Pergamum - modern-day Bergama

Turkey has an abundance of Greco-Roman ruins, but none can be so romantically placed as ancient Pergamum in modern-day Bergama. Once home to one of the ancient world's most important libraries, Pergamum's remaining temple remnants now preside dramatically on a hilltop. It's an incredibly atmospheric place to explore, with an Acropolis area and a theater cut into the hillside with sweeping panoramic views from its top seating tiers. This is a great place to visit if you want to get a real feel for life in the Roman era.

Cruising the Mediterranean

Turkey's Mediterranean coastline has ruins galore and bags of things to do, but for many people, it's all about soaking up the sun while enjoying the gorgeous coastal views. Cruising on a yacht is the number one activity for visitors to Bodrum and Fethiye for good reason. The steep forest-clad slopes, hidden coves sporting tiny white sand beaches, and hundreds of scattered islands are the perfect place for exploring by sea. Even diehard landlubbers will be impressed. One of the most famous trips is known as the "Blue Cruise" and travels from Fethiye south down the coast until disembarking near Olympus, home to the famous natural phenomenon of the Chimaera.

Mount Nemrut

The top sightseeing drawcard for Eastern Turkey, Mount Nemrut's summit funerary mound is scattered with the broken remnants of once mammoth statues, which guarded it. This weird and lonely place has to be one of Turkey's most peculiar archaeological sites. The giant stone heads of long-forgotten gods stare out from the summit, casting an eerie atmosphere over the barren mountaintop. The time to come is at sunrise, so you can watch the statues as they loom out of the dark.

Sumela Monastery

With its stunning, lonely setting, built into a cliff face, Sumela Monastery (Monastery of the Virgin Mary) is the star attraction for visitors along the Black Sea Coast. Wandering around this abandoned religious complex, with its church interiors crammed with dazzling and vibrant frescoes, is a must for anyone who makes the long journey to Turkey's northeast region. The monastery first opened during the Byzantine era and was only closed in 1923. Today, wandering its empty cells, it's easy to imagine the isolated lives of the monks who once lived here.

Pamukkale - One of Turkey's most famous natural wonders

One of Turkey's most famous natural wonders, the pure white travertine terraces of Pamukkale ("Cotton Castle" in English) cascade down the slope looking like an out-of-place snowfield amid the green landscape. Although the travertines are themselves a highlight of a Turkey trip, the vast and rambling ruins of Roman Hierapolis, an ancient spa town, lie on the top of this calcite hill, providing another reason to visit. For the best photographs, come at dusk when the travertines glow as the sun sinks below the horizon.

Topkapı Palace

Sumptuous beyond belief, the Topkapı Palace takes you into the fantastical, opulent world of the sultans. It was from here that the sultans of the Ottoman Era carved out an empire that would extend up into Europe and down through the Middle East and into Africa. The interiors, with their decadently exuberant tiling and lavish jeweled decor, are an unforgettable peek into the Ottoman's power base. The surrounding public gardens were once the sole domain of the Royal Court but are now open to the public and provide a tranquil, green respite from the city streets.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid

The throbbing heartbeat of Spain's vibrant capital city, Plaza Mayor has played an important part in Madrid life since the 16th century, when Philip II entrusted the task of designing it to his favorite architect Juan de Herrera, builder of the Escorial. It has served as the stage for ceremonial events - the proclamation of a new king, the canonization of saints, the burning of heretics - and public entertainment such as chivalric tournaments and bullfights. The cafes reaching out onto its pedestrian-only stone pavement, and the restaurants shaded under its arcades are Madrid's living room, popular meeting places for Madrileños and tourists alike.

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral

The magnificent cathedral of Santiago (St. James) was built to house and honor the relics of the saint, and it has been the goal of pilgrims since the Middle Ages, the culmination of their completing the famed Camino de Santiago. One of the outstanding monuments of Early Romanesque architecture, the cathedral was built between 1060 and 1211, and despite the Baroque transformation of the exterior in the 16th to 18th centuries, the interior is still in the purest Early Romanesque style. You'll see both of these periods at play as you enter the west front, through one of Spain's most impressive church facades. Step inside to face the Pórtico de la Gloria, part of the old west front now concealed by the 18th-century facade. This triple doorway is one of the largest and most magnificent collections of Romanesque sculpture in the world.

The focal point of the interior is the elaborately decorated Capilla Mayor, built over the Apostle's tomb. In the center of the high altar of jasper, alabaster, and silver is a 13th-century wooden figure of the Apostle, richly adorned in precious metals and gems. On either side, narrow staircases lead up behind the figure so that pilgrims can kiss the Apostle's cloak - culminating their pilgrimage. In a crypt under the altar, the Apostle's remains are in a silver casket.

Seville Cathedral and Alcazar

La Giralda tower, Seville Cathedral, and the Alcazar combine to form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower is a minaret, a "masterpiece of Almohad architecture," according to UNESCO. The cathedral has more interior space than St. Peter's in Rome and a 37-meter main altar of carved statues completely covered in gold. The monumental tomb of Christopher Columbus is held aloft by a quartet of larger-than-life figures. La Giralda, the emblem of Seville, began life as a minaret and is all that's left of the city's Great Mosque, destroyed to build the cathedral.

The Alcazar opposite was begun by the Moors in 712 and continued after the Christian re-conquest by King Pedro in the 1300s in the ornate neo-Moorish style called Mudejar. The rooms and salons are breathtaking, and the gardens a joy to stroll in, shaded by fragrant orange and lemon trees. Adjoining on the east is Santa Cruz, the former Judaria (Jewish Quarter), a neighborhood of whitewashed homes, iron balconies, and flower-filled courtyards.

San Lorenzo de El Escorial

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometers northwest of Madrid, was the summer home of Spain's kings, and in 1563, work was begun there on a huge complex, which would include a monastery, church, royal palace, mausoleum, library, and museum, all conceived as a monument to Philip II and his reign. The result is a staggering collection of attractions, built around 16 courtyards, its rooms and structures connected by 16 kilometers of corridors. At its core is the church, the highlight of which is Herrera's 30 meter-high retablo, made of jasper and red marble and approached by a flight of 17 steps.

Along with the vaulted and frescoed ceilings by Tibaldi in the rooms off the lower cloister, highlights of the monastery are the Panteón de los Reyes (the Baroque burial vault of the Spanish kings) and the library, a grand room also decorated by Tibaldi frescoes. In the palace, be sure to see the Bourbon Suite, where the state apartments of Charles IV are decorated with rare furnishings and 338 tapestries. Beyond are the art-filled private apartments of Philip II. The Picture Gallery below has a large collection of fine paintings, including works by Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Velázquez, and El Greco.