Lublin, Poland

The city of Lublin, the largest in eastern Poland, is one of the most alluring urban centres in the whole country, thanks in large part to the evocative hive of alleys that constitute its magnificent Old Town. New arrivals are sometimes put off by the sprawling high-rise buildings and smokestacks of the suburbs, but once you're in the heart of the place, it's all cobbled streets and dilapidated mansions – a wistful reminder of past glories. The fabric of this old quarter came through World War II relatively undamaged, and recent restoration has made the city centre ripe for tourism, though Lublin sees nothing like the crowds flowing into Kraków, Warsaw or Gdańsk. In among the numerous churches you'll find reminders that for centuries Lublin was home to a large and vibrant Jewish community, a population exterminated in the Nazi concentration camp at Majdanek, 6km from the city centre.