Barcelona, the cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region, is known for its art and architecture. The fantastical Sagrada Família church and other modernist landmarks designed by Antoni Gaudí dot the city. Museu Picasso and Fundació Joan Miró feature modern art by their namesakes. City history museum MUHBA, includes several Roman archaeological sites

Malaga is the major coastal city of Andalucia and is a genuine and typical Andaluz city with a gritty individualism untouched by tourism and, to a large extent, the passage of time. The Moors occupied the city until the mid fifteenth century, after which it grew to become one of the foremost merchant centres in the entire Iberian Peninsula.

Tangier, a Moroccan port on the Strait of Gibraltar, has been a strategic gateway between Africa and Europe since Phoenician times. Its whitewashed hillside medina is home to the Dar el Makhzen, a palace of the sultans that's now a museum of Moroccan artifacts. The American Legation Museum, also in the medina, documents early diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Morocco in an 1821 Moorish-style former consulate.

Casablanca is a port city and commercial hub in western Morocco, fronting the Atlantic Ocean. The city's French colonial legacy is seen in its downtown Mauresque architecture, a blend of Moorish style and European art deco. Standing partly over the water, the enormous Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993, has a 210m minaret topped with lasers directed toward Mecca

Funchal is the capital city of Portugal's Madeira archipelago. It's backed by hills, and known for its harbor, gardens and Madeira wine cellars. The centuries-old Funchal Cathedral, which mixes Gothic and Romanesque styles, is notable for its carved wooden ceiling. Fronting the harbor is the São Tiago Fortress, built in the 1600s. It now houses the Contemporary Art Museum, with a large collection of Portuguese works.

An infectiously happy island, with beautiful beaches, balmy weather, and a delightful British flair. As a result of its successful sugar economy in the 17th- to 19th-centuries, you’ll find large manor estates full of fine Barbados mahogany and antiques, along with gaily painted wooden frame houses– the essence of the festive Caribbean. Rum rules in Barbados, and, over the centuries, cane plantations have divided the Bajan landscape into a pretty patchwork of fields, coconut and royal palms, breadfruit, oleander, and citrus trees.