Whether it’s a romantic getaway or a family vacation, the oldest parts of Europe offer a visual feast for young and old alike. So this summer, step outside the fast and furious pace of Madrid, Milan and Dublin and slip back into the way things used to be. Here is an arbitrary, though captivating, list of this summer’s most enchanting destinations.

Avila, Spain's 11th century walls are the most important and best preserved of the Spanish medieval walls, circling, in a meandering trapezoidal whimsy, the medieval Avila. Avila is perhaps best done as a day trip from Madrid, as Avila isn't a major destination in itself.

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If you're looking for a walled city in Spain, Girona might be a better destination, despite the fact that most of its walls have been systematically destroyed and then rebuilt in the 19th century. Girona began as a Roman settlement, then became a medieval hub where Christians, Jews and Arabs converged, making it an architecturally interesting city, and one of the true little-visited gems of Spain.

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York, England has the longest and best-preserved town walls in England, estimated as weighing 100,000 metric tons. The walls are 3.4 kilometers long and there are five main "bars" or gateways and 45 towers. There are also the famous York ginnels--fifty or so little thoroughfares within the city walls--medieval short-cuts you can use to explore the city as if you were running from (or towards) trouble in the broad, cobbled streets.

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