Tucked near Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina, this popular, chic trattoria, with gingham tablecloths and chintzy murals, also has some streetside seating on the quiet cobbled lane.

Paris is a collection of villages, and this 48-hectare cemetery of cobbled lanes and elaborate tombs the size of small houses qualifies as one in its own right.

In reality, they were mean cobbled lanes parallel to the splendid thoroughfares of Princes Street and George Street, but they were notorious for the number of pubs they contained.

But you soon escape both by wandering up the steep cobbled lanes that climb their cliffs.

Alghero's medieval centre with its cobbled lanes, bustling squares and honey-coloured walls preserves more than a whiff of the centuries of Catalan presence here.

It is a real pleasure to explore the busy cobbled lanes twisting around the ancient buildings - the monastery is essentially a walled town in its own right.

Perhaps visit the Mezquita with its golden arches and intricate columns or take a walk through the maze of the old quarter with its cobbled lanes, pleasant squares and riots of potted colour.

And just to the north lie the pretty cobbled lanes of Vieux Lille, the historic centre.

Here is charming proof that you do not have to travel hundreds of miles from Madrid to immerse yourself in the Spain of pack-donkeys on cobbled lanes.

The beach is about 20 paces away, and the rustic cobbled lanes of Old Nice are a mere five-minute walk.