In Europe, 76 destinations off the beaten path

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Arezzo, ItalySalina, ItalyCrete, GreeceRoquefort, FranceKvarner Islands, CroatiaTaormina, ItalyBonn, GermanyMonschau, GermanyCanterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, EnglandSt. Albans, EnglandCambridge, EnglandBrighton, EnglandCarnac, FranceCotswold Way, EnglandIstanbul, TurkeyGiglio, ItalySpain's Basque CountryAlbaniaAndorraViennaArdennes, BelgiumHay on Wye, BritainGiant's Causeway, Northern IrelandScotland's Tweed ValleyBulgariaZagreb, CroatiaHvar, CroatiaOsijek, CroatiaKladska, Czech RepublicTallinnHelsinki, FinlandBarbizon, FranceVerdun, FranceLourdes, FranceBeaujolais, FranceLyon, FranceChâteau des Milandes, FranceMillau, FranceLacoste, FranceMunich, GermanyIceland's countrysideGalway City, IrelandSkibbereen, IrelandCampania region, ItalySiena, ItalySperlonga, ItalyCinque Terre, ItalyPuglia, ItalyGenoa, ItalyPiedmont, ItalySicily, ItalyLipari, ItalyCastel del Monte, ItalyRiga, LatviaJurmala, LatviaLiechtensteinVilnius, LithuaniaLuxembourgMoldovaMonacoMontenegroOslo, NorwayTransylvania, RomaniaDanube River Delta, RomaniaSt. Petersburg, RussiaSan MarinoBelgrade, SerbiaSloveniaCatalonia, SpainSegovia, SpainIcehotel, Jukkasjarvi, SwedenZurich, SwitzerlandVals Valley, SwitzerlandCappadocia, TurkeyLviv, UkraineVatican City

Tallinn

( Beverly Beyette )

Having seen as much of modern Tallinn as I needed to, I went to the tourism office and rented a self-guided audio walking tour of the old city, the focal point of which is the 600-year-old Town Hall and its green dragonhead gargoyle drainpipes.

A small museum inside offers a glimpse into life in Tallinn. In the Middle Ages it was called Reval and was a major port of call on the Hanseatic trade route.

In one corner of the square is the 15th century raeapteek, or apothecary, where the infirm once bought such "cures" as black cat urine and fish eye powder. There's a little apothecary museum and, next door, an antiques shop where I bought a couple of Soviet-era replica posters but passed on a framed color portrait of the ill-fated Czar Nicholas II and family and a pocket watch with Adolf Hitler on its face.

-- Beverly Beyette

Read more: A stalwart Northern European trio

Pictured: The Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn.