Things to Do in Europe

Herreninsel is the larger of two inhabited islands in Chiemsee, a Bavarian lake near the Austrian border. While it features a monastery which dates back to the 8th century, the site of the post-war conference which drafted West Germany’s constitution, the island’s main attraction is undoubtedly Herrenchiemsee. This was one of the three palaces built by the profligate 19th century Bavarian king, Ludwig II. But unlike Linderhof or the world-famous Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee is not a pastiche of previous styles, rather it’s a copy of one particular building: the Palace of Versailles.

Ludwig’s palace is a salute to an era when monarchs were both the pinnacles of power and arbiters of style. But funds ran out before he could complete Herrenchiemsee, and only the central section was completed. As well as lavishly decorated rooms – boasting the world’s largest porcelain chandelier and a replica of the Hall of Mirrors – there are also eerie bare-walled loft-like spaces. The building’s façade makes an impressive centerpiece to the extensive landscaped gardens.

Second in size and importance to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Heraklion Archaeological Museum houses the most magnificent collection of Minoan art and culture in the world. The museum's exhibition contains more than 15,000 artifacts from all periods of Cretan prehistory and history, covering a chronological span of over 5,000 years, from the Neolithic era to Roman times.

As the Museum is still under renovation, its temporary exhibition is a curation of the most famous and representative items of the collection. Notable items include: the Prince of the Lilies' fresco, the Phaistos Disc, the snake goddesses from Knossos, the black stone bull’s head, the "Bull Leaping" and "La Parisienne" frescoes.

The various artifacts form a valuable record of the artistic, social and economic life of the island during the ancient period. You’ll find examples of pottery, jewelry, goldwork and metalwork (household utensils and weapons), and seal engraving - a miniature art where the Minoans excelled.

Transformed from a complex for the elderly to a department of Saint Petersburg’s famous Hermitage Museum in 2009, a visit to the Hermitage Amsterdam starts with marveling its the impressive exterior. The sprawling Amstelhof building, designed by architect Hans Van Petersom, dates back to the 17th-century and stretches 105m along the Amstel riverfront, featuring a central courtyard garden shaded by chestnut trees.

Hermitage Amsterdam is now one of the largest museums in the country and features some of the country’s most captivating temporary exhibitions. The collections, rotated each 6 months, feature selections imported from the Russian museum’s enormous treasury of artifacts, including its famously expansive collection of French 19th and 20th century paintings. Past exhibitions have included Modernist and expressionist artworks; sizable exhibits on ‘Peter the Great (1672–1725), the modernizer of Russia’ and ‘The Immortal Alexander the Great’; and collections of historical artifacts from Russia, Siberia and Eastern Europe. 

Two additional permanent exhibitions focus on the long standing relationship between the Netherlands and Russia and the history of the monumental building itself, and there are regular concerts and children’s activities organized onsite, as well as an on-site café and restaurant.

The skyline of Helsinki is dominated by Tuomiokirkko, or the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral. The green domes, white building and zinc rooftop statues of the twelve apostles of the magnificent Lutheran church stand tall and proud looking over the city to the sea. Built between 1830 and 1852, it replaced a smaller 18th century church, and was originally called St. Nicholas' Church in homage to the Tsar of Russia, Grand Duke Nicholas I. After Finnish independence from Russia 1917, the church was renamed and in 1959 it became a cathedral of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination.

Designed by a German architect Carl Ludwig Engel who laid out the whole of Senate Square, the exterior is Neo-Classical with columns and statues and in comparison, inside seems rather plain. The design was later altered by Ernst Lohrmann who added the zinc apostles and a few extra small domes. There is room for 1,300 worshipers and an altarpiece flanked by angels. The suitably atmospheric crypt is now a cafe. The church is in regular use for services and also weddings.

Hierapolis is an ancient city of the Lycus River valley famed for its sacred hot springs. Its ruins are a popular day trip from Antalya as are the spectacular white cliffs of Pamukkale.

As you near the ancient city ruins of Hierapolis, you won’t be able to miss seeing Pamukkale’s iced-white terraces. Easily viewed from the ruins, these terraces are created by a natural build up of calcium carbonate, a by-product of the hot spring water that flows down the slopes.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pamukkale shares its World Heritage status with Hierapolis, whose original inhabitants built the city to take advantage of its proximity to the hot springs.

Hierapolis’ most popular attraction includes the thermally heated Sacred Pool where you can swim among the remains of ancient Roman columns, toppled into the water by various earthquakes.

Among the ruins at Hierapolis are the remains of the Temple of Apollo (Apollo was believed by ancients to have been the divine founder of the city), the Gate of Domitian, the tomb of Flavius Zeuxis, necropolis (graveyard), the Plutonium (a cave believed to have been the entrance to the underworld), and the theater.

Among these, the theater is perhaps the most well-preserved. Constructed around 200BC, it could hold 20,000 spectators in its day. These days, just 30 rows remain. 

At the entrance to Budapest's City Park, Heroes' Square (or Hősök tere) features an impressive semi-circular sweep of columns and statues and a cenotaph honoring the fallen of the 1956 uprising. On either side of the square are the Museum of Fine Art and the Exhibition Hall, which now shows contemporary art.

At the peak of the semi-circle is a statue of the Angel Gabriel bestowing the Hungarian Crown on St. Stephen. Lower down is a rugged band of chieftans on horses with antler bridles - this is Árpád and other leaders from an early Magyar civilization.

Other statues represent various leaders and statesman as well as abstract values like war and peace.