COLOGNE, GERMANY — The name of this city leaves little doubt what it’s best known for — eau de cologne, of course. But there's plenty of beer to go around, as well.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — Years ago, there was a standing joke among Scots. “What’s the best thing to do in Glasgow on a Sunday?” Answer: “Go to Edinburgh!” But not anymore!

MONTPELLIER, FRANCE — When travellers venture to Southern France to sunbathe and sip a refreshing cocktail at cafés along the Mediterranean Sea coast, it’s Nice that comes to mind. But nestled about halfway between Marseille and Toulouse is this charming, much less crowded city that’s always bathed in sunshine.

Franciacorta, Italy — On a moonlit night in Milan, Italy’s most elegant oenophiles are mingling in a 19th-century mansion. In a sweeping tide of satin, silk and slim-cut suits, they swarm the marble staircase, check their reflections in smoked-glass mirrors, and get jiggy on a parquet dance floor, all the while juggling magically-refilling glasses of bubbly.

GUARENE, ITALY — I swing open the large shuttered windows of my palatial Castello di Guarene suite and there, under a cobalt blue sky, Italy’s legendary Piedmont wine region spreads out in all directions.

Cádiz, Spain - There are older cities than this Spanish port but Cádiz is the most ancient city in Western Europe to still be inhabited.

WHITBY, ENGLAND — “You’re from Toronto?” asks my cabbie in this picture-perfect North Sea hamlet. Yes, indeed. “Tell me, what does the Six mean?”

TREMP, CATALONIA — Ramón, the man I befriend over a glass of locally made vino blanco the night before, orders me to follow him across a freshly ploughed farmer’s field to get to a treasure he claims is 50 million years old.

UCERNE, SWITZERLAND — The buses start arriving early. As many as 200 a day. The excited occupants — all Chinese — rush off into Schwanenplatz, this city’s main square, and dash towards the entrance of Bucherer, the legendary watchmaker that first opened its doors in 1888.

CURTEA DE Argeș , ROMANIA — Often times, the place you call home is the one least explored. Romania is actually a second home for me, where I was born but not raised, where I spent my summers as a child and where I feel most connected.