The Old-World beckons from an ocean away, its legend and history a haunting dream.

Squint into the distance: you can still see the ghosts of rising dust on roads leading to Rome or Athens. Time travel becomes easy in a rustic chateau in Provence; cypress-guarded hills of sun-drenched Tuscany; or the Moorish architecture of Seville. It simply stands still when sipping an espresso on the canals of Venice or Amsterdam; strolling the rose gardens of the English countryside; and when you crane your neck until you can stretch it no more to take in majestic spires that twist into the sun in Prague, Budapest, or Barcelona.

Trade those towers for whitewashed buildings capped in Aegean blue, or, turn your gaze skyward once more to mountaintops hidden by clouds, a jagged horizon of white and green across Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. Then close your eyes and feel the connection as you ground down into the roots of Western civilization.

Travel by Beth specializes in European trips in England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Iceland, Germany and Greece.