SPAIN

Places of interest: Doñana National Park, Garajonay National Park, Alhambra Palace (Granada), La Sagrada Familia Cathedral (Barcelona), Alhambra (Granada), The Prado (Madrid), Dali Museum (Figueras), Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar), Balearic Islands, Canary Islands

Major cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Seville, Málaga, Cordoba, Saragossa, Bilbao

PORTUGAL

Places of interest: Serra da Estrela mountain range, Peneda-Gerês National Park, Jerónimous and Batalha Monastries, Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon), many walled towns and stunning scenery

Major cities: Beja, Braga, Coimbra, Évora, Funchal (Madeira), Lisbon, Oporto

CROATIA

Places of interest: the resorts of the Adriatic coast and many sites of historical interest

Major cities: Šibenik, Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zagreb

FRANCE

Places of interest: France has many sites of natural beauty as well as historical and culture centres. Paris is one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations, as are the resort coastline of the French Riviera, rural Provence, the Dordogne and Loire valleys, and Brittany.

Major cities: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Strasbourg, Nantes, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Reims, Orléans

GREECE

Places of interest: Aegean Islands, Corfu, Crete, Cyclades and Dodecanese islands, Delos, Ionian Islands, Kos, the beaches of Paros, Mount Athos, Mount Olympus, Mount Parnassus, Náxos, Pindus Mountains, the Acropolis (Athens), Epidaurus, Knossos, Monasteries of Metéora, Mycenae, Olympia, and important museums in Athens, Thessaloníki and Heraklion

Major cities: Athens, (Ancient) Corinth, Heraklion, Larissa, Patras, Piraeus, Rhodes, Salonica, Sparta, Thessaloníki, Vólos

CYPRUS

Places of interest: Troodos Mountains; Folk Art Museum and Cyprus Museum (Nicosia); other museums in Paphos, Larnaca, and Limassol; Kourion (ancient city); mosaics at Nea Paphos; many Orthodox churches and monasteries

Major cities: Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta, Paphos

UNITED KINGDOM

Places of interest: many theatres, museums, art galleries, and historical buildings to be found in all parts of the United Kingdom; numerous annual arts festivals; Giant's Causeway; Lake District, Exmoor, North York Moors and Peak District national parks; Avebury, Stonehenge, Hadrians' Wall; Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Blenheim Palace, Tower of London; Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, York, Winchester, Durham

Major cities: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Bradford, Liverpool, Bristol

ITALY

Places of interest: the Amalfi coast, the Lakes (Lombardy), the Cinque Terre (villages on the Liguria cost); antiquities in Rome, Ostia, Paestum, Pompeii and all parts of the country; San Gimignano and hill towns of Tuscany; Assisi, Urbino, Venice, Verona, Capri; the volcanoes of Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli Island; Gran Paradiso National Park; Uffizi Gallery (Florence), La Scala opera house (Milan), Villa D'Este (Tivoli), Monte Cassino Abbey; the Palio (Siena, July and August), beaches on the Liguria and Adriatic coasts, churches everywhere

Major cities: Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Catania, Bari, Venice, Pisa, Siena

AUSTRIA

Places of interest: the Austrian Alps for mountain views, hiking, skiing; Vienna and Salzburg for music, awe-inspiring public buildings and art treasures; the Danube for scenic cruises

Major cities: Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Baden, Eisenstadt

GERMANY

Places of interest: Germany is rich in history and culture and has some of the finest museums in Europe; castles of all periods and styles (Heidelburg, Konigstein, Wartburg, Wittenberg); opportunities for hiking, cycling and skiing; and natural beauties, especially the Rhine valley, the Bavarian Alps, and the Jura Mountains. For opera lovers, the Wagner festivals in the Festspielhaus at Bayreuth are not to be missed.

Major cities: Berlin, Bonn, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Essen, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden

CZECH REPUBLIC

Principal attractions: ski resorts, spas, and Baroque architecture; Prague, with its a stunning skyline and a magnificent castle; the Sudety mountain range; Vltava river, dotted with castles and picturesque villages; Karlovy Vary, oldest of the Bohemian spas; the Moravian Karst, for picture-postcard scenery; the Bohemian Forest.

Major cities: Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzen, Olomouc, Liberec, Hradec Králové, Ceské Budejovice, Havírov, Karlovy Vary, Karviná, Lidice, Ostrava, Pardubice, Telc, Ústí nad Labem

THE NETHERLANDS

Principal attractions: biking, walking and water sports; daffodils and tulips in the spring (Leiden); flat, fertile landscapes punctuated by windmills and church spires; ornately gabled terraces flanking peaceful canals; The Hague, a stately city with fine museums and easy beach access; triple-strength monk-made beer; Hoge Veluwe national park, which includes the Kröller-Müller Museum (paintings by Van Gogh [278], Picasso and Mondriaan and sculptures by Rodin, Moore and Giacometti).

Major cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Arnhem, Breda, Delft, Edam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Haarlem, Maastricht

SWITZERLAND

Places of interest: Alps, Aletsch Glacier, Emmental, Great St Bernard Pass Hospice Museum, Lake Constance, Lake Geneva, Lake Lucerne, Matterhorn, Zermatt, Château de Chillon, Jungfrau Region

Major cities: Bern, Zürich, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg, Gstaad, Interlaken, Lucerne, Montreux, Neuchâtel, St Moritz

TURKEY

Places of interest: Bosporus, Dardanelles, Kizil, Lake Van, Mount Ararat, Marmara Denizi, Seyhan River, Taurus Mountains, Tigris River, and the site of the ancient city of Troy

Major cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Bursa

IRELAND (Republic of)

Places of interest: Aran Islands, Lakes of Killarney, Macgillicuddy's Reeks, Newgrange, Tara, Blarney Stone, Dublin, Derry, Galway, Cork

Major cities: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Sligo, Tralee, Clonmel, Wexford, Blarney, Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire