Tram 28 is a pickpocket’s commute and the Santa Justa lift has a back door that costs nothing. A Lisbon day through Alfama, Belem and the custard tart queue that moves fastest.

The old town survived the twentieth century almost whole. Then walk twenty minutes north and see what the other half of the century left behind.

The Anne Frank House has no ticket desk and releases seats six weeks out. Plan a day in Amsterdam around that release, and the canals, the Rijksmuseum and De Pijp fall into place behind it.

Two closed Mondays, 463 steps with no way out halfway, and a five-day cathedral ticket that most visitors use for an hour. Planning one day in Florence around what is actually open.

A single day in Rome works if the Colosseum slot and the Borghese booking are settled before you arrive. Here is the walking order that follows from those two fixed points.

Free evening entry to the Prado and the Reina Sofia changes the shape of a Madrid day. Here is how to use it, when to eat, and why the covered market by Plaza Mayor is not where locals go.