Sightseeing & Attractions

Euromost city guides highlight the main sightseeiing and attractions of the city. Many Eastern European cities are they living examples of days gone by. Many cities have their castles - the Bratislavsky castle - Bratislava Slovakia and the Hradnacy Fortress Prague in the Czech Republic.

Other cities have more contemporary sights - the Path of Rembrance and the Monument Of The Ghetto Hero in Warsaw Poland or the Berlin Wall in former East Berlin Germany. The latter has largely dissappeared as part of the reunification process - and helped by tourists and pilgims from all over the world who felt that it souvenirs from it would be better placed in their homes!

Euromost city guides identify what the main attractions and sightseeing features of any city are. These may be as with the castles physical buildings that represent a style of architecture or a past dynasty - but equally they might be like the Berlin Wall symbolic of a period of time or The Path Of Rembrance an acknowledgement of the slaughter of the Jews during World War 11.

Some attractions or places we mention like the road Nerudova in Prague - which has over a 1000 years of architecture in it may not have one single element to be viewed but are worthy of appreciation. Other places like Auschwitz & Birkenau have to mentioned, not because they are attractions or a pleasant sightseeing trip, because of their symbolism and their sheer magnitude in human abuse.

The sightseeing and attractions in each city guide are not definitive but they are an indication of the city's most popular tourist destinations. Each city guide has links to local tourist boards or offices. These links often provide more detailed information about an individual attraction with information on opening hours and admission prices if it is a museum, building, gallery or exhibition. The sightseeing and attractions for euromost cities are available directly via the links in the side columns or the Matrix

How Safe At Night Is The City I Am Going To

Are there still landmines in Serbia - When is a lady of the night in Prague not a lady - and is St Petersburg safe for a black person to visit? See local city guides

Sightseeing & Attractions In Amsterdam

With over 150 canals spanned by eight times as many bridges and suurounded by over 6.500 historic buiding this city outshines Venice in some respects. Architectually it is very diverse though - which at times is very intriquing. Housed in a very unattractive modern concrete box which could be the entrance to a metro station the Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum has the worlds largest and finest collection of Van Gogh's paintings with over 200 paintings complimented by 500 sketches. The museum also has exhibitions of other 19th century artists.

These include The Brandenburg Gate, built between 1788 - 1791. This is the only remaining gate to the original Old Berlin. The Chariot of Quadriga designed by a different architect was added to the top of the gate in 1794. The Gendarmen Markt, which many believe to be one of Europe's most bueatiful squares was built in 1688. It is home to The Deutscher Dom (German Catherdal) which was originally built in 1701. It's dome was added in 1780, destroyed in WW2 and restored in 1996. The Franzosischer Dom was ( French Catherdal) was built in 1701 with it's dome added in 1780. This was also damaged in WW2 but it was restored in 1977

The symbol of the the division of Berlin was The Berlin Wall. Originally were two paralell walls seperated by a strip of no mans land more commonly known as The Death Strip. Over 200 people died trying trying to escape from East to West Berlin across this land. Around 5,000 made it across before the wall was secured but a similar number are thought to have been imprisoned for attempting to cross it.

Today very little remains of The Death Strip or The Walls - with most of the latter either demolished by the present authorities or in the homes souvenir collecters wordwide. A small section of The Wall and The Death Strip has been preserved opposite The Berlin Wall Documentation Centre at Bernauer Strasse 111 (Tel 464 1030). This very informative and free exhibition is open daily (except Mondays) until 18.00. It has a viewing platform of The Death Strip and The Chapel of Reconcilation.

The other famous symbol of The Cold War and the Division of Berlins division, was Checkpoint Charlie. This crossover point no longer exists it and the Friedrichstrasse site is now a shopping complex. This includes the Checkpoint Charlie Museum which promotes the the virtues of the Allies decision to hold out in West Berlin even though they were completely surrounded ....

A more instructive exhibition is The Holocaust Memorial Centre adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate which opened in the Spring of 2005. This memorial which consists of 2,701 upright grey slabs arranged in roofless corridors is intended to represent the bewilderment experienced by Jewish prisoners imprisoned in concentration camps. Sightseeing Attractions In Berlin.

Attractions and Sightseeing in Riga

The most symbolic sightseeing attraction in Riga, certainly from a Latvian perspective is The Freedom Monument at Brivibas Street Bulvoris. At some angles from a distance this 42 metre monument could be mistaken as a radio transmitter.

The Museum of Natural History at Barona 4 contains a somewhat bizarre collection of exhibits including exotic animals, fossils and an interactive learning game.

A good place to take the children as is The Lido Recreation Centre at Krasta 76 which has many child activities including an enormous skating ring. The Central Market at Pregas lela is an indoor market housed in former zepplin hangers. Ii is one of Europe's biggest markets with hundreds of stalls that sell an A -Z of goods including alcohol, clothing and food. More convential shopping can be found in the shopping malls at Riga Railway Station. Though not as big as a similar set up in Leipzig apart from normal shops it contains dozens of cafes, fast food shops and even a cocktail bar. Sightseeing Attractions In Berlin

Sightseeing and Attractions in Tallinn

The Kadriorg Palace built in 1718 by Tsar Peter 1st for his partner Catherine can be found at Weizenbergi 37 (Tel: 372 606 6400). This baroque building is commonly known as The Kadriorg Art Museum as it now permanently hosts Estonia's collection of foreign art from the Estonia Art Museum. It has an amazing collection of exhibits - over 900 paintings and 3,500 prints made between the 16th & 20th century. Sightseeing Attractions In Tallinn

Sightseeing & Attractions in Budapest

The most thought provoking sight in Budapest is The Eternal Flame. This flame, which permamently burns outside The Parliament Building was lit on the 40th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, It is a symbolic trubute to those who died including the then Hungarian President Imre Nagy -who's statue stands near by. The Parliament Building at Kossuth Lajos Ter 3 in district v, in some respects is strikingly similar to The Palace of WestMinster in London. It was built before WW1 and is exudes power and imperialism. At night it is floodlit and even more impressive viewed from the Bude on the other side of The Danube.

Close by is The Statue of Attila Josef a Hungarian Poet born in 1905 who at the age of 32, severely depressed, through himself in front of a train. The statue shows a man sitting on steps, apparently exhausted, with his arms on his knees and a face haunted by pain. On the Bude side of The Danube is The Castle District. It includes The Matyas Church and the ruins of The Dominican Monastery. This area is very up and best accessed via The Cable Lift by The Elizabeth Bridge. This ride and The Castle District offer the most amazing view of The Danube and Budapest especially at night. Sightseeing Attractions In Budapest

Sightseeing & Attractions In Moscow - The Kremlin

The original Kremlin was built out of wood in 1156 and then rebuilt in new wood in 1339. The first white stone were added to the buiding 26 years later. In 1485 The Assumption Catherdral was added using red brick a setting a precedent for future constructions. In 1838 Tsar Nicholas commissioned the building of The Great Kremlin Palace. This 700 roomed building took eleven years to build and is the official home of the Russian President. The Kremlin also ihas three catherdarals and two museums. Sightseeing Attractions In Moscow

Sightseeing and Attractions in Sofia

Sofia is known to have existed in 1,000 BC. .The oldest building in the city is the St George Rotunda a former Roman Temple. One intriguing buildings is The Alexandar Nevski Catherdal with its copper and gold domes .Sightseeing Attractions In Sofia

Sightseeing & Attractions In Copenhagen

Sightseeing & Attractions In Prague

Sightseeing & Attractions in Warsaw

By the end of WW2 most of Warsaw had been obliterated, consequently it lacks the enchantment of other capitals like Prague, even though the post war enigmatic Soviet Regime endeavoured to carefully rebuild The Old Town whilst simultaneously building modern blocks that sprawled out chaotically in The New Town and Warsaw suburbs. The post war legacy remains only now the main street in the financial sector of the city is called Solidarity Avenue - neither would have been an entity two decades ago.

There are several memorials to the atrocities that Warsaw witnessed during its occupation by the Nazis. The Warsaw Ghetto in the Muranow area where half a million Jews were interned en route for the Death Camps was razed to the ground in 1945. However part of the original wall around the ghetto remains in Sienna St , as does the Nozyk Synagogue which was commandeered by the Nazis as a warehouse. Visitors today can walk along The Path Of Remembrance which stretches from Zamenhofa St to 'The Monument Of The Ghetto Hero'. The Institute Of Jewish History also documents the horrors of the ghetto and the Holocaust generally. Recently opened is The Museum of The Warsaw Uprising which commerates the Jewish struggle in 1943 to escape from the ghetto. Other places to visit include