Destinations Archives

Visiting the St. Beatus Caves, Lake Thun: practical guide for first-time visitors

The St. Beatus Caves (St. Beatus-Höhlen) are a stalactite cave system on the northern shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland, around 10 km from Interlaken. Fourteen kilometres of cave have been explored; one kilometre is open to visitors year-round. This guide was updated…

Swiss National Museum, Zurich: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum Zürich) on Museumstrasse 2 is Switzerland's most visited museum of cultural history, covering the country's past from prehistoric times to the present day. This guide was updated in June 2026. Two things to note before you go: the adult admission…

Visiting the Groeningemuseum, Bruges: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Groeningemuseum on Dijver 12 in central Bruges holds six centuries of Belgian painting in one compact building, from the Flemish Primitives — Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Gerard David — to Magritte and Raoul De Keyser. This guide was updated in June 2026. Two…

An elephant at the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium.

Visiting the AfricaMuseum, Tervuren: practical guide for first-time visitors

The AfricaMuseum — formally the Royal Museum for Central Africa — is Belgium's national museum for Central Africa, housed in a grand neoclassical palace on the edge of Tervuren Park, 15 kilometres east of Brussels. This guide was updated in June 2026. Note that many…

Visiting Villa Palagonia, Bagheria, Sicily: practical guide for first-time visitors

Villa Palagonia — known throughout Sicily as the "Villa dei Mostri" (Villa of the Monsters) — is an 18th-century Baroque mansion in Bagheria, 15 km east of Palermo, famous for the grotesque tuff-stone statues that line its perimeter walls. This guide was updated in June…

Visiting the Norman Palace, Palermo: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Norman Palace (Palazzo dei Normanni) is Europe's oldest continually inhabited royal palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the heart of Palermo, and home to the breathtaking Palatine Chapel — the finest surviving example of Arab-Norman-Byzantine art in existence. This guide was updated in…

The Technik Museum in Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate.

Technik Museum Speyer, Germany: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Technik Museum Speyer is one of Europe's largest private technology museums — over 150,000 square metres on the edge of the historic city of Speyer in Rhineland-Palatinate. It's home to the largest aerospace exhibition on the continent including an original Soviet space shuttle. This…

The Avicii Experience in Stockholm, Sweden.

Visiting the Avicii Experience, Stockholm: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Avicii Experience is an interactive tribute museum to Tim "Avicii" Bergling at Sergelgatan 2 on Sergels Torg, the geographic heart of Stockholm, Sweden. It covers 350 square metres of immersive exhibits, unreleased music, and personal artefacts. This guide was updated in June 2026. Several…

The Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

Visiting the Nobel Prize Museum, Stockholm: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Nobel Prize Museum occupies the 18th-century former Stock Exchange building on Stortorget square in Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town, and tells the stories of Nobel laureates through artefacts, films, and interactive exhibitions. This guide was updated in June 2026. Several widely circulated guides and…

The Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

Visiting Skansen, Stockholm: practical guide for first-time visitors

Skansen is the world's oldest open-air museum and zoo, founded in 1891 on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It covers 75 acres of Nordic landscape populated with over 150 historic buildings, Scandinavian wildlife, and working craftspeople in period settings. This guide was updated…