Nigel Marsh

An interesting and educational way to spend an hour in Copenhagen, the Happiness Museum is a public presentation of the results of studies by the Institute of Happiness. Every visitor from overseas will want to know the secret of Denmark's "lykke", and this is the best place to achieve that. There are surveys you can complete, graphs of comparative happiness statistics, and an entertaining passage lined with sticky notes where people who have visited the museum discuss the things that make them the most happy. Some are moving and sublime, and some are very amusing.

A busy, pretty marina with some astonishing yachts and boats. Many tourists will come here (as we did) as part of a sea-trip expedition. We went snorkelling on the coral reefs and were privileged to be visited by a dolphin who wanted to see what we were up to - such a delight. The marina has been developed as an attraction in its own right, with restaurants and cafes, shops and street traders. Everyone's manners were impeccable and we felt safe and well looked-after by the professionals.

It's always bustling with tourists in Carcassonne, but the city is magical and there's nowhere better to get your first view than from the Pont Vieux. The stately arches over the Aude immediately set your mind in the mediaeval period, and the view of the walls and turrets of the city rising over the trees are breathtaking. We saw three coypu swimming up the river one at a time, nibbling on the weed as they went, which was an unexpected treat (and led to us Googling just what it was that we were watching, as they aren't common back home!)