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.

A double row of cobbles marks where the Berlin Wall stood, and following it explains the city faster than any museum. One day, from the Reichstag dome to the East Side Gallery.

Charles Bridge before eight is a different bridge. A Prague day built downhill from the castle, with the tram that does the climbing and the currency law that gets your money back.

A one o’clock gun, a street built on top of another street, and a free gallery most visitors walk past. One day in Edinburgh, with a warning about August.

Fifteen minutes with a fading fresco, if you booked in February. What to do with the rest of the day in a city that is not trying to be Rome.

Szechenyi opens at six and is nearly empty until nine. A Budapest day that starts in hot water, crosses to Buda for the hill, and ends in a courtyard bar that was condemned property.