Civico Planetario Ulrico Hoepli is the largest and oldest planetarium in Italy, offering a space where people can learn about astronomy and science. Inside the 20-metre wide dome you can watch projections of the night sky. Experts are always on hand to explain about the stars and planets. The planetarium offers a host of events and shows some of which are thematically tied to current events and pop culture such as spooky Halloween shows and lectures about the science in sci-fi films.

Dating back to 1072, the castle served as the primary residence of the Prince Bishops of Durham until 1832, when it transitioned into University College. Outside of term time, during student holidays, the building is open for guided tours.

The beguinages of Flanders and the Netherlands are always oases of calm and stillness, where you might still expect to see an old beguine mumbling her prayers in a doorway. Two of Ghent’s three beguinages have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Although the Old St Elizabeth Beguinage, in Begijnhofdries in Ghent, is no longer enclosed by a wall, making it simply part of the city, it still has a unique atmosphere. Today the Old St Elizabeth Beguinage is known as ‘holy corner’, a place of religious tolerance, because it has no less than three different churches: one is Roman Catholic, one is Orthodox and the other is Protestant. From bleachfield to orchard This open beguinage grew into something of a ‘beguine city’ in the 13th century, with a church, the ‘Grootjuffer’s House’, an infirmary, a chapel, more than a hundred houses for beguines, a bleachfield (a field where linen was laid out to bleach) and an orchard. After the French Revolution, with increasing industrialisation, the inhabitants moved to their new beguinage in Sint-Amandsberg in 1873.

Each year, about 340,000 visitors come to see the Royal Coster Diamonds craftsmen at work. Free guided tours demonstrating the process of cutting and polishing diamonds are led by Coster’s accommodating staff. The tours are available in more than 24 languages.