For topical art from a Turner Prize winner, head to the British capital's Barbican Theatre for a stunning new exhibition inspired by the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Artist Steve McQueen's moving tribute to the victims of the violence was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum and runs until the end of July.

It comprises a wooden cabinet containing a series of facsimile postage stamps featuring photos of the British men and women who have died serving in the countries since the recent fighting began.

Queen and Country was created after McQueen's own visit to Iraq in 2003 and he hopes the exhibition commemorates both the lives lost there as well as the grieving families left at home.

Visitors will also be invited to lend their support to McQueen's quest to turn his art idea into an official set of stamps to be issued by the Royal Mail.

Other current exhibitions at the Barbican include a showcase of Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf and sculptures by Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping.

An exciting new donation to the National Portrait Gallery could give art and photography aficionados a reason to re-visit one of the British capital's premier sights.

The collection - all work by late Californian businessman-turned-snapper Bern Schwartz - features photos of iconic 20th century figures including Margaret Thatcher and David Hockney.

A total of 140 pieces have been donated to the gallery by the photographer's son and president of the Schwartz Foundation, Michael Schwartz.

He says: "We hope the pictures will be seen and enjoyed by those interested in the subjects. We can think of no better home for them."

Other famous faces in the collection include ballets dancers Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, thespian Sir John Gielgud and the Prince of Wales.

The National Portrait Gallery is situated in St Martins Place and exhibits portraits in all mediums, from oil and watercolour to sculpture and drawing, depicting famous men and women from the Tudors to present day.

For a piece of China head no further than Colchester this summer as the city celebrates a cultural twinning.

The Essex county town will mark its 20-year partnership with Jiangsu Province by staging arts events across the region between July 2008 and March 2009.

Among the performances already scheduled will be dancers, traditional puppetry, master crafts, music and the results of a 2007 photography exchange which saw local snapper Anthony Channer travel to Jiangsu to capture images of everyday life.

Colchester Castle Museum is also entering into the spirit of the festival with an exhibition of 2,000-year-old figurines on loan from China's Xuzhou Museum.

The 43 artefacts, which stand between one and two feet tall, represent soldiers, officials, dancers, musicians and cavalry horses all excavated from royal tombs in the last 25 years.

The display runs from July 19th until November 2nd and is open daily.

Nothing to do with the hit American series, Estonia's prison break comprises a grim Soviet legacy located in Tallinn harbour.

Patarei seafront jail is now open for guided tours from Wednesday to Sundays for a small admission fee.

It was originally established as a sea fortress in 1840 and housed inmates from 1919 to 2002. Since then it has remained virtually untouched allowing a chilling glimpse into life behind bars for Soviet prisoners.

Cells, work areas and exercise yards are all open for exploration as well as rooms where KGB officers are alleged to have tortured and killed their political dissenters.

Clothing, bedding, posters, shoes, dead plants and hospital instruments remain scattered about the complex in an uncomfortable reminder of the country's troubled past.

For a broader historical overview of the Soviet period, the Occupation Museum in Tallinn is worth a visit too.

Brush up on medical history with a visit to the home of Portugal's first Nobel Prize winner, the neurosurgery pioneer Egaz Moniz.

Moniz was born in the small town of Avanca and his country house here has become a living museum to his memory and work.

Located 17km southwest of Santa Maria da Feira in the north of Portugal, it contains the professor's valuable collection of furniture, porcelain, glassware, paintings, engravings, sculptures and tapestries as well as some of his scientific instruments and research documents.

More chillingly, visitors can view the bullet-holed chair where Moniz was sitting in 1939 when he was shot by an unsatisfied psychiatric patient.

He survived the incident and received worldwide recognition a decade later when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for performing the first ever lobotomy.

Moniz died in 1955 in Lisbon, where he had served as professor of neurology.

There are just two more weeks to visit Madrid's famous Prado museum and indulge on canvases by one of the country's greatest painters.

Goya in Times of War commemorates the bicentenary of the start of the Spanish War of Independence with focus on Goya's famous works of the 2nd and 3rd of May 1808, which have been cleaned and restored.

Additionally, visitors can feast their eyes on a further 200 paintings by the artist, mainly loaned by other galleries or private collectors.

In terms of number and quality, this exhibition has been feted as one of the greatest of Goya's work since the Prado's 1996 effort.

However, it has already courted a storm of controversy after the museum last month disputed the authorship of one of its most famous paintings, The Colossus, which it now attributes to Goya's close friend and collaborator Asensio Juli instead.

The exhibition runs until July 13th.

Fashion and the French capital have always gone hand in hand but nowhere so prominently than the city's Musee de la Mode et Du Textile.

Housed in Paris' famous Palais Galiera, the museum hosts regular exhibitions alongside its longstanding displays.

The collection includes some 16,000 costumes, 35,000 fashion accessories and 30,000 pieces of textile making it one of the most comprehensive clothes museums in the world.

Exhibits date from the flamboyant Regency period to modern day masterpieces and are constantly bolstered by donations from private collectors, manufacturers or designers.

The latter and their work also make up their own section of the museum, with catwalk innovators such as Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Christian Dior all catalogued.

The life and works of French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent are also charted. The revered couturier died on June 1st 2008.

Oslo is a sleek Scandinavian city that offers more than just the usual attractions visitors might encounter on a city break.

For example, the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art on Dronningensgate is no normal art gallery as visitors enter this large space through giant steel sliding doors.

Collections are displayed in rooms of great height, as the gallery is simply split into two levels.

And the decor could not detract from the exciting pieces of art on display here, as the plain concrete walls are matched by a stone floor.

Future exhibitions include one celebrating renowned artist Andy Warhol and his connection with politics, society and religion.

If one art gallery is not enough to inspire visitors to Oslo, than a museum celebrating the work of Edvard Munch could do just the trick, or perhaps the International Museum of Children's Art will provide spectators with a fresh look on life.

Offering fantastic views right across London, Tower Bridge is one of the most famous constructions of its type in the world.

Now open to the public as a museum, the medieval-looking bridge, which is still in use, was opened in 1894.

Designed by Sir Horace Jones, it is notable for its engineering ingenuity, hydraulically-operating twin bascules, raising them to allow space for tall ships and boats to pass through.

It is possible to call ahead to find out when a bridge lift is occuring, so visitors have a chance to see this impressive sight, taking place approximately 1,000 times a year.

The in-house museum, the Tower Bridge Experience, offers a fascinating insight into the history of the bride by way of animatronic characters, video and computers.

From the walkways, which are situated 42 metres above the River Thames, visitors can see breathtaking views of some of the British capital's most noteworthy landmarks, including Canary Wharf, St Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye.

Barcelona offers a wealth of cultural attractions for visitors to this Catalan city, with Antoni Gaudi's buildings, artwork and parks decorating this vibrant metropolis.

Salvador Dali's influence is also clear for all to see, as the abstract artist spent some years of his life in Barcelona.

However, there are some hidden cultural gems in the city that are not as well known as the work of these Spanish artists.

The Caixa Forum is housed in the Modernista Casa Ramona and boasts 3,000 sq m of exhibition space.

A former textile factory, the design of this building may be worth a look on its own, particularly as Japanese architect Arata Isozaki has added a new main entrance to the venue.

Another highlight of Barcelona is la Sagrada Familia, a huge Roman Catholic church that is still under construction after it was started in 1882 by Gaudi.