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The Tyrolian hotspot of Kitzbühel is a great destination for winter sports, but anyone tired of the crowds and boisterous Dutch and German tourists should take a look at Aschau. Great pistes, fairytale surroundings, probably one of the most amazing places I’ve ever visited. I look forward to a summer visit as well!

This is where Michael Jackson dangled baby Blanket over the rail of his balcony, so it’s the place to go if worshipping insane celebrities is your thing.

If you’re interested in seeing the pre-war Potsdamer Platz, you’re nearly a century too late. The centre of swinging Berlin is gone forever. But the modern architecture of the rebuilt Potsdamer Platz is incredible, even if you don’t have an interest in architecture or engineering.

A really nice city, refreshingly international and cosmopolitan. But don’t try and take it in over a long weekend or a short stay: it’s a city for living in, for building a relationship with. Running from Brandenburg Gate to Unter den Linden to Checkpoint Charlie will leave you with a blur of sights and a confused impression of what the city’s all about. Try and spend a week or two, explore the neighbourhoods of the old East Berlin, marvel at the modernity of Potsdamer Platz, try as many of the hundreds of great restaurants as you can, take in an art exhibition or some live music. Getting to know the city behind the tourist brochures carries great rewards.

I really like harbour districts, they tell you a lot about the town or city you’re visiting. Copenhagen is no exception, and Nyhavn is probably one of the most beautiful (and cleanest!) old harbours I’ve ever seen—on par with the Victoria and Albert Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa.

Not only do they (arguably) have the best Trappist beer in the world, but the abbey of Orval was founded by a group of Calabrian monks later incorporated into the Ordre de Sion by Godefroi de Bouillion. Eat that, Dan Brown freaks…

The abbey is an exceptional day out in the Belgian Ardennes. Pack a picnic basket, buy some beer and cheese, and enjoy the lovely countryside.

If you’re a student of Napoleonic history, Waterloo is the place to go. However, if you only have a passing familiarity with the Battle of Waterloo, you’re better off reading a book about it. The exhibit is a 1950s diorama in a bad state of repair, the movie they show is interesting but not really insightful, and the best part of the area would be climbing the commemorative mount for its magnificent view. The village of Waterloo is a great place to live, apparently, with a fairly large expat community, but it really doesn’t offer a lot for passing tourists.

Harrods used to be a really prestigious store, the place where you could supposedly buy everything from an elephant to a solid gold golfball. Times have changed. Most of the people who visit Harrods nowadays appear to be tourists, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made more money selling Harrods bookmarks and shopping bags than they do flogging elephants and solid golfballs. The food court is still amazing, though, and I would recommend skipping the tat in the rest of the store and going straight to the fabulous assortment of cheese, fruit and cured meats.

Built in 1868, the Palmengarten in Frankfurt is more than a botanical garden. It’s a cultural centre, where people from all over the city came on a Sunday afternoon for a walk, a cup of tea and a piece of cake. In the early 1990s they still had a band playing on Sunday afternoons, and especially older people would come to enjoy Strauss waltzes and other light classics. I wonder if they still have that?

I only visited Gibraltar for a single day, so my impressions of the area are clearly underinformed, but I experienced Gibraltar as dirty and grey. I don’t mind dirty, grey cities, but usually they make up for it in culture or gastronomy, neither of which I found impressive in Gibraltar. Lots of low-budget English daytrippers about, stocking up on duty-free gin and ciggies, obviously enjoying being abroad for the day. A lot of people who like Gibraltar appear to be British (or Anglo-American) tourists finding home-away-from-home respite after living on the road while travelling Europe. Nothing wrong with this, but I wanted more from Gibraltar than it being a bit like someplace else I’ve been. I did find some very nice second-hand bookstores, but somehow I think Gibraltar should bring up memories of more than just the nice Terry Pratchett novels I bought. I expected a lot more.