How to visit the Florence Duomo: the three passes compared, the climb up Brunelleschi’s dome with its compulsory slot, and checked prices and times.
Who the nine figures are, why the painting reads from right to left and what hides in the flowered meadow: Botticelli’s Primavera explained at the Uffizi.
All of Bernini’s fountains in Rome, from the Barcaccia to the Four Rivers: which are really his, what to look at in each one and the walking route.
Bernini’s Bee Fountain in Piazza Barberini: the wrong inscription that foretold the pope’s death, and why what you see today is a reconstruction.
The Barcaccia Fountain in Piazza di Spagna: why it sits below street level, who really carved it and what remains of the 2015 damage. History and visit.
Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona: who the four statues are, where the obelisk came from and why the veiled Nile legend is false.
A two-day itinerary in Florence, from the Duomo to the Uffizi and Pitti Palace, with checked ticket prices and the bookings you need to make in advance.
From Botticelli’s Primavera to Caravaggio’s Medusa: ten works to look for at the Uffizi, with the room numbers updated after the museum renumbered them.
A guide to the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris: Monet’s two oval Water Lilies rooms, the Modiglianis, Renoirs, Picassos and Matisses, with hours and tickets.
Saintes has a Roman arch of AD 18 saved by Victor Hugo, an amphitheatre among the oldest in the empire and a cathedral with a truncated bell tower.
Jumièges Abbey was sold as a stone quarry after the Revolution and saved in 1852. It stands roofless today, and anyone under 26 gets in free.
The Seu Vella of Lleida has its cloister in front of the church rather than beside it, and it was an army barracks from 1707 to 1948. The walls still show it.
Tarragona Cathedral holds Pere Johan’s alabaster altarpiece, the largest Romanesque cloister in Catalonia and an Arabic inscription dated to the year 960.
The Pont du Gard is the tallest stretch of a fifty-kilometre aqueduct that fell only centimetres per kilometre. Walking in to see it costs nothing at all.
The Sagrada Família in Barcelona is read through the colour of its light: blues and greens to the east, reds to the west. Since June 2026 the tallest church.
Zaragoza is the only city in the world with two working cathedrals: La Seo, with its Gothic alabaster altarpiece, and El Pilar, with its Goya domes.
The Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza holds the only 11th-century taifa royal seat still standing, a ceiling dated 1492 and the cells of the Inquisition.
What to see in Collioure: the castle of the kings of Majorca, the bell tower that began as a lighthouse, the frames along the seafront and the Fauvism trail.
What to see in Nîmes: the Maison Carrée, the Arena, the Tour Magne and the Musée de la Romanité are minutes apart on foot, and the right pass saves seven euros.
The Arena of Nîmes is the best preserved Roman amphitheatre: what to look at inside, the centuries it spent as a walled neighbourhood and 2026 prices.
What to see in Carcassonne: the lices between the two walls and the basilica of Saint-Nazaire are free, and the ticket only covers the castle and the ramparts.
Twelve places to see in France outside Paris, grouped by area and reachable by train, with the real journey times and the two that have no station.
Nine villages in Lazio to visit, with what makes each one different from the others, verified ticket prices and how to get there without a car.
The artworks to see in Paris choosing the ones you can actually look at: stained glass, an enormous Veronese, free museums and the necropolis of kings.
The 8 museums in Rome not to miss, with one emblematic work each, the closing day, the price and the rule for the free first Sunday of the month.
A 3-day Rome itinerary built around the compulsory bookings and the weekly closures, with transport, the Roma Pass and verified opening hours.
The works to see at the National Roman Museum: the Boxer at Rest, Livia’s painted garden, the Discobolus Hitler bought, the Ludovisi Throne.
The works to see at the Doria Pamphilj Gallery: Velázquez’s Innocent X, Bernini’s bust, two Caravaggios, the Raphael and the Hall of Mirrors.
The artworks to see at Palazzo Barberini: two Caravaggios, Raphael’s Fornarina, the Beatrice Cenci, Pietro da Cortona’s ceiling and the two staircases.
What to see in St Peter’s Basilica: the stars on the floor, the Pietà, the baldachin, the climb to the dome, and what is paid for and what is free.
What to know about the Trevi Fountain: it is Oceanus and not Neptune, the ancient aqueduct feeding it, the coins, and the 2-euro ticket of 2026.
What to see at the Pantheon in Rome: the largest concrete dome in the world, the oculus, Raphael’s tomb, and the 7-euro ticket introduced in 2026.
What to see at the Roman Forum and on the Palatine: the Curia, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Lapis Niger, the imperial palace, with tickets checked.
How to visit the Colosseum: which ticket to choose between standard, arena and underground, what to look at inside and prices verified in 2026.
What to see in Girona in one day: the widest Gothic nave in the world, the Tapestry of Creation, the Jewish Call, the walls and the Onyar houses.
What to see in Assisi in one day: the Basilica of Saint Francis and Giotto’s cycle, Santa Chiara, the temple of Minerva, opening times and practical tips.
