When you have only two weeks for your European trip itinerary, the best recommendation is to cut back on travel. You can experience more while travelling less.

Where would you go in Europe if you wanted to minimise travel and spend more time in magical places? From the perspective of cost and time, this is the ideal.

No one wants to wait at airports or cram cities into a day. Great ideas for European travel can beat this problem.

You can reduce the hassle by booking accommodation in one or two centres. You can plan this with ease.

Even on short trips, you don't have to lack variety. The best European travel experiences come from getting out of the capital cities and seeing stunning small destinations.

Seeing the big cities is not the same as getting to know a country, or even a region. Raven Travel Guides Europe strongly recommends getting out of the big cities for some regional flavour.

Reducing travel time and cost is a win-win solution. You get a richer cultural experience and maximise the enjoyment.

Here's a list of short European travel itineraries that will deliver rich experiences to remember. They involve train or bus trips, mostly of a few hours or less, and keep you enjoying the attractions. World heritage sites are plentiful in this list.

Even destinations not badged by UNESCO include sights that will have you gazing in wonder.

Venice-Padua-Vicenza-Bologna-Ravenna

The travel plan: North-eastern Italy is rich in destinations and the itinerary is easy to organise. A Venice-Bologna fast train takes just over an hour and the Bologna-Ravenna trip takes 1½ hours. The challenge comes in squeezing Venice into cheaper low-traffic periods because of its February carnival dates, but from mid-October to mid-November there is a relatively quiet period. Look out for high water, though. The weeks from mid-January to early February might offer some hope. Trying to sandwich Trieste, Verona, Ferrara or San Marino into a trip like this would be a huge temptation, but this schedule is already crowded.

Venice

Venice bears comparison with nowhere on the globe. Its riches came from unique trade links by sea and were poured into churches, palaces and crafts of stunning virtuosity.

Most of its quarter-million people do not live on its main islands, but that’s where the attractions are. Yes, it's busy, but where else would we go to see most of the sights by boat? The warnings about crowding are justified and exploiting a relatively low-traffic period is advisable.

Raven Guides’ Venetian highlights? Aside from the Basilica di San Marco and Palazzo Ducale, there are the unique Arsenale di Venezia, the Ca' d'Oro, the Basilica del Santissimo Redentore, and a trip to Murano. The Ponte di Rialto seems exceptionally crowded in the selfie age, but then, so does much of the city. Gondolas are a matter of taste and relatively expensive, but water taxis are the best way to see the city.

Padua

Padua is smaller than Venice but still rich in heritage. Its unique sight is the Prato della Valle, an elliptical space marked by a canal around a central island and statues.

The chapel known as Cappella degli Scrovegni displays a cycle of early 14th century frescoes by Giotto that is regarded as revolutionary in Western art. Its Basilica di sant'Antonio is a pilgrimage site, housing the tomb of St Anthony. The Palazzo della Ragione contains a medieval hall that claims to have Europe's largest unsupported ceiling. Other palaces decorate the city and the old academic botanic garden, Orto Botanico di Padova, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Vicenza

This is the compact and walkable home city of Andrea Palladio, the leading Renaissance architect who worked his magic mostly in his home region. But Palladio also changed the way his successors across Europe saw buildings. Almost 50 structures in and around Vicenza, including villas, show his genius. The Teatro Olimpico is a unique theatre that staggers all who visit.

Palladio’s most prominent design is his Renaissance loggia for the town hall, now known as Basilica Palladiana, next to the 80-metre Torre Bissara. But he also designed villas in the surrounding hills. In addition to Palladio’s buildings, there are many prominent city palaces.

Bologna

Bologna is one of Italy's oldest cities. Its extensive heritage-listed network of porticoes and arcades, towers and a collection of 10 surviving medieval city gates are among the highlights. The leaning towers, Torre Garisenda and Torre degli Asinelli, are spectacular sights but closed to visitors in 2026 because of restoration work.

Basilica di San Petronio and Palazzo d'Accursio ate two highlights of the central Piazza Maggiore.

Bologna, the most populous city on this tour, is also the home of Europe's longest tradition of tertiary education. Its focus was the courtyard of Biblioteca Comunale dell'Archiginnasio.

Ravenna

The Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna, which played the leading role in the last decades of the Western Roman empire, are a dazzling reminder that Roman civilisation took a long time to die. But the world-heritage city is also a reminder of the division of early Christianity, which included Arian beliefs.

The chief sight is the Basilica di San Vitale, the 6th century church with an interior that captured the beliefs of late Roman society. The nearby Mausoleo di Galla Placidia is a more concentrated example of mosaic art, like Battistero Neoniano and Battistero degli Ariani. The Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo displays layers of the complex art of the period.

Elsewhere, wander through the city gates, its castle walls, and visit Mausoleo di Teodorico, the mausoleum of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric and find the tomb of Dante. At the nearby town of Classe is another spectacular mosaic church, also called Basilica di Sant'Apollinare.

Würzburg-Nuremberg-Regensburg-Passau-Salzburg

The plan: Bavaria is much more than Munich. It’s a journey of contrasts across plains and ends at the foot of the Alps. Based around one rail line and centuries of tradition, this travel itinerary shows Bavaria’s variety. The Würzburg-Nuremberg, Nuremberg-Regensburg and Regensburg-Passau rail journeys are about one hour each. Continuing to Salzburg from Passau takes two to three hours, including a change of trains at Linz or Wels. Either of these fascinating places can be added to the list, if only for a few hours’ walking.

Würzburg

A palace of staggering richness, a medieval cathedral, a mighty fortress, Baroque churches and an ancient stone bridge are among the chief sights in this city of prince-bishops. Balthasar Neumann, the greatest of German Baroque architects, completed the Residenz, Germany’s richest palace and a world heritage-listed site. Its staircase, with rich stucco and painted decoration by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, is iconic and created to depict four continents doing homage to the bishops. Würzburger Dom, consecrated to St Kilian, recalls the earliest days of Christianity in Germany.

The fortress Festung Marienberg, above the river Main, dominates the old town and houses a museum that includes works by the late medieval Würzburg resident and sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider. It and the delicate Rococo pilgrimage church known as Kappele are reached via the Alte Mainbrücke, marked by statues of Würzburg’s founding saints and early bishops.

Nuremberg

This city is best known for its association with Nazi ritual and the war crimes trials that followed World War II. But its importance in German history preceded that. It is the site of a castle, the Kaiserburg, and was a bastion of civic pride in the late medieval and Renaissance period.

Nuremberg was the city of the Meistersinger poets and tradesmen, artists and scientists. These included the painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer, the poet and shoemaker Hans Sachs and the astronomer Martin Behaim.

The buildings, rescued from wartime bombing damage, include the half-timbered town houses of the Renaissance middle class (one of them Dürer’s), the mighty medieval wall circuit and towers, the Gothic churches of St Lorenz and St Sebald, the Frauenkirche, and vast granaries. Germanisches Nationalmuseum is the most important museum of Germanic culture and reflects the richness of community life.

Regensburg

When the Holy Roman empire met, it met in Regensburg. The Danube city had pre-Roman beginnings and was a fortified Roman camp, of which remains including the Porta Praetoria still stand. But it blossomed in early medieval times and tower houses, of a type now rarely found beyond Italy, came later. Regensburg’s old town, monuments and picturesquely named streets are now UNESCO listed.

Some of Germany’s oldest churches are in Regensburg, among them the basilica of Kloster St Emmeram, Alte Kapelle, and the remarkable Schottenkirche, and its Gothic cathedral Dom St Peter is one of Germany’s most impressive.

The city’s medieval wealth came from its trade and links with Italy. Its trade route crossed an ancient stone bridge, Steinerne Brücke, that is still in place. The late medieval Altes Rathaus is where the imperial assembly met and its hall witnessed 150 years of ceremonies and debates involving representatives of big towns and small across central Europe. Schloss Thurn und Taxis is a remarkable aristocratic palace.

Passau

Three rivers meet in this city, which can claim one of Europe’s most dramatic locations. Its strategic value attracted the Romans and became a rich trading centre that supported the style of its prince-bishops. Here, Italian influence was even stronger in the narrow sett-paved streets. The ancient town is concentrated on a spit of land between the Danube and the Inn and is dominated by the Gothic fortress Veste Oberhaus.

Passau’s bishopric stretched right across modern Austria and into Hungary and its monasteries and convents were influential. The centre of its power lay in the Baroque Residenz palace, now housing a museum. The rich Baroque cathedral Dom St Stephan was fitted with the world’s biggest church organ, which can be heard by visitors at lunchtime recitals today.

The towered Gothic Rathaus has later interior paintings depicting the city’s connection with the high-medieval epic Das Nibelungenlied. The Hungarian connection remains in Kloster Niedernburg’s Klosterkirche zum Heiligen Kreuz, the resting place of the blessed Gisela, its abbess and widow of the Hungarian king St Stephen.

Salzburg

Mozart and the von Trapp family are the personalities most often connected with Salzburg, but the composer started his career working for the prince-archbishop of this extraordinary city. The vast Residenz palace, the mighty fortress Hohensalzburg and encircling walls were the symbols of the archbishops’ power. From the 8th century the city gathered wealth from salt. Salzburg became a place of sometimes bizarre contrasts in a magnificent location that concentrated civic life in a small space.

Its cloisters included two of Austria’s oldest foundations, the abbey of St Peter and the convent Nonnberg, both founded at the foot of the castle hill. The convent church was the scene of the von Trapp wedding, but for more than 1000 years before that the abbey and convent had been centres of devotion. The Petersfriedhof is the site of unique catacombs.

The salt trade allowed the non-celibate archbishops to live in style and one built Schloss Mirabell for his mistress and her 15 children. Away from the rich Baroque cathedral, a tiny church, St Johannes am Imberg, was wedged halfway up the steps between yet another monastery and the brothel quarter, where the Silent Night lyricist Josef Mohr was born.

Oslo-Flåm-Bergen

The plan: This is one of the few journeys where all the destinations lie on fjords. The journey is not as short as the others, but scenically magnificent. The seven-hour trip between Oslo and Bergen can be made four to six times daily on Bergensbanen trains and overnight options are available. The even more scenic journey to Flåm starts with a change of trains at Myrdal, about two hours from Bergen.

Oslo

This unusual capital is shaped by its shallow fjord location and the surrounding waters are dotted with islands. The centrepieces are the blockish 1950 city hall and the low-rise Operahuset, completed in 2007, invites visitors to walk on its roof.

Akershus castle, above the waterfront, houses a fascinating resistance museum and a defence museum is nearby. But the peninsula of Bygdøy, which can also be reached by ferry, is a centre of interest on its own with three national museums.

Bygdøy is the site of the superb Norsk Folkemuseum, with a vast open-air section including traditional buildings from much of the country. Frammuseet, the museum of the polar ship Fram, covers much of the history of Arctic exploration. The nearby viking ship museum is scheduled to reopen in 2027 as Vikingtidsmuseet after a long redevelopment. But Viking history is also part of Historisk museum and The Viking Planet display in the city.

Flåm

This place offers a taste of spectacular Norwegian landscape. The 50-minute rail trip on the now popular Flåmsbana winds through mountain country from Myrdal to Flåm village on the southern reaches of the world-heritage Aurlandsfjord. Boats make winding journeys into the fjordlands. These offer one method of reaching Aurland and the spectacular Stegastein lookout, but electric shuttle buses also run from Flåm most times of year and save a demanding climb.

The wooden Flåm kyrkje is more than a 3km walk from Flåm, but the church is also close to the local Håreina rail stop.

Bergen

More world-heritage attractions await in Bergen. The former Hanseatic city and port is scattered around the waters of Byfjorden and is best viewed from the vantage point on Fløyen, using the Fløibanen funicular rail, or from the highest peak Ulriken, using the Ulriksbanen cable car. It’s wise to always carry an umbrella in this city.

At ground level the chief sights are the preserved Bryggen waterfront and its colourful medieval wooden buildings and the fortress Bergenhus, marked by the royal hall Håkonshallen and the tower Rosenkrantztårnet. The Bryggens Museum of the archaeology of the medieval period and the open-air Gamle Bergen Museum of wooden town houses cover much of the rest of the city’s culture. Bergen is also the city of the composer Edvard Grieg, who lived and worked at Troldhaugen, several kilometres south of the city. A modern concert hall perpetuates his memory.

Bergen is also the place to board cruise ships along the northern coast of Norway and the Art Nouveau city of Ålesund is an overnight cruise away.

Prague-Tábor-České Budějovice-Český Krumlov

The plan: Starting in Prague, travellers can head into southern Bohemia to the unique small city of Tábor, then further to the southern Bohemian capital České Budějovice and the world-heritage small town Český Krumlov. Several adventures to exciting small destinations are possible from Prague and this is only one suggestion.

Prague

More than any other large central European city, Prague is a mixture of styles and periods, but the 21st century crowds make it hard to recommend as a summer destination. The old-town square Staroměstské náměstí is one of Europe’s iconic sites and the castle precinct Pražský hrad one of its busiest attractions. Katedrála svatého Víta is one of the great cathedrals with a rare command over its city. It is one of more than a dozen churches that should be visited.

But the city palaces, such as the extensive Valdštejnský palác, are also havens of architecture, garden design and statuary. On the Petřín hill is the monastery Strahovský klášter with its magnificent low-vaulted twin libraries. The extensive gardens and so-called Hunger Wall can be reached by a funicular rail car.

Too few visitors take in the fortifications and gardens of Vyšehrad and the Bazilika svatého Petra a Pavla, a church with a stunning interior. The cemetery features the Slavín national tomb dedicated to famous personalities and the graves of the composers Dvořák and Smetana are among the many on the site.

Tábor

Alone, Tábor’s collection of restored Renaissance buildings in an old-town streetscape would make it a worthwhile travel destination. But it is unique in one key respect. It became the bastion of the zealot Hussite forces in the 15th century war that split the Czech-speaking lands.

The Hussite general Jan Žižka founded Tábor in 1420 as a reformist religious community and fortified the hilltop with walls and towers that still stand and an underground tunnel network that visitors can tour today. A Hussite museum tells the city’s story and the Transfiguration church Kostel Proměnění Páně na hoře Tábor, built the following century, remains a devotional landmark. A monument to Žižka stands in front.

At nearby Klokoty, which once formed a separate town, is a cloistered monastery that is now a Marian pilgrimage place with a delicate church. Tábor is an hour south of Prague.

České Budějovice

The southern Bohemian capital on the Vltava is about two hours south of Prague by train. Its centrepiece is the classic central European square Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II with the Baroque fountain Samsonova kašna at its centre.

The old town’s 16th century buildings include colourful houses that demand a slow stroll and lingering looks. More prominent are the town hall, Katedrála svatého Mikuláše and fortified tower Černá věž. The six-storey tower Rabeštejnská věž was part of the old-town wall network. Less well known is the stunning interior of the Kostel Panny Marie Růžencové, a rare church decorated in the so-called Beuronese art style.

Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov’s outstanding architecture and cultural heritage were recognised by UNESCO listing in 1992 and today it is the second most popular Czech tourist destination after Prague, even though its permanent population is only about 13,000. It is about half an hour by bus or rail from České Budějovice.

About 170 buildings from the late medieval period to the 1800s now house museums, tourism and service-related businesses including small hotels, pensions, restaurants and cafes and often display wall paintings and designs.

The castle complex, Státní hrad a zámek Český Krumlov, was a powerful and ornate Renaissance residence with extensive Baroque extensions. These included a library and a theatre, which with the Baroque garden was reached from the main castle by the multi-level bridge now known as the cloak bridge. The theatre is now one of only four Baroque theatres preserved in Europe with original sets and stage machinery.

Vienna-Bratislava-Krems an der Donau-Melk

The plan: Explore the beauties of one of the world's most civilised cities, the musical capital of Europe. Discover one of the lesser-known but surprising old-town centres of central Europe, with a powerful hilltop castle. Get to know the medieval lanes of the small city that for centuries rivalled Vienna. Marvel at two of Austria's great Baroque monasteries, more like palaces in their ornament and scale. All linked by a friendly stretch of the river Danube, which allows cruise links.

Vienna

Palaces, museums, gardens and more palaces. Centuries at the hub of a diverse empire brought Vienna advantages. It is the outstanding cultural centre of Europe, in the centre of Europe, where the arts are the focus of attention.

Schloss Schönbrunn (with museums), the Oberes and Unteres Belvedere (with museums) and the Hofburg (with lots of museums) can be dazzling places, but for the biggest impression step into the Prunksaal, now the showpiece of Austria’s national library. For painting, walk a little further to the Albertina, but for a taste of Gustav Klimt the Oberes Belvedere is the place to go.

Centuries of churches, built and rebuilt, have nothing in common, a fact that is reinforced by a visit to the Karlskirche, with its giant dome and ornate columns, and the Domkirche St Stephan. The scattered monuments to the Secession, Vienna’s native take on Art Nouveau, are worth seeking out and there is a cluster around Naschmarkt as well as the nearby Vienna Secession museum.

Bratislava

This city is on few bucket lists, which is why the first impression comes as a surprise. It’s worth more than a day trip from Vienna, but if that’s all the time you have Bratislava, about 80 minutes away, will repay the short excursion.

The old town hall, the quirky churches, the surviving medieval fortifications, the hilltop castle Bratislavský hrad (prepare for a climb), the old-town laneways and Baroque gate Michalská brána are features. But on no account miss Modrý kostol, the Art Nouveau jewel known to visitors as the “blue church”.

Krems an der Donau

Welcome to a quaint, quiet medieval-Renaissance town that is unassuming today, but in centuries past was one of Europe’s richest trading centres. Take at least two days to visit this old Danube port and climb its steps and lanes to seek out the fragments of its past.

These include the medieval  Gozzoburg buildings, the remarkable Renaissance  Großes Sgraffitohaus, Pfarrkirche St Veit, Göglhaus, Bürgerspitalkirche, Piaristenkirche and the gateway Steiner Tor.

When you reach the top of the hill, you’ll discover one reason why it lost to Vienna in a battle for wealth and influence – there was no space for growth. But Krems, strung out along the Danube bank, joining up with its neighbour Stein to make the most of its location.

The mighty abbey Stift Göttweig to the south has splendours that make it a rewarding visit.

Melk

Here the small town, about an hour by rail from Vienna, is not the main attraction. The drawcard is the vast abbey Stift Melk, one of the great monasteries of Europe. The church, museum and gardens dominate from an extraordinary location above the Danube and it’s easy to see why the monks felt closer to God. It makes for a busy day trip from Vienna, but try to not miss the splendid Baroque pavilion or gardens.

Copenhagen-Roskilde-Malmö-Lund-Helsingborg-Helsingør

The plan: Travellers can span two countries with population centres interlinked by bridge and ferry. One of Europe's liveliest, forward-looking capitals, blending its ambitions with preservation of a graceful past. Factor in Scandinavia's fastest-growing city, which has a similar vision, and two cathedrals in contrasting styles, one from the 11th century, the other from the 12th century. Both were built in Denmark, but one became Swedish in the 17th century. One of Scandinavia's leading maritime museums has recovered many mysteries of a Viking past. Throw in the striking seaside castle forever associated with a Shakespearean anti-hero.

Copenhagen

The Danish capital combines past and present better than most cities. Somehow the bustle and the low-rise quaint brick architecture make an appealing blend with a variety of castles and palaces, must-see museums and performing-arts venues. The city’s unique round tower Rundetårn, the Rosenborg palace and gardens, the imposing Christiansborg and Amalienborg palace complexes and the Classical sculpture collections of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek are musts.

A visit to Nationalmuseet is essential for grasping Scandinavia’s early history. But lesser-known museums such as Frihedsmuseet, the museum of Danish occupation and resistance in World War II, and the extraordinary university library should not be missed either.

Roskilde

The UNESCO world-heritage Gothic cathedral is Denmark’s royal necropolis. Building started in Romanesque style but quickly took on Gothic characteristics as work progressed into the 13th century. Because elements were added over succeeding centuries, there are examples of most styles of architecture. The 15th century frescoes, the intricate sarcophagus of Margrethe I, and Christian IV’s chapel are the highlights.

Spend at least two hours at Vikingeskibsmuseet, the museum where viking ships rescued from the nearby fjord were preserved and became a focus for archaeological experiments. The city is less than half an hour by train from Copenhagen.

Malmö

The Renaissance castle Malmöhus with a fascinating tour and museums and a stately historical city centre await. Don’t miss the late medieval St Petri kyrka with its wall and vault paintings and northern Europe’s largest wooden altarpiece. The city is less than 40 minutes by train from Copenhagen.

Lund

The 11th century stone cathedral is ornate and Romanesque, housing a precious astronomical clock and preserving a fascinating crypt. The graceful city centre merges into the historic university campus and the cultural and open-air museum Kulturen. If you’re making a day trip from Copenhagen, the train takes about an hour.

Helsingborg

If you have time to visit another port city, a 4km ferry ride across the Öresund in Sweden, visit Helsingborg, where the tower Kärnan offers a spectacular view over the sound.

Helsingør

A quaint late-medieval town has been enhanced by a “culture harbour” development. The train from Copenhagen takes less than an hour. Shakespeare plucked the plot of Hamlet from a medieval Danish tradition about a prince known as Amleth, best described as legend. But the Renaissance castle Kronborg that survives today is real enough, with world-heritage listing. Its royal apartments, halls and chapel have witnessed a lot of genuine history.

Berlin-Potsdam-Dresden-Meissen-Görlitz

The plan: Uncover the metropolis that has been recreated more times than any in Europe, at the heart of international tensions until 35 years ago. See the world of two artist-princes who created a glittering Baroque court famous for its architectural and artisan treasures. See the extraordinary castle and late Gothic cathedral that mark the European home of porcelain. Find a city still scarcely touched by tourism, but with architectural beauties from all periods.

Berlin

There’s Germany, and then there’s Berlin. “Berlin is always Berlin”, the saying went, but the city’s only constant has been change. It was a village, then a capital, then a bomb site, then a divided city, then a capital again, with a largely rebuilt Prussian legacy and a renewed status as a cosmopolitan centre.

The reconstruction of the palace Berliner Schloss has restored the city centre’s architectural balance and half the building serves as a museum complex. There are more than 170 museums, principally in the Museumsinsel precinct, multiple orchestras and concert halls and a mighty cultural legacy to live up to. There is also a legacy in memory, as the city that was torn more than any other over 50 years of conflict remembers why the turmoil happened and its many victims. The Fernsehturm is a communist-era tower that provides and extraordinary view of the city.

The Tiergarten, a 200-hectare park, still divides the traditional city centre from its western kernel Charlottenburg and its palace, but what is perhaps Europe’s best transport network links all areas of the city in minutes. Schloss Charlottenburg, a large palace complex with gardens, had contributions from the greatest architects working for the Prussian emperors.

Potsdam

Visit a beautiful city of palaces and gardens with no parallel, just half an hour by local rail from central Berlin. Frederick the Great’s showpiece Rococo Schloss Sanssouci wins most hearts, but seeing the other palaces and pavilions built by Frederick and his Prussian successors in Park Sanssouci could absorb days. More are spread over two further park complexes, divided by a chain of lakes formed by the river Havel.

The Baroque Stadtschloss has been rebuilt as a state assembly building and other highlights are the boutique Marmorpalais, the Neogothic Schloss Babelsberg and the imposing Nikolaikirche. See Schloss Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference brought together Truman, Churchill and Stalin at the end of World War II, and the “spy bridge” Glienicke Brücke, centre of Cold War intrigue.

Dresden

The Saxon dukes and elector-princes of the house of Wettin created a court and city of culture and magnificence that reached its zenith in the Baroque period. At the city’s peak about 1700, August the Strong, the elector-duke who was twice made king of Poland, was a patron of architects, craftsmen, alchemists, porcelain makers and beautiful women. A poor statesman and general, he was bested by Sweden and Russia, and his son was humiliated by Frederick the Great.

But the artistic taste of father and son cannot be denied and their legacy is a city of wonders that should be missed. The collection known as the Green Vault, the art museums, the Residenzschloss palace, the Zwinger, the Augustusbrücke and the Baroque Neustadt can make you think an Italian city was exported and dropped into Germany.

The Frauenkirche is an extraordinary round church rebuilt after a devastating raid near the end of World War II. Dresden is two hours by fast train from Berlin. How is it not a world heritage site? Well, it was, but the state government built a bridge in the wrong place and the city lost the honour.

Meissen

The story of the Wettins started in this small city, now half an hour by regional train from Dresden. On the hill above the old town centre, the richly decorated castle Albrechtsburg grew over centuries, next to the Gothic cathedral. After the discovery of a formula for porcelain manufacture in the 18th century, it became a royal industrial centre and that tradition continues. Below, the medieval and Renaissance old town centre remains, almost untouched.

Görlitz

About 80 minutes by train from Dresden, on the Polish border, is another marvel of architectural history. The streetscapes of Görlitz, especially the Obermarkt, are like a catalogue of styles in a high standard of preservation, making the city a location in demand for period cinematic art. Its towers and town houses and Art Nouveau station and emporium blend with memories of the city’s Sorbian-Lusatian heyday.

Europe packs in variety

Short European travel itineraries can pack in more experiences. Thanks to the continent’s mostly excellent transport links, great city attractions are within walking distance or no more than minutes apart.

Visit the Raven Travel Guides Europe website stores to view a range of European destination guides.