Must-see attractions Eastern Europe, Europe - Lonely Planet (2024)

Dubrovnik

No visit to Dubrovnikis complete without a walk around the spectacular city walls that encircle its historic core. They're among the finest in the world…

Diocletian’s Palace

Split

Taking up a prime harborside position, the extraordinary complex of Diocletian's Palace is one of the most imposing ancient Roman structures in existence…

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice Lakes National Park

By far Croatia's top natural attraction and the absolute highlight of Croatia's Adriatic hinterland, the Plitvice Lakes National Park is a glorious…

Klis Fortress

Split

Controlling the valley leading into Split, the imposing Klis Fortress spreads along a limestone bluff, reaching 1260ft (385m) at its highest point. Its…

Zlatni Rat

Bol

Zlatni Rat, Croatia's most photographed beach, extends like a tongue into the sea for about a quarter of a mile (400m). Despite the hype and constant…

Hill of Crosses

Lithuania

Lithuania's fabled Hill of Crosses is a symbol of defiance as much as a pilgrimage site. More than 100,000 crosses have been planted on this low hill,…

Cathedral of St Domnius

Split

Split’s octagonal cathedral is one of the best-preserved ancient Roman buildings still standing. It was built as a mausoleum for Diocletian, the last…

St Sophia's Cathedral

Kyiv

The interior is the most astounding aspect of Kyiv's oldest standing church. Many of the mosaics and frescoes are original, dating back to 1017–31, when…

Solovetsky Transfiguration Monastery

Northern European Russia

This imposing, stone-walled monastery is the heart and soul of the Solovetsky Islands. Founded in 1429, it has played various roles throughout its…

Armoury

Moscow

The Armoury dates to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it…

Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra

Kyiv

Tourists and Orthodox pilgrims alike flock to the Lavra, set on 28 hectares of grassy hills above the Dnipro River in Pechersk. It's easy to see why…

Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

Arbat & Khamovniki

This is Moscow’s premier foreign-art museum, split over three branches and showing off a broad selection of European works, including masterpieces from…

Corvin Castle

Transylvania

Some castles perch on mountains, others skulk in mist-shrouded hills, but Hunedoara’s juts out from an industrial jungle. Despite being surrounded by…

State Hermitage Museum

St Petersburg

The Hermitage fully lives up to its sterling reputation. You can be absorbed by its treasures for days and still come out wanting more. The enormous…

St Basil's Cathedral

Moscow

At the southern end of Red Square stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination…

Kamyanets-Podilsky Fortress

Central Ukraine

Built of wood in the 10th to 13th centuries, then redesigned and rebuilt in stone by Italian military engineers in the 16th century, K-P's fortress is a…

Peleş Castle

Sinaia

Over 40 years, dozens of builders, artists and wood-carvers brought Peleş Castle into existence. The neo-Renaissance masterpiece was commissioned by…

Visoki Dečani Monastery

Kosovo

Built in the early 14th century by Serbian king Stefan Dečanski, this monastery is in a beautiful spot beneath the mountains and surrounded by pine and…

Moscow Kremlin

Moscow

The apex of Russian political power and once the centre of the Orthodox Church, the Kremlin is the kernel of not only Moscow, but of the whole country…

Lenin's Mausoleum

Moscow

Although Vladimir Ilych requested that he be buried beside his mum in St Petersburg, he still lies in state at the foot of the Kremlin wall, receiving…

Butrint

The Albanian Riviera

Early in the morning, before the tourist crowds arrive and when the rocks are still tinged in the yellow dawn light, you might just imagine that the…

Euphrasian Basilica

Poreč

Top billing in Poreč goes to the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, a World Heritage Site and one of Europe’s finest intact examples of Byzantine art. Built…

Roman Amphitheatre

Pula

Pula’s most famous and imposing sight is this 1st-century oval amphitheatre, overlooking the harbour northeast of the old town. It's a huge and truly…

Red Square

Moscow

Immediately outside the Kremlin’s northeastern wall is the celebrated Red Square, the 400m-by-150m area of cobblestones that is at the very heart of…

Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

Vilnius

If you only see one museum in Vilnius, make it this one. On a site that has been settled since the 4th century AD stands the latest in a procession of…

Palace of Parliament

Bucharest

The Palace of Parliament is the world’s second-largest administrative building (after the Pentagon) and former dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu’s most infamous…

Mamaev Kurgan

Volgograd

Known as Hill 102 during the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamaev Kurgan was the site of four months of fierce fighting and is now a memorial to Soviet fighters…

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari

Bulgaria

The highlight at this Unesco-protected Thracian settlement is a nearly perfectly preserved three-chamber burial tomb from about 300 BC. The high quality…

Hermitage Gardens

Moscow

All the things that have improved Moscow parks no end in recent years fill this small, charming garden to the brim. Today, it is possibly the most…

General Staff Building

St Petersburg

The east wing of this magnificent building, wrapping around the south of Dvortsovaya pl and designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s, marries restored…

Endless Column

Wallachia

The Endless Column, one of Constantin Brâncuşi's best-known and most celebrated works, sits at the eastern end of Calea Eroilor (20 minutes on foot from…

Arbat & Khamovniki

This branch of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts contains a famed assemblage of French Impressionist works, based on the collections of two well-known…

National Museum

Tuva

One of Tuva’s ‘must sees’, the National Museum’s huge modern home contains the usual arrangements of stuffed animals, WWII artefacts and dusty minerals,…

Archaeological Museum

Varna

Exhibits at this vast museum, the best of its kind in Bulgaria, include 6000-year-old bangles, necklaces and earrings said to be the oldest worked gold…

Museum of the 1989 Revolution

Timişoara

This is an ideal venue to brush up on the December 1989 anticommunist revolution that began here in Timişoara. Displays include documentation, posters and…

Alba Carolina Citadel

Transylvania

Alba Carolina Citadel is the crowning attraction of Alba Iulia. Within this star-shaped citadel are museums, churches and the Unification Hall that sealed…

Tsarevets Fortress

Veliko Târnovo

The inescapable symbol of Veliko Târnovo, this reconstructed fortress dominates the skyline and is one of Bulgaria’s most beloved monuments. The former…

Kizhi Museum Reserve

Northern European Russia

One of Russia's unmissable attractions, the reserve is home to dozens of 18th- and 19th-century log buildings, some furnished in period style, which were…

Apollonia

Albania

The evocative ruins of the ancient Illyiran city of Apollonia sit on a windswept hilltop some 12km west of the city of Fier. While a large part of the…

Ostrog Monastery

Central Montenegro

Resting improbably – miraculously? – in a cliff face 900m above the Zeta valley, the gleaming white Ostrog Monastery is the most important site in…