Rome (Civitavecchia) / Venice

Palermo’s impressive architecture includes Italy’s largest opera house, Teatro Massimo, as well as a collection of 12th-century palaces and churches deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site, while Taormina’s hilltop Greek theater dates to the third century BC. Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast boasts its own historic edifices in medieval walled towns, and in Dubrovnik you can explore battlements and coastal cliffs that were used as filming locations in Game of Thrones.