The passport, the burgundy, the gold lion and unicorn on the cover (the British, the 10-year, the dog-eared at the corners, the stamps that tell the story: the blue Greek entry-stamp, the green French, the red Spanish, and the 2 blank pages that remain for the next great European destination), is the essential tool for European traveller. The 5 great destinations below are not the top-5-of-all-time (Paris, Rome, Barcelona, London, Amsterdam, you know those), but the 5 destinations that reward the visitor who wants something different. Here they are.

Five Great European Travel Destinations

• 1–3. Ljubljana, Ghent, and Bologna: Ljubljana, Slovenia: the dragon on the bridge (the Zmajski Most, the 4 bronze dragons, 1901, and the symbol of the city), the Ljubljanica river with the willow trees dipping into the green water, the car-free centre (the Jože Plečnik, the national architect who designed the Triple Bridge, the colonnades of the Central Market, and the most beautiful small-capital in Europe), the Metelkova (the former military barracks turned autonomous art commune, the street art, the sculpture, the graffiti, and the most extraordinary night-out in Central Europe, the free, and the essential: Friday night, the Gala Hala for the live music). Ljubljana day: the morning coffee in the Old Town (€2), the climb to the castle (€10 or the free walk up through the forest, 20 minutes), the lunch at the Open Kitchen (Friday only, March–October, the best food market in Slovenia: €5 for the štruklji, the rolled dumpling), the afternoon walk along the river to the Tivoli Park, the evening at Metelkova. Total daily spend: ~€40. Ghent, Belgium:, see #1498 for the full guide, the Gravensteen, the Van Eyck, and the De Dulle Griet pub with the 250 beers. The essential Ghent twist: stay overnight. The Bruges day-trippers depart at 5pm and Ghent becomes the locals’ city, the Graslei lit by the streetlamps, the reflection in the Leie, and the best evening in Flanders. Bologna, Italy: the red, the fat, the learned (la rossa, la grassa, la dotta), the 38 kilometres of porticoes (the UNESCO, the covered walkways, the essential Bologna experience: walk from the Due Torri to the Santuario di San Luca under the 3.8 km of the longest portico in the world, 666 arches, uphill, the view from the sanctuary: the city, the Po plain, the Apennines), the food (the mortadella, the tortellini in brodo, the tagliatelle al ragù, not “spaghetti bolognese”, the essential lunch: Trattoria da Me, €12 for the tagliatelle, and the best-value meal in northern Italy), and the essential Bologna fact: Bologna has the oldest university in the Western world (1088) and you can feel it, the students fill the piazzas, the bars, and the air. More Europe →
• 4–5. Tallinn and the Douro Valley: Tallinn, Estonia: the most beautiful medieval city in the Baltic, the Old Town (the UNESCO, the 13th-century, the cobbled, the Raekoja plats, the Town Hall Square: the 15th-century pharmacy, the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in Europe), the Toompea hill (the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the onion domes, the Russian Orthodox, the most striking building in Tallinn, the Kohtuotsa viewing platform: the red roofs, the spires, the Baltic Sea, and the free best view in the Baltics), the Telliskivi Creative City (the former railway factory turned hipster quarter, the street art, the Fotografiska Tallinn, the F-Hoone restaurant: the €8 for the main, the industrial-chic, and the best lunch in Tallinn). Essential: Tallinn is 2 hours by ferry from Helsinki, the €30 each way, and the essential Baltic day: the morning in Helsinki, the afternoon ferry, the sunset from the Kohtuotsa. The Douro Valley, Portugal:, see #1393 for wine, but the Douro is more than wine: the Pinhão railway station (the 24 azulejo panels depicting the harvest, the most beautiful station in Portugal after São Bento), the Quinta do Crasto infinity pool, and the essential non-wine Douro experience: the drive the N222 from Pinhão to Peso da Régua, the 27 km, the 93 bends, ranked the world’s best driving road by the Avis survey, and the view at every turn: the river, the terraced vineyards, and the most beautiful valley in Europe.