Warsaw

Poland's capital and the site of one of the most remarkable rebuildings of any city on earth. The Germans destroyed around eighty-five percent of Warsaw in the Second World War, and after the Warsaw Uprising of nineteen forty-four they razed the historic centre almost deliberately; what stands today is a meticulous post-war reconstruction that UNESCO lists precisely as an example of near-total rebuilding. Read the rebuilt Old Town with its market square and mermaid, then follow the grand Royal Route south past churches, palaces and the university to Lazienki, the last king's garden with its palace on the water. At your own pace.