Art and museums
Painters' houses, museum cities and buildings worth the ticket, with closed days and the booking windows that catch visitors out.
From Paris
All day trips from Paris
Worth a full dayVersailles
The palace of Louis XIV with its gardens and the Trianon estate, 14 minutes by train from Montparnasse or about 40 minutes on RER C.
Worth half a dayGiverny
Claude Monet's house and the water-lily garden he painted, 46 minutes by train from Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny, then a shuttle bus to the village.
Worth half a dayChartres
A small town built around a 13th-century cathedral with its original stained glass, about one hour by regional train from Montparnasse.
Worth a full dayRouen
The old capital of Normandy, with the cathedral Monet painted, half-timbered streets and the square where Joan of Arc died, 1 h 13 min from Saint-Lazare.
From London
All day trips from London
Worth half a dayWarner Bros. Studio Tour (Harry Potter)
The studios at Leavesden where the eight Harry Potter films were made, 20 minutes by train from London Euston plus a 15-minute shuttle bus.
Worth a full dayCambridge
A university city on the River Cam, 49 minutes from London King's Cross on the fastest direct trains, known for King's College Chapel and punting.
Worth a full dayOxford
England's oldest university city, about 1 hour from London Paddington by train, with colleges, libraries and museums in a walkable centre.
Better to sleep thereStratford-upon-Avon
The Warwickshire market town where Shakespeare was born and buried, 2 hours 23 minutes from London Marylebone on Chiltern's fastest train.
From Rome
All day trips from Rome
Only with a tourTivoli
A hill town 30 km east of Rome with two UNESCO sites: the fountain gardens of Villa d'Este and the ruins of Hadrian's Villa, a few kilometres apart.
Worth a full dayNaples
Italy's third-largest city, about 220 km south of Rome and 1 hour 15 minutes from Termini by high-speed train, with trains two or three times an hour.
Worth a full dayFlorence
The Renaissance capital of Tuscany, 260 km north of Rome and about 1 hour 35 minutes away by direct high-speed train.
Worth a full dayAssisi
The Umbrian hill town of Saint Francis, about 2 hours 20 minutes from Rome by direct regional train, with a bus from the station up to the Basilica.
From Barcelona
All day trips from Barcelona
Worth half a dayColònia Güell
A former textile workers' village in Santa Coloma de Cervelló with Gaudí's unfinished crypt, 20 to 25 minutes from Plaça Espanya by FGC train.
Worth half a daySitges
A seaside town south of Barcelona with a long promenade, an old quarter on a headland and two art museums, 37 minutes away by Rodalies train.
Worth half a dayFigueres
The home town of Salvador Dalí and site of his Theatre-Museum, 57 minutes from Barcelona Sants by Avant train to Figueres Vilafant.
From Florence
All day trips from Florence
Worth a full dayBologna
The capital of Emilia-Romagna, a brick-red university city of porticoes and food markets, 38 minutes north of Florence by high-speed train.
Worth half a dayPisa
A university city 80 km west of Florence whose main sights all stand on one lawn, the Piazza dei Miracoli, an hour away by regional train.
Worth half a dayArezzo
A hill town in eastern Tuscany with Piero della Francesca's fresco cycle in the Basilica of San Francesco and the sloping Piazza Grande, an hour by train.
Worth a full daySiena
A medieval hill city 70 km south of Florence, built around the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and a cathedral with an inlaid marble floor.
Worth half a daySan Gimignano
A small walled hill town 55 km south-west of Florence with 14 surviving medieval towers, reached by train to Poggibonsi and a 20 minute bus.
Better to sleep thereVenice
A car-free city of canals in the Venetian lagoon, centred on St Mark's Square and the Rialto, 2 h 14 from Florence by direct Frecciarossa.
From Amsterdam
All day trips from Amsterdam
Worth half a dayHaarlem
A compact old city with a large market square, canals and the Frans Hals Museum, about 15 minutes by direct train from Amsterdam Centraal.
Worth half a dayLeiden
A university town of canals and almshouse courtyards, Rembrandt's birthplace and home of the national antiquities museum, 35 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal.
Worth a full dayRotterdam
The second city of the Netherlands, rebuilt after 1940 with modern architecture around a working port, 41 minutes from Amsterdam on the fastest train.
Worth a full dayThe Hague
The seat of the Dutch government and home of the Mauritshuis, with Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, 49 minutes by direct train from Amsterdam.
Worth half a dayDelft
A small canal town between The Hague and Rotterdam, known for Delft Blue pottery and as Vermeer's home, 58 minutes by direct train from Amsterdam Centraal.
Better to sleep thereBruges
A medieval Flemish city of canals and brick guild houses in Belgium, just under three hours from Amsterdam by train with one change.
From Dublin
All day trips from Dublin
From Lisbon
All day trips from Lisbon
Worth half a dayMafra
A baroque royal palace and convent that takes up one side of a small town, 47 minutes north-west of Lisbon by direct bus from Campo Grande.
Better to sleep therePorto
Portugal's second city, on the Douro river in the north of the country, reached from Lisbon in 2 hours 39 minutes by the fastest Alfa Pendular train.
From Madrid
All day trips from Madrid
Worth a full dayToledo
A walled hilltop city above the Tagus with a Gothic cathedral, two medieval synagogues and El Greco's best-known painting, 34 minutes from Madrid by Avant train.
Worth half a dayAlcalá de Henares
A university town east of Madrid where Cervantes was born, with an arcaded main street and a college founded in 1499, 39 minutes from Atocha by Cercanías train.
Worth a full dayCuenca
A walled old town on a rock spur between two river gorges, known for its hanging houses and Gothic cathedral, about 1 hour from Madrid by AVE.
Worth half a dayEl Escorial
The granite monastery-palace built by Philip II in the Guadarrama foothills, with a royal pantheon and a library, about 1 hour 10 minutes from Atocha by Cercanías train.
Better to sleep thereSalamanca
A sandstone university city with two joined cathedrals and a large Baroque main square, 1 hour 37 minutes from Madrid Chamartín on the few Alvia trains.
Better to sleep thereValencia
Spain's third-largest city, on the Mediterranean, with a Gothic old town and the City of Arts and Sciences, about 1 hour 54 minutes from Madrid by AVE.
From Prague
All day trips from Prague
Worth a full dayDresden
The capital of Saxony in Germany, with the Zwinger, the Royal Palace and the Frauenkirche, 2 h 07 min from Prague by the fastest direct train.
Better to sleep thereVienna
The Austrian capital, with Schönbrunn Palace and a large historic centre, 4 h 12 min from Prague main station by the fastest direct train.
From Athens
All day trips from Athens
From Edinburgh
All day trips from Edinburgh
Worth half a dayThe Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel
Two 30-metre steel horse heads and a rotating boat lift that joins two canals, at opposite ends of Falkirk, 21 to 29 minutes from Edinburgh by train.
Worth a full dayGlasgow
Scotland's largest city, 42 miles west of Edinburgh, with free museums and a different mood from the capital, 44 minutes away by the fastest train.
Worth half a dayRosslyn Chapel
A small 15th-century chapel covered in stone carvings in the village of Roslin, 45 to 60 minutes south of the centre on city bus 37.