It may only rank third in Scotland when it comes to size, but when it comes to location and architecture, Aberdeen gives Edinburgh and Glasgow a run for their money. Built on the banks of the rivers Dee and Don around a working harbour, Aberdeen is a city, which, hewn from granite, literally sparkles.

Much of the iconic architecture that spawned the ‘Granite City’ moniker dates back to the Victorian era. The heart of Old Aberdeen lies across the Brig O’Balgownie (one of the oldest bridges in Britain), where you will find King’s College and its famous dome-crowned tower.

Oil and tourism
Aberdeen is widely known as the ‘Oil Capital of Europe’, thanks to the discovery of North Sea oil back in the 1970s. This find transformed the city from one of the poorest in the UK to one of the richest. A cosmopolitan vibe, flourishing arts scene and lively café culture accompanied this meteoric transformation.

With North Sea oil production in decline, Aberdeen has turned its attention to tourism, with Donald Trump’s £1 billion golf complex (the ‘world’s greatest golf course’), which will be built on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, given the green light in November 2008.

When to go
Thanks to its east-coast location, Aberdeen is one of the sunniest places in Scotland. Spring and summer are ideal times to visit the area’s excellent beaches and golf courses. Crisp, clear days lend autumn and winter their own appeal.

Founded in 123BC by the Romans, Aix-en-Provence draws its origin, its name and, to an extent, its reputation, from its thermal springs. Even to this day, the city boasts no fewer than 23 fountains.

An artistic city
This big student town is still home to many universities and is a centre for the arts, with numerous festivals taking place in Aix-en-Provence all year long, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the International Festival of Lyrical Art and Music.

With the now famous Montagne Sainte Victoire as a backdrop, Aix is surrounded by beautiful scenery, which has inspired many artists and intellectuals, most notoriously Paul Cézanne. It’s also a great base to explore the rest of Provence.

History
Aix began as the capital of Provence under the successive rule of the Celts, the Romans, the counts and the monarchs, until 1790, when it became merely the chief town of the area.

Today, one can spend days walking the twisted, cobblestone side streets or exploring the numerous mansion-lined squares. Admire the superb architecture, the legacy of the wealthy merchants and local dignitaries who helped turn this city into the ‘Florence of Provence’ in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Alicante is one of the main European holiday hubs, renowned for its long sandy beaches, mild and pleasant climate, vibrant festivals and lively nightlife.

This thoroughly Spanish city has a truly Mediterranean air; its wide esplanades, such as the Rambla de Mendez Nuñez and the Avenida Alfonso el Sabio, and its seafront promenades, full of terrace cafés, are perfect for relaxation.

Alicante also has a distinctly African flavour, with women clad in caftans and hawkers selling African carvings along the waterfront and esplanades. The historical central quarter, though, is filled with baroque buildings, bearing testimony to the city’s past when it was a major seaport.

Amsterdam is a city like Venice founded on and still today focused around water and waterways. However, unlike Venice, Holland’s largest city is no mere museum piece. Amsterdam is a real, living and breathing metropolis, not just an oasis for tourists, those who like ‘a smoke’ and men in search of extra-marital sex.

In the canals beneath the stag parties and working girls, young Internet entrepreneurs strike deals across Europe from their houseboats and just outside the old core is the RAI, one of the continent’s key conference and business hubs. As well as the chugging canal boats, the city’s waterways also increasingly play home to massive cruise ships and cargo vessels from all over the world.

With its pleasing mix of Ottoman architecture, modern skyscrapers, domed mosques, minarets and a resplendent castle, Ankara is not only Turkey’s capital but also its hidden gem.

In recent years, careful restoration has breathed new life into many of the city’s handsome Turkish buildings that now house art galleries, bistros and bazaars. Large leafy parks boast fountains, funfairs and boat rides while cobbled backstreets hide a myriad of pungent spice markets, coffee shops and sizzling food stalls.

Ankara offers plenty of mystical eastern touches amidst its student-thronged university campus buildings, with a buzzing nightlife scene amongst the city’s futuristic 20th-century spires.

Blessed with a host of sophisticated restaurants and lovely bars and cafés, the city also offers visitors innumerable fine historical attractions. The oldest parts of Ankara surround a magnificent castle set in neat, flower-filled gardens. Several well-stocked museums contain priceless artefacts from the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras together with Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartu and Roman civilizations.

With its handsome squares, cobbled alleyways, excellent restaurants and smart shops, Antwerp is a buzzing, stylish town, famous for its diamonds, arts and fashion.

Belgium’s second city has been the diamond capital of the world for centuries. Armed guards and traders with handcuffed briefcases announce that you are in the Diamond Quarter, while dozens of shops sell discounted ‘rocks’.

Antwerp, home of the Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens, also has a wealth of outstanding museums and galleries.

Antwerp’s port is Europe’s second (after Rotterdam), one of the 10 largest in the world, and principal source of the city’s wealth. The importance of Antwerp’s maritime heritage will be celebrated with the opening of the new MAS museum in late 2010.

Antwerp gained fame during the 1980s through the efforts of the ‘Antwerp Six’. These six avant-garde designers’ legacy is very much alive today, not just in the Fashion Museum, or in the Antwerp Fashion Academy school, but on many streets, where it seems that every other shop window is a designer statement.

Athens is named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who is celebrated by an ancient temple on the Acropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage site rising proudly in the heart of the concrete jungle that is modern Athens.

As a city state, Athens reached its heyday in the fifth century BC, with the construction of many of the great classical buildings regarded as icons of Ancient Greece. Democracy was born, drama flourished and Socrates conceived the foundations of Western philosophy.

Today, Athens remains a major European centre of culture, with its stunning classical sites and world-class museums. The Greek capital also has the finest restaurants and the most varied nightlife in the country.

The return of the Olympic Games in 2004 prompted a flurry of new development, including public transport and tourist facilities, and the long-awaited New Acropolis Museum finally opened in June 2009.

Avignon, situated in the heart of the Vaucluse region in the south of France, is famed for two celebrated attractions – Le Palais des Papes (Popes’ Palace) and Pont St Bénezet (the bridge made famous in the ditty ‘Sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse, on y danse…’).

The Palais des Papes marks the skyline with its graceful and ornate spires, an exterior more awe-inspiring than anything inside. The famous bridge of Pont St Bénezet, erected in the 12th century, to carry St Bénezet over to the neighbouring village of Villeneuve, nowadays retains only four of its original 22 arches.

Flood, fire, pillaging, plague and Le Mistral (a violent, cold and northwesterly wind) have all ravaged Avignon, but this gorgeous city has remained remarkably intact. Around every corner of the narrow, winding cobbled streets, elaborately decorated chapels, churches and convents are revealed. Most date from the 14th century, when Avignon became the centre of Christendom and the Palais des Papes was home to a series of popes.

Situated on the River Rhône, the setting of Avignon is as colourful as its history, with images straight out of a Van Gogh painting. Quiet streets suffused with golden light, secluded courtyards and secret gardens, cosy pavement cafes and fantastic restaurants make Avignon the perfect place for a romantic weekend away – though during high season the streets can be crammed with visitors.

Although subject to the infamous Mistral, Avignon’s climate is otherwise pleasant, with warm summers and it’s perfect for alfresco activities. The annual Avignon Festival runs throughout July and attracts aspiring performers and aficionados of the arts and shows the city at its best.

Neatly framed by the Mediterranean and the hills of Montjuïc and Tibidabo, Barcelona is not only Spain’s most vibrant metropolis, but also, arguably, Europe’s most popular and rewarding short break destination.

Where else can offer historic cobbled streets that ooze Mediterranean atmosphere; bars and restaurants with real local character; charming individual shops; world-class museums and galleries; eye-popping architecture; golden beaches a short stroll from superlative street theatre, vibrant year-round nightlife and splendid performing arts venues; and, of course, an infectious dose of football fever?

Barcelona is a city of great beauty, to be admired from any one of a dozen different viewpoints – from hilltops, cable cars, funiculars and cathedral spires.

Barcelona is also a showcase of art nouveau architecture, including the famous works of Antoni Gaudí. His masterpiece is the unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral, but his work can be seen all over town, even in the lampposts and fountains of Plaça Reial.

Basel has been an important commercial, intellectual and cultural meeting point since Celtic times. This is thanks to its location on the River Rhine in the northwest corner of Switzerland, near the point where the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland meet.

Fascinating cityscape
Basel has a fascinating and varied cityscape, from the Old Town with its picturesque facades, fountain-splashed squares and magnificent cathedral, to the more modern districts, graced by striking buildings by such notable contemporary architects as Renzo Piano, Richard Meier and Frank Gehry.

The surrounding region is equally appealing, with the excavated remains of the old Roman town Augusta Raurica nearby, and the natural wonders of the Jura, the Vosges and the Black Forest.

Rich culture
Basel’s cultural riches are immense. The city is a centre for modern design and architecture, and it has several impressive galleries, theatres and music halls as well as more than 30 different museums.

Among them are the renowned Kunstmuseum (one of the world’s oldest art collections open to the public), and the Museum Jean Tinguely, dedicated to the avant-garde artist Jean Tinguely, who was born in Basel.

Switzerland’s first university was founded in Basel in 1460. It attracted humanist scholars like Erasmus of Rotterdam (who is buried in the cathedral), and this in turn helped give Basel a reputation as a city of academic and humanistic excellence and a peaceful, tolerant and welcoming culture.