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Pécs
Hungary
Why we can't wait to visit again: We didn't finish nosing around the city's historical remains the last time we were here. Art historians will go nuts for Pécs, which is teeming with the type of dusky, Byzantine-influenced architecture you might find in Split or Istanbul - the type that really sizzles under a good sunset. Traces of the city's former lives are everywhere, from the copper-green Mosque of Pasha Qasim to the Early Christian Necropolis. Creative types won't want to skip Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, an eclectic grouping of galleries, music venues and studio spaces, which was once home to the world-famous Zsolnay ceramics factory.
Where we're staying: Adele Boutique Hotel
Before you go: Bone up on the 160-year history of the Zsolnay empire, its art-nouveau ceramics that caused a stir at the 1873 World Exhibition and its creation of iridescent glazes.