Europe

• 21 Helsinki: a designer city for 2012
  Clearly determined not to miss a moment of the year dedicated to the celebrations, Helsinki has been preparing an exciting programme of events and will be kicking off the year with a ceremony in Senate...

• 22 The Canaries – a perfect place for Christmas
  Over four million Brits prefer to celebrate Christmas abroad. Some of them choose snowy ski resorts in the Alps and Pyrenees, but many are looking to add a little sunshine to the last week of the year....

• 23 Five spectacular New Year plans
  Magical, musical New Year in Dublin Not satisfied with a single night of fun, the Irish capital is planning to ring in the New Year with the NYE Festival, a three-day extravaganza of music and entertainment....

• 24 Paris: city of - Christmas - light
  They call Paris the City of Light, and at Christmas time the name's more appropriate than ever: the whole of the city on the Seine seems to be decked in magic. with glittering tinsel garlands, streams...

• 25 The labyrinthine streets of Carcassonne
  The director, who is behind recent TV series The Good Wife and The Pillars of the Earth, as well as movie greats including Thelma and Louise and Blade Runner, has described Labyrinth as "a wonderful...

• 26 Cool and unusual Spanish hotels
  How do you fancy sleeping in a tree top? In a red stone fortress? Under the stars? In a converted cinema? Or in a traditional Bedouin haymah? These original hotels appeal to the deepest emotions, the sense...

• 27 'Fado', the music of Lisbon
  The music of a country is one of the keys to its culture; Argentina has the tango, Spain has flamenco, and Portugal has fado. It's a musical form that draws on many different historical and cultural elements,...

• 28 Oslo, capital of peace
  On the day of the award ceremony, all eyes wll be on Oslo Town Hall, the imposing red building where the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize will be presented to this year's joint winners: President of Liberia, Ellen...

• 29 A German Christmas market in the Midlands
  You don't need to travel to Germany to get a taste of authentic German Christmas traditions: our own city of Birmingham has been a partner city to Frankfurt for nearly half a century, and in the run up...

• 30 Advent comes to Germany
  From the northern coast to the Alps in the south, hardly a city in Germany can resist setting up their own Christmas market and stuffing it full of music and handicrafts, tempting scents and delicious...

• 31 Christmas carols and concerts in Vienna
  In Vienna, it's Advent rather than simply Christmas, that is celebrated with a pure magical passion. First there are all the little markets selling crafts and knick-knacks and home-baked goodies that blossom...

• 32 Stromboli: volcanic fire and passion
  Some say that without the scandal surrounding the extramarital affair between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman during the filming of Stromboli, the film would have sunk into insignificance. There...

• 33 The gastronomy of Spain's Navarre region comes to London
  Navarre – or Navarra as the Spanish call it – is a region way up in the north east of Spain, on the border with the French region of Aquitaine. Best known outside the country for its capital...

• 34 Austrian castles and palaces
  Each of the castles and palaces dotted across Austria has its own particular story and its own particular points of interest. Whether it surveys the city below from atop a limestone outcrop, boasts a tragic...

• 35 Bruges, the home of fine chocolate
  From November 6th to December 8th, at Choc'in Brugge, you can meet the best master craftsmen, visit the Chocolate Museum, enjoy themed menus in high-class restaurants, participate in workshops and tastings,...

• 36 Le Marais, the chic district of Paris
  Spreading along the right bank of the Seine, Le Marais is the perfect setting for a getaway: with galleries and museums, pavement artists decorating the streets outside the bustling cafes and restaurants,...

• 37 Autumn relaxation in the Italian Alps
  Bordered by Switzerland in the north and France to the west, the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta is surrounded by magnificent mountain scenery. With its 25 ski stations and 1,200 kilometres of pistes,...

• 38 'Pintxos' – the way the Basques do 'tapas'
  One of the best ways to get to know a new location is to explore the local cuisine, particularly in a place like the Basque Country where gastronomy plays such an important role. The Basques call their...

• 39 Europe's spectacular natural heritage
  Dramatic mountains – the vast Durmitor massif in the eponymous national park in northwestern Montenegro, the volcanic mass of Mount Teide, and the dramatic Dolomites in the Italian Alps where green...

• 40 YSL retrospective in Madrid
  The exhibition, on display at the Fundacion Mapfre on the elegant tree-lined boulevard Paseo de Recoletos in the centre of the city, is the first hosted in Spain to look back on the life and work of the...