Churches and monasteries
Cathedrals, abbeys, monasteries and pilgrimage sites within a day of the city, with opening hours, dress rules and the quiet times to visit.
From Paris
All day trips from Paris
Worth a full dayReims
The city where French kings were crowned and where the big champagne houses keep their cellars, 46 minutes from Gare de l'Est by TGV.
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.
Better to sleep thereMont-Saint-Michel
A medieval abbey and village on a rock in a tidal bay on the Normandy coast, about 3.5 hours from Paris by TGV and bus.
From London
All day trips from London
Worth a full dayCanterbury
A walled cathedral city in Kent, 51 minutes from London St Pancras on the fastest high-speed trains, built around the cathedral where Thomas Becket was killed in 1170.
Worth a full dayYork
A walled medieval city in the north of England, 1 hour 45 minutes from London King's Cross on the fastest direct trains, centred on York Minster.
From Rome
All day trips from Rome
Worth half a dayCastel Gandolfo
A small town on the rim of Lake Albano with the popes' summer palace, 41 minutes from Roma Termini by direct regional train.
Worth half a dayOrvieto
An Umbrian town on a volcanic rock 100 km north of Rome, known for its striped Gothic cathedral and reached by train in about 80 minutes.
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 a full dayGirona
A walled medieval city on the Onyar river with a cathedral and a well-kept Jewish quarter, 40 minutes from Barcelona Sants by Avant train.
Worth a full dayMontserrat
A Benedictine monastery and pilgrimage basilica set high on a serrated mountain, about 1.5 hours from Barcelona by FGC train and rack railway.
From Florence
All day trips from Florence
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.
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 a full dayUtrecht
A university city built around the 112-metre Dom Tower and canals with quays at water level, 23 minutes by direct train from Amsterdam Centraal.
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
Worth a full dayGlendalough
A 6th-century monastic settlement with a round tower and two lakes in the Wicklow Mountains, 1 h 20 south of Dublin by bus.
Worth a full dayKilkenny
A compact medieval city with a Norman castle and a cathedral round tower, about 1 h 30 south-west of Dublin by direct train.
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.
Worth half a dayFátima
A Catholic pilgrimage shrine built where three children reported apparitions in 1917, about 1 hour 30 minutes north of Lisbon by coach.
Worth a full dayÉvora
A walled Alentejo city with a Roman temple, a cathedral and a chapel lined with bones, about 1 hour 40 minutes east of Lisbon by Intercidades train.
Worth a full dayTomar
A small river town below the Convent of Christ, a former Templar stronghold, about 2 hours north-east of Lisbon by direct Regional 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 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.
Worth half a dayÁvila
A small Castilian city ringed by a complete circuit of medieval walls you can walk on top of, about 1 hour 30 minutes from Madrid by regional 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.
Worth a full dayCórdoba
An Andalusian city built around the Mosque-Cathedral and its old Jewish quarter, far south of Madrid in Andalusia but only 1 hour 44 minutes away by AVE train.
From Prague
All day trips from Prague
From Athens
All day trips from Athens
Worth a full dayAegina
The closest Saronic island to Athens, with a 5th-century BC temple on a pine hill, 40 minutes to 1 h 10 by ferry from Piraeus.
Worth a full dayDelphi
The ancient oracle site on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, with a museum next door, about 3 hours north-west of Athens by coach.
Better to sleep thereAncient Olympia
The sanctuary of Zeus and the original Olympic stadium in the western Peloponnese, with two museums, about 3.5 hours from Athens by car.
Better to sleep thereMeteora
Six working Orthodox monasteries built on sandstone pillars above Kalambaka in Thessaly, roughly 4 hours north of Athens by coach.
