Itineraries

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.