The people of central and eastern Europe have had more than their share of the darkness that swept through the continent in the 20th century. Much of the brutality and carnage, terror and famine of Naziism, Communism and the Balkan conflicts played out in the narrow cobblestone streets and winding medieval alleyways of Poland, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. In the 20 years since the revolutions that swept through the countries of the former Soviet Bloc in the autumn of 1989, there has been a renaissance of sorts taking place in cities such as Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Dubrovnik and Lyublyana, bringing them out of the shadows of the past, brightening and transforming them into the glittering jewels we see today.

Iran is an astonishingly lovely country with warm, courteous people. A day spent at Persepolis was one of many highlights, as was a day with Qashqu'i nomads in their winter quarters and an early morning walk through the mountain village of Abyaneh. There are world-class historical sites to visit, interesting cities and towns to explore and exquisite architectural splendor to discover in the mosques.

Venice is a watery enchantment crisscrossed by vaporetti cutting determined paths across the waves from island to island, gondolas silently gliding through the canals. On a clear day there is nothing better than cruising around the Lagoon, hopping off here for a walk, there for a coffee, then back on the boat, next a stop for lunch, boat some more, walk some more, gelato, and . . . well, you get the idea. If the weather is fine, pay your respects to the Adriatic from a beach on Lido. Then cross the Lagoon as the late afternoon sun sets the sky afire behind the domes and campanile of the city once known as La Serenissima.

In 1979, French artist Niki de Saint Phalle settled in wooded hills near Garavicchio in the southernmost corner of the Maremma, where Tuscany and Lazio meet the sea. It is a mystical, magical area, once inhabited by the Etruscans, where fast-moving clouds create ever-shifting patterns of light and shadow. The soil is dry and salty, the vegetation sparse, light woodland of holm oaks, cork oaks, olive trees and the low scrub of the Mediterranean macchia. Inspired by Antonio Gaudi's art in Barcelona's Parc Guell, she spent almost twenty years creating gigantic metaphorical structures covered in glass, ceramics, enamels, all based on the iconography of Tarot.

Mantua! A small city, midway between Venice and Milan, surrounded on three sides by lagoons which are covered by flowering lotus in the summer, a funny sort of place where they eat donkey ragout and pumpkin ravioli and drink fizzy wine. Italians go there for the art and the lakes, but tourists from other countries haven't discovered it yet. Oh, and the art! Astonishing, amazing Renaissance art and some of the best erotic art in Europe, whole rooms covered from floor to ceiling and across ceiling and back down to floor again.