Vilnius holds one of Eastern Europe’s largest medieval old towns, and a 45-minute drive reaches Kernavė, the ancient Lithuanian capital preserved as a UNESCO archaeological reserve.

Riga’s UNESCO inscription covers both its medieval Old Town and the world’s largest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings — around 750 facades, many designed by Mikhail Eisenstein in the early 1900s.

Tallinn’s medieval walled city is one of the most complete Gothic urban cores in northern Europe; Estonia’s second UNESCO site, the Struve Geodetic Arc, records the first accurate measurement of the Earth.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within driving distance of Bratislava: the silver-mining town of Banská Štiavnica, the intact log-house village of Vlkolinec, and the Gothic ensemble of Levoča and Spišský Hrad.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within 80 km of Ljubljana — from a prehistoric wetland on the city’s edge to the vast underground canyon of Škocjan Caves and Idrija’s 500-year mercury mine.

Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within reach of Zagreb: the self-building travertine lakes of Plitvice and a 2,300-year-old Greek field system on Hvar.

Two UNESCO sites lie within a half-day of Belgrade: the Roman imperial palace of Gamzigrad-Romuliana and the medieval monasteries of Stari Ras and Sopoćani, home to Europe’s finest 13th-century frescoes.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within a day’s reach of Sofia: the painted medieval cloisters of Rila Monastery, a Thracian tomb sealed with Hellenistic frescoes, and an 8th-century cliff-carved horseman in Bulgaria’s northeast.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within a day’s drive of Bucharest: the medieval Saxon citadel of Sighisoara, seven Transylvanian villages with fortified churches, and the mountain strongholds of the ancient Dacian kingdom.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within reach of Baghdad — from Babylon’s glazed-brick processional way to the world’s oldest cities in the Mesopotamian marshes.