The ticket, the crumpled, the €4, the stub from the Arche Scaligere in Verona (the Gothic tomb-complex of the Della Scala family, the 13th–14th centuries, the wrought-iron grilles, the stone canopies that are the finest Gothic funerary art in Italy, and the monument that 90% of Verona visitors walk straight past on the way to the Juliet balcony), the ticket that has sat in the wallet for the 3 years because nobody knows about the Arche Scaligere, is the metaphor for the top sights in Europe that you may have missed. Europe has the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, the Sagrada Família, and Europe has the sights that are the quieter, the cheaper, and often the more rewarding. Here are the top missed sights.

Top Sights in Europe That You May Have Missed

• The Italy and the France, the missed masterpieces: The Arche Scaligere, Verona: the €4, 15 minutes from the train station, the tombs of Cangrande I, Mastino II, and Cansignorio della Scala, the rulers of medieval Verona. The essential: the Cangrande tomb, the equestrian statue, the smiling knight (the “Cangrande” means “big dog”), the marble canopy that rises 14 metres above the church courtyard. Most visitors queue for 45 minutes at the Juliet balcony (the 14th-century house with the 20th-century balcony added for tourism, €6). Walk the extra 3 minutes to the Arche Scaligere instead. The Musée de Cluny, Paris: the €12, the 15th-century townhouse, the 1st-century Gallo-Roman baths in the basement, and the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, the 6 tapestries, the 1500, the millefleurs background, the “À mon seul désir,” and the most beautiful medieval tapestries in the world. The essential: the Cluny gets 300,000 visitors a year vs. the Louvre’s 9 million, and the Cluny is the more intimate, more magical museum experience in Paris. Italy | France
• The Spain, the Portugal, and the UK: The Monasterio de Piedra, Zaragoza province, Spain: the €16, the 13th-century Cistercian monastery, the 100-metre waterfall inside the monastery garden, the Cola de Caballo (the “horse’s tail”), and the most beautiful monastery garden in Europe. The essential: the walk the full 5 km circuit through the waterfalls, the caves, and the lake, the 3 hours. The monastery is 1.5 hours from Zaragoza and 2.5 hours from Madrid, and almost nobody outside Spain has heard of it. The Convento de Cristo, Tomar, Portugal: the €6, the UNESCO, the 12th-century Templar castle, the 16th-century Manueline window, the carved stone, the rope, the seaweed, the coral, the armillary sphere, and the most beautiful window in Portugal. The essential: the Charola, the 12th-century Templar round church, 8-sided, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Knights Templar rode out from Tomar. The Hill of Tara, County Meath, Ireland: the free, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, the Stone of Destiny (the Lia Fáil, the coronation stone that was said to roar when the rightful king touched it), the Iron Age earthworks, and the view: on a clear day you can see 14 of Ireland’s 32 counties from the summit. The essential: arrive at dawn or dusk, the light is golden on the mounds, the visitors are gone, and the 5,000 years of Irish history settles into the silence.