Western European Russia
Successful Soviet composer Tikhon Khrennikov grew up and first studied music in this rust-red wooden house. Original furniture, photos and artefacts are…
Must-see attractions in Eastern Europe
Museum of Printing & Old Romanian Books
Wallachia
Housed in a 17th-century palace built by Constantin Brâncoveanu for his daughter Safta, this museum is filled with original books from the beginning of…
Latvia
The Castle Watchman’s House was built in 1735 to protect the ruins of the Livonian Order Castle. Legend has it that the house was the site of executions…
Burgas
Old-fashioned but informative displays on local flora, fauna and geology are on view here. Exhibits of rocks, seashells, butterflies and beetles occupy…
Veliko Târnovo Archaeological Museum
Veliko Târnovo
Housed in a grand old building with a courtyard full of Roman sculptures, the museum contains Roman artefacts and medieval Bulgarian exhibits, including a…
Plovdiv
'Milyo the idiot', as he's affectionately known, was a local prankster and mimic, fondly remembered in Plovdiv's shopping precinct in the form of a statue…
Sofia University Botanical Garden
Sofia
Sofia's small botanical garden includes a glasshouse filled with palms and cacti, a rose garden, and various trees and flowers (labelled in Bulgarian and…
Istria's West Coast
Positioned at Croatia’s westernmost point, this elegant stone lighthouse is Istria’s oldest, built in 1818. It's not open to the public but a set of…
Johannes & Joosep Aavik’s Memorial Museum
Western Estonia & the Islands
The Aavik family home is now a small museum dedicated to the life and works of linguist Johannes Aavik (1880–1973), who introduced major reforms to the…
St John the Evangelist's Church
Rab Island
It's thought that parts of this atmospherically ruined Romanesque basilica date as far back as the 5th century. Today, amid assorted rubble, only a…
Rab Island
Built at the end of the 15th century for a prominent patrician family who taught the public to read and write here, this building is worth noting for its…
Central & Eastern Istria
This winery, 12km northeast of Poreč, produces some of Istria's finest reds and whites. Its malvazija is of particularly high quality, and it also…
Tirana
Tirana's 35m-tall clock tower was completed by Ottoman architects in 1822, and it was for years the tallest building in the capital, sounding a bell every…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Erected to commemorate the visits of Tchaikovsky to Haapsalu, this stone bench is inscribed with the first few notes of his VI Symphony. There's also an…
Vladivostok
Vladivostok’s main art museum on Partizansky pr has long been under renovation and shows no sign of reopening any time soon. In the meantime, some of its…
Zagreb
The Zagreb Zoo has a modest collection of the world’s fauna and daily feeding times for seals, sea lions, otters and piranhas. Renovations have seen many…
Braşov
Climb the stairs of the semicircular White Tower, which dates to 1494, for great views over Braşov. It's a 250m walk, alongside medieval walls, to reach…
Moscow
A huge, 330-hectare swath of parkland, the Botanical Gardens has not yet been touched by the renovations that have transformed other parks in Moscow. But…
Moldavia & the Bucovina Monasteries
This museum exhibits Romanian classic and modern art, including landscapes and still lifes, plus abstract art, modern cityscapes, sculptures and…
Sarajevo
This glorious 1913 Succession-style building has a particularly memorable interior with a glass ceiling, brass counter-grilles and striking chandeliers…
Rijeka
Housed in a boxy 1970s structure, this small museum houses ever-changing themed exhibitions ranging from art to aspects of local history. It's not worth…
Vilnius
This twin-towered 18th-century church, rich with baroque and Rococo detail, was once part of a Benedictine monastery. Damaged in WWII and used for storage…
Vladivostok
This charming harbour is a lovely place to wander along the seafront and is a popular place for locals on the warm summer nights. Its walkway extends some…
Memorial Room of the Dubrovnik Defenders
Dubrovnik
Just inside the entrance of the Sponza Palace, this room displays a heartbreaking collection of portraits of young people who perished between 1991 and…
Klaipėda
This is that rarest of beasts: a Catholic church built during the Soviet era (it is, in fact, unique in the Baltics). Its 46.5m tower is one of the…
Mostar
Mostar's biggest and, some might say, most beautiful mosque was built in 1557. Heavily damaged during the war, it has since been completely renovated with…
Zadar
This fun museum is devoted to optical and other illusions. There's a vortex tunnel, holograms, a mirror room, an infinity room and loads of interactive…
Veliko Târnovo
Faded frescoes are the principal draw at the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa, the town’s main cathedral. Located just off ul Ivan Vazov, the church’s large…
Church of the Saviour Not Made by Human Hand
St Petersburg
On the north side of Stables Sq, this church – named after a legendary Byzantine icon – is where Pushkin's funeral service was held in 1837. The square…
Korčula Island
On the outskirts of Lumbarda, this working farm and vineyard offers tastings of their three wines (grk, plavac mali and a rosé) accompanied by a snack…
Northern European Russia
A remarkable and somewhat creepy collection of handmade creations by one of Russia’s foremost puppet mistresses. Storybook heroes, mythological creatures…
Bulgaria
Housed in a former chapel, Tryavna’s Museum of Icons contains more than 160 religious icons from the erstwhile collections of famous local families. The…
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk's most charming spot for a walk, this thickly wooded hill is in the centre of the city between the harbour and the lake. There are numerous…
Moldova
This attractive old house is where the organic chemist Nikolay Zelinsky, Soviet hero and inventor of a gas mask that saved countless lives during WWI,…
Estonia
Spread over three floors of a 19th-century gunpowder storeroom on the Gloria bastion, Narva’s art gallery has an interesting collection, including…
Plovdiv
Built in the mid-17th century, Sveta Nedelya Church hovers on the eastern edge of the old town. Most noticeable is its elegant 16m tower. Inside, discover…
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God
Sarajevo
Sarajevo's Orthodox cathedral (dedicated in 1872) has a soaring interior space, a vast gilded iconostasis (a gift from the Russian royal family) and two…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Although it has its roots in the 16th century, the exterior of this whitewashed church owes much to a renovation in 1858. Inside, look out for the…
Western Estonia & the Islands
While not spectacular, Kärdla’s extremely shallow beach is pleasant enough, with a mixed sand-and-grass shoreline edged by Rannapark. This expanse of…
Bulgaria
This romantic park on Shumen’s western edge has walking trails in the shade of sycamore and maple trees. You’ll see and hear the humming of the city’s…
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