Europe's top 15 sights & experiences

Fifteen highlights of Europe

These activities rank as some of the best in Europe:

• Craning your neck to stare at God Creating Adam on Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome.
• Wandering amidst the gargoyles atop Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
• Driving the Ring of Kerry on Ireland's southwest coast, which takes you past stunning coastline, colorful fishing villages, and prehistoric Celtic sites.
• Eating breakfast 10,000 feet up in the Alps, perched atop the Schilthorn and surrounded by snow-capped peaks and glacier-filled valleys unfurling at your feet.
• Spending a cozy evening ensconced in a Bavarian beer hall with a liter mug of Munich's best brew, a basket of warm pretzels in front of you, and an oompah band in the background.
• Attending a play or a show in one of London's West End theaters.
• Doing a tapas bar crawl in any Spanish city (Seville, Madrid, and Barcelona are tops), sampling tasty tidbits all evening and strolling the people-packed streets.
• Attending an opera or concert under the stars in the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater in Verona.
• Clambering around the ruins of Pompeii, an ancient Roman city frozen in time by volcanic eruption.
• Cruising the Grand Canal of Venice past elegantly decaying palaces and sinking churches—all for the price of a bus ticket.
• Picnicking among the ruins of a Mycenean city hundreds of feet above the Mediterranean on the Greek island of Santoríni.
• Making a pub crawl through Dublin, draining creamy mugs of Guinness and clapping along to traditional Celtic music.
• Attending a heavenly performance of the Vienna Boys' Choir, who sing their hosannas at a church on the grounds of the lavish Hofburg Palace.
• Indulging your taste buds by splurging on a five-star meal in Paris, the holy city of haute cuisine.
• Wandering the fanciful and majestic landmarks of Prague—imposing, medieval Prague Castle and the romantic, statue-lined Charles Bridge.