Must See Romania - Bucarest

Romania's capital lies on the Wallachian plains, between the Carpathian foothills and the Danube River. In the 1930s it was known as 'the Paris of the East'. Since then, earthquakes, WWII bombing and Ceausescu have combined to destroy much of its prewar beauty.

The focal point of what locals dubbed 'Ceausima' is the enormous 12-storey Palace of Parliament, intended to be the largest building in the world (it comes second to the Pentagon). Central Bucharest has some classic beauty, a 16th-century Old Court Church that contains stunning preserved frescoes.

The George Enescu Museum displays the musician's manuscripts and personal belongings. Also here is Romania's very own Raffles, the Athenee Palace Hotel, centre of early-20th-century decadence, which it still upholds to this day. It was also the meeting place of Olivia Manning's characters in The Balkan Trilogy.