I love Venice at night, and recently, I was reminded why. The evening started at one of my favorite Venice restaurants. The chef served up a seafood bounty from the lagoon, accompanied by deliciously grilled local vegetables and polenta. After dinner, twinkling from my sprightly Venetian white wine, I wandered through the tangle of back lanes, musty with history, pausing on lonely bridges to watch gondolas glide silently by. Finally, I turned the corner onto St. Mark's Square...

Berliners joke that they don't need to travel anywhere because their city's always changing. While you could spend weeks in Berlin and not run out of things to do, even the natives like to get out of town once in a while. Recently I tried out three easy day trips from the German capital.

First I spent half a day at Frederick the Great's opulent palace playground at Potsdam. Next, for a small-town experience that packs a huge historical wallop, I headed about an...

In the southwest corner of Switzerland, Lake Geneva separates France and Switzerland with a serene beauty. A collage of castles, museums, resort towns and vineyards, this region merits a few days of exploration, though you can get a swift overview of its highlights even in a day.

Last summer I took time to relax and enjoy the tranquil and elegant city of Lausanne (the area's best home base). With a characteristic old town, towering cathedral and delightful lakeside promenade, it...