural treasures. Despite its modest size, Malta packs over 300 days of sunshine a year, inviting travellers to explore its picturesque harbours, ancient walled cities, and crystal-clear bays. Whether you seek lively nightlife by the sea, world-class diving adventures, or a quiet retreat into history, Malta has a spot that feels just right.

Pride colours light up venues from central Athens to beach bars on Mykonos this June, setting the tone for a summer of unapologetically queer getaways. Whether you’re plotting a city break during Pride Month or craving a sun-drenched island escape, inclusive stays now span the map far beyond the usual hotspots, so your next holiday can be as carefree (or as decadent) as you want it to be.

Mallorca gathers the essence of the Mediterranean onto a single, sun-lit stage. Golden bays meet water the colour of liquid glass, rugged limestone peaks guard terraces of citrus and stone villages, and Palma hums with Gothic silhouettes, inventive cuisine, and nightlife that lingers well past midnight.

Croatia is a country of striking variety. One day you're tracing the footsteps of empires through quiet, stone-built towns, and the next, you're swimming off a hidden beach where the water glows in the afternoon sun. Medieval cities, forested national parks, and sun-soaked islands each offer a different rhythm, but all feel distinctly Croatian.

What if you could start your morning in Rome and be sipping wine in a Tuscan hill town by lunchtime? A day trip from Rome into southern Tuscany offers an easy escape where Renaissance towns, vineyard views, and regional flavours replace the capital’s buzz. With a full tank and an early start, you can be winding through the Val d’Orcia by midday, tasting Vino Nobile in Montepulciano and sampling pecorino in Pienza, all before heading back under the glow of Rome’s evening streetlights.

Naxos, the largest of the Cycladic islands, offers an enchanting blend of golden beaches, fertile valleys, and rugged mountains. Unlike its more crowded neighbours Santorini and Mykonos, Naxos retains a laid-back charm and authentic Greek island life. You’ll find bustling harbourside towns and quiet whitewashed villages, ancient temple ruins and medieval castles, all amid a landscape that produces some of the Cyclades’ best local food (from creamy cheeses to the famed kitron liqueur). In Greek mythology, this is the island where Theseus abandoned Ariadne after slaying the Minotaur, only for the god Dionysus to discover and marry her, a legendary backdrop that adds to Naxos’ mystique.

There’s something truly special about a girls’ trip – a chance to bond with your besties, make unforgettable memories, and escape the daily grind. Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, a hen do, or just craving a well-deserved break, a girls' getaway is the perfect excuse to indulge in a mix of sun, fun, and shared experiences.

Picture yourself dancing until dawn in Ibiza, sipping wine in a Parisian café, or basking in the glow of a Myconian sunset with your squad.

Paros, set in the heart of the Cyclades, offers a perfect blend of traditional charm, breathtaking beaches, and vibrant island life. From the whitewashed maze of its harbour towns to serene inland villages and golden bays, each corner of Paros has its own appeal. This sun-drenched island was historically famed for its marble (used in works like the Venus de Milo) and today enchants travellers with its picturesque scenery and warm Greek hospitality. Whether you seek lively nightlife by the sea or a quiet retreat amid olive groves, Paros has a spot that feels just right.

This 14-day Europe honeymoon blends romantic cities, idyllic countryside, and sun-kissed beaches at a relaxed pace (two nights per destination). Traveling in May, June, or September (to enjoy pleasant weather and fewer crowds), you’ll journey from the Swiss Alps to Italy and finish in the Greek Isles.

Along the way, indulge in wine tastings, scenic train rides, luxurious spa visits, gondola rides, and charming local experiences. The route is designed geographically to minimize transit time, allowing you to savor each locale.

Below is a summary table of the day-by-day itinerary, followed by detailed recommendations for romantic activities, accommodations, and dining in each destination.

Trip-planning for a family can feel like a twelve-labour quest: when you’re hunting for the best Greek islands for families, you need toddler-safe shallows, tween-friendly thrills, a dash of culture that won’t spark eye-rolls, and transfers short enough to dodge meltdowns. Greece complicates the choice with more than 200 inhabited islands, each flaunting its own mix of coves, castles and kid-bait water-parks.

Spain is a country full of color, culture and contrasts. Here, tradition and innovation go hand in hand - medieval alleyways lead to modern art museums, and the siesta is followed by vibrant nightlife. From sun-drenched coastal towns to places where flamenco still echoes - every city has its own rhythm and soul.

From majestic cathedrals and lively tapas bars to golden beaches and impressive mountain backdrops, each city tells its own story.

Salt-stung skin after a swim, flip-flops slapping sun-hot boardwalks, and a sorbet dripping down your wrist before you even sit down are some familiar markers of summer days. But a handful of beaches in Europe take those simple pleasures and dial them all the way up: water so clear sunscreen bottles show through, sand shades the Pantone chart forgot, cliffs that toss their own shadows across half the bay and still leave room for sunset hues. They’re the spots where even glossy souvenir cards feel like rough drafts.

Crete packs the whole Greek experience onto one island: satin‑soft beaches backed by jagged peaks, Bronze‑Age ruins rubbing shoulders with street‑art‑spattered cities, villages that nap through siestas and harbours that spark to life after dark. As Greece’s largest island, where you choose to stay will shape every day of your trip. Would you rather slip down lantern‑lit alleys in Chania’s old town, roll out of bed onto Rethymno’s uninterrupted strand, or swirl a glass of vidiano beside Lasithi’s mirror‑calm Lake Voulismeni as the sky blushes peach?

During my time in Germany, I felt transported to a world so different from the one I knew from my childhood in Greece. Growing up in a country where ancient ruins and sunlit temples dominate the landscape, the fairytale castles of Germany felt like pages from a picture book. Every visit to a castle was like traveling back in time, surrounded by forests, rivers and misty mountain peaks. With each trip, I discovered a new chapter in European history - full of kings, queens and medieval legends. These explorations are some of my fondest memories from my time abroad.

Venturing out alone offers a unique sense of freedom. It feels quiet, steady, and profound, like discovering exactly where you are meant to be. A solo wellness getaway amplifies this feeling, creating a rare opportunity to step away from the demands of everyday life and reconnect with yourself on a deeper, more meaningful level.

Golden sunlight filters through the woods as your dog bounds ahead, tail wagging with joy, the rustle of leaves marking every step. The path opens to the gentle murmur of waves and a sunlit shore, a perfect moment to pause and take in the view. For those who can’t imagine travelling without their pup, the UK’s diverse landscapes offer endless adventures, from wooded trails to sweeping coastlines.

Amidst rolling green hills and timeless villages, Yorkshire casts a spell of romance that's impossible to resist. This is a place where love stories come alive, where ancient abbeys stand as silent witnesses to countless vows, and every winding lane leads to a new adventure for the heart. The landscapes here seem to stir something deep within, igniting passions as eternal as the moors themselves.

Dublin stands at the crossroads of time, a place where the echoes of Viking invaders and revolutionary heroes mingle with the hum of café chatter and the melodies drifting out of lively pubs. The Irish capital, rooted in history yet brimming with contemporary energy, offers a vibrant patchwork of experiences, from the medieval streets lined with centuries-old landmarks to the creative pulse that drives its modern cultural renaissance. Every corner of the city holds a story, every street has witnessed transformation, and as you explore, it feels as though the past and present exist side by side in seamless harmony.

"Prague isn’t just a city, but an entity of some kind."
— Sezin Koehler

As twilight falls over Prague, the city’s skyline becomes a breathtaking silhouette of spires, domes, and turrets that pierce the dusky sky, each one whispering secrets from centuries past. Known as "The City of a Hundred Spires," Prague is a place where history and enchantment intertwine, creating a mesmerising tapestry that has captivated travellers for generations. Here, Gothic cathedrals rise majestically alongside Baroque palaces, and ancient cobblestone streets wind through paths that pulse with stories of emperors, alchemists, and artists.

As the crisp autumn air fills with the scent of fallen leaves and the nights grow longer, Halloween's eerie allure beckons. But have you ever paused to wonder what makes this holiday so hauntingly captivating? It's the blend of mystery, history, and a touch of the supernatural that sends shivers down our spines. The UK is steeped in centuries of ghostly legends, ancient castles, and fog-draped landscapes that stir the imagination. From haunted inns to gothic ruins, it offers a wealth of Halloween destinations across the UK that promise a spooky experience unlike any other.

Ever dreamed of waking up to the gentle murmur of the sea in a room where history meets contemporary elegance? Greece, a country where the sun kisses the earth with a palette of blue and white, offers an abundance of stunning landscapes, as well as beautifully designed hotels that turn your stay into a piece of art itself. From the vibrant streets of Athens to the picturesque beaches of the Cyclades, design hotels in Greece provide a unique blend of cultural heritage and modern luxury, making every stay unforgettable.

Enchanting and elegant, Paris stands as a timeless beacon, drawing travelers into its embrace with a blend of romance and beauty. At its core lies the Eiffel Tower, not just an architectural triumph but a symbol of love and dreams realized. Imagine waking up to this iconic sight, the first thing your eyes behold as morning light kisses the Parisian skyline. This is not just a fantasy but a reality for those who choose their stay wisely in the City of Light. In this blog post, we unveil some not-so-hidden gems of Paris - the top hotels where the Eiffel Tower isn't just a distant marvel, but a close companion to your luxurious stay.

In today's travel landscape, vacations have transformed from mere sightseeing jaunts to immersive experiences. For families, especially those with young kids, the call of large hotels and resorts is undeniable, offering a blend of comfort and diverse entertainment. Standing out among these are the hotels with indoor water parks, a rarer gem compared to their outdoor counterparts, yet brimming with their own allure. Within the confines of these hotels, guests discover a world of aquatic adventures, ensuring they can revel in unparalleled leisure without ever venturing beyond the premises.

As you amble down the cobblestone streets of Andalucia, beneath the warm Spanish sun, you can't help but feel a sense of awe at the region's deep-rooted history and vibrant culture. Now, imagine that instead of merely walking through the ancient streets, you could rest your head within the walls that have seen centuries unfold. Welcome to the world of heritage hotels in Andalucia, where history and hospitality intertwine to offer you an unforgettable stay.

Ever imagined what it would be like to sleep in a place brimming with history, where every creak of the timber tells a story? How about a place where centuries-old architecture meets modern comforts? And what if that place was, once upon a time, a windmill?

Greece, the land of myth and history, beckons travelers with its sun-kissed beaches, azure waters and ancient ruins. But did you know that the Greek hospitality scene also offers some truly luxurious and unique experiences? The team at Travelmyth, your go-to hotel meta-search engine, has delved deep into the world of Greek accommodations to handpick seven incredible hotels across Greece, each boasting an in-room indoor pool. Whether you're planning a romantic getaway or just want to treat yourself to an unforgettable stay, these hotels promise to make your Grecian vacation a dream come true.

Finding the ideal place to stay is the first step in making sure that your travels are filled with experiences that are one-of-a-kind and unforgettable. Here at Travelmyth, we know that each traveler has unique tastes, interests and requirements when they travel. That's why we provide a hotel search engine with advanced category filters that you may mix and match to find the ideal hotel for your needs. To showcase the flexibility and customization of Travelmyth, we've compiled a list of the most searched-for combinations of categories. From five-star hotels with spas to pet-friendly hotels with pools, let's take a look at the most in-demand combinations in the UK for a truly tailor-made stay.

Most of us love going abroad on holidays; it is something that we look forward to and can often spend months planning. Sometimes, when you have a dog, planning your vacation can be quite stressful. You want to bring your canine friend along with you, but not many places allow them or let them play on their grounds and have fun. This often poses a problem because you don't want your dog to be miserable while you're enjoying yourself. To save you precious time, we have put together a list of hotels in Spain and Portugal that have leash-free play areas and will let your dog have as much fun on holidays as you will!

When you have to leave town for a few days for a business trip or when you simply want to have a long vacation, the main problem that you might face is where to leave your dear dog. Yes, it’s true that there are many dog-sitting services available and there are helpful neighbours too. But what better option than taking your pal along with you on your travels! Here we have consolidated a list of several affordable dog-friendly hotels that allow your canine buddies to stay with you. The best part is that all the hotels mentioned in our list have completely leash-free outdoor play areas for your dogs to enjoy. Whether it is a poodle or a Labrador, your dog can now accompany you wherever you go!

[PRESS RELEASE] According to hotel search engine www.travelmyth.co.uk, Reykjavik is the most expensive European capital for Christmas holidays. The average price of a one-night stay on Christmas Eve in Europe’s northernmost capital city is over £250.

If you're a dog owner, you know the frustration that comes along with planning your desperately needed holidays. Your dog belongs to your family, so there’s no question whether or not you should take him with you. You both need a change of scenery. With Travelmyth, the rest becomes easy, as we have listed the most dog-friendly hotels in the UK that will pamper your four-legged friend just as you. Cornwall is a true dog paradise with endless beaches, coast paths, rocky woodlands and charming towns to discover. Here are our top 10 picks for dog-friendly hotels and holiday houses in Cornwall.

Greek summer is famous for Greece’s beaches and the best beachfront hotels await to welcome you. The numbers speak for themselves: 2.683 hotels are set right on the best beaches all over Greece, with the majority located on the Greek islands.

Planning a trip with your dog can be a bit daunting. But with a little help from Travelmyth, it can be easier than you first thought. Here are our 15 top picks for the best dog-friendly hotels in Devon which will welcome both you and your dog with open arms.