The Thracian Plain, defined by Bulgaria's two major mountain ranges, was a busy funnel of trade throughout ancient times. This region is also called the "Valley of the Roses," and the rose harvest yields the blooms needed to create Bulgarian rose oil. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

Siena's 13th-century Gothic cathedral, with its striped tower, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and covered with art. A highlight is the church's Piccolomini Library: Brilliantly frescoed, it captures the exuberance and optimistic spirit of the 1400s, an age of humanism when the Renaissance was born. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

Sevilla, Spain's Santa Cruz neighborhood comes with a timeless beauty. Explore, wandering among lanes too narrow for cars, whitewashed houses corralling peaceful squares, and wrought-iron latticework. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

To get a sense of how Venice was in earlier times, head to the Accademia Gallery, the best museum for Venetian Renaissance painting. The Venetian love of the good life shows itself in Venetian painting, and Paolo Veronese's "Feast in the House of Levi" is a perfect example. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

The Loire River, gliding gently east to west, separating northern from southern France, has come to define this popular tourist region. The value of this river and the valley’s prime location, in the center of the country just south of Paris, have made the Loire a strategic prize for centuries — hence all the castles. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

A visit to Rome's National Museum at the Palazzo Massimo helps humanize the ancient Roman empire. The museum's collection tells the empire's story through art, and many aspects of ancient Roman life are represented. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

Tuscany's countryside is dotted with elegant, aristocratic homes that augment their farming income by renting rooms to travelers. At Villa Belvedere, Rick stays with a family who makes wine on their property and enjoys a meal of locally-produced food. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

Sighișoara, perhaps the most popular tourist town in all of Romania, is a delightful German town settled by German craftsmen in the 12th century. Within the town's protective walls, visitors explore cobbled lanes, enjoy pastel German-style facades, and sip beers on the main square. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

Spaniards consider the region of Andalucía to be the home of flamenco. While impromptu flamenco still erupts spontaneously in Old World bars, most travelers attend a show in Sevilla or other tourist destinations. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.

Rick and Venetian friends enjoy a fresh, local seafood dinner at I Figli delle Stelle Ristorante on the island of Giudecca. From this peaceful canalside perch, the hub-bub of downtown Venice becomes a romantically floodlit cityscape. At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.