Things to do in Europe

Get sweaty at Lisbon’s most scenic club
With two dance floors (one lounge-y, one sweaty) and a roof terrace overlooking the river, there’s nowhere more appealing for a night out in Lisbon than Lux Frágil. The décor is on point and the music second to none (house and guest DJs spin everything from hip-hop to ’80s pop). Thursdays are popular with locals keen on leftfield names; on Saturdays, the place is mobbed by out-of-towners. Lux’s rich programme also includes live bands and the odd Sunday afternoon event

Go back in time to pre-war Germany in Frankfurt
Many European cities have spent decades carefully reconstructing historic buildings destroyed during the First and Second World Wars, but only Frankfurt has bothered to recreate an entire district as it was at the turn of the last century. The DomRömer Quarter is Frankfurt's ‘new’ old town, spread across 7,000 square metres between Cathedral Square and the medieval Römer building that was more than 90 percent destroyed during the wars. The development only opened in May 2018 and includes 20 new buildings and 15 replicas, including the Stadthaus community and conference centre.

Watch horror films all night long in Edinburgh
Said to be one of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite cinemas, the Cameo has been operating under one name or another for more than 100 years. Refurbished with some of the comfiest cinema seats in town, it’s the ideal place to catch a well-curated season (usually focused on a specific director’s work) or movie marathon (the All Night Horror Madness sessions are legendary). Even if you don’t fancy watching a film, the venue’s bar is an easygoing place to sip a pint and eavesdrop on some serious cinephile chatter.

Get a full body scrub at a hammam in Istanbul
The work of renowned Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı was built between 1578 and 1583 to serve the levends (marine forces in the Ottoman navy) and was re-opened to the public in 2012 after a major restoration. The hammam ritual is an unmissable experience for anyone visiting Istanbul and there’s no better place to do it than inside this architectural masterpiece dating back half a millennium. Note that the hammam is open to women in the morning and men in the afternoon.

Explore an eerie underground cemetery in Naples
Beneath the heat and bustle of Naples’s streets is an old quarry that became a burial site in the 17th century when a plague wiped out 250,000 of the city’s residents. Though the Fontanelle cemetery’s piles of bones are undeniably unnerving, the local tradition of caring for a lost soul’s skull lends the place a very spiritual feel. Watch for the odd Italian nonna on her way to tend to her designated skeleton in the hope of releasing its soul to heaven in return for a wish.

Soak up the vibes at a ruin bar in Budapest
Take a huge, dilapidated building with an open courtyard and a labyrinth of rooms, adorn it with eclectic furniture, edgy artwork and mind-bending communist memorabilia, and you’ve got Budapest’s most famous (and most atmospheric) ‘ruin bar’. Szimpla Kert set the nightlife standard when it opened in the Jewish Quarter in 2001 – spawning several copy-cat bar experiences that have come to define a Budapest night out. The original is still considered the best: be sure to order a shot of traditional liqueur Unicum when you’re there.

Discover a thriving warehouse district in Liverpool
Start-ups, street food and stunning arts venues: you’ll find it all in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle. Occupying an industrial area that was heavily bombed during the Second World War, the Baltic’s historic warehouses now overflow with music venues, art spaces and independent boutiques. Don’t miss the Baltic Market, a street food haven inside the striking Cains Brewery building.

Take the plunge at Joyce’s favourite swimming spot
Outdoor swimming spot the Forty Foot draws hardy Dubliners all year round – including for an annual Christmas day swim. Referenced by James Joyce in ‘Ulysses’ – in which Buck Mulligan jumps into the ‘scrotum-tightening sea’ – this place was traditionally a men-only swimming spot, but that changed in the 1970s when women fought back against their exclusion.

Eat, drink and dance in a former army barracks in Prague
The eccentric minds behind this multi-purpose arts complex took one look at these former army barracks and imagined an eclectic cultural landscape combining art, theatre, cinema, sports and food and drink. Years later, that’s reality. In summer the courtyard hosts an outdoor cinema and beach volleyball court; in winter you can enjoy hot drinks and whizz around an ice skating rink. Kasárna Karlín’s surrounding buildings include a café in a former swimming pool and garages that now house bars and concert spaces, while local art lines the walls all over.

Eat local on an island near Amsterdam
If you’re after a once-in-a-lifetime dinner experience, nothing comes close to Vuurtoreneiland. A special boat takes you to this small, rugged island in the IJmeer with just a lighthouse, an old abandoned fort and a large greenhouse dining room. The ethos here is ‘eating in and of nature’ – a five-course set menu of the freshest regional produce, lovingly prepared and cooked entirely on open flames. The food is incredible, as is the glorious setting (all fauna, stray animals and weeping coastlines).

Check out an avant-garde play in Berlin
Germany is the world capital of avant-garde theatre, and the most renowned of its many, many lavishly state-funded theatres is the striking Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. A former cinema – built in 1928 in a Bauhaus style – it became home to the radical Schaübuhne ensemble in the late ’70s and has been run since 1999 by influential director Thomas Ostermeier. The Schaübuhne plays host to first-rate leftfield names from Germany and beyond. Performances are mostly in German, but every month a solid smattering are subtitled in English or French.

Eat your way around Copenhagen’s buzziest quarter
On the northern outskirts of the harbour, post-industrial Refshaleøen is Copenhagen’s buzziest neighbourhood. Culture vultures shouldn’t miss the large-scale installations at the Copenhagen Contemporary art gallery, while design devotees will enjoy rummaging amid the mid-century furniture at the B&W flea market. Bring an appetite, though. Thronging street food market Reffen offers budget-friendly options, while La Banchina is Copenhagen’s trendiest spot for sundowners (tip: bring a swimsuit).