New sites in Europe this year

Here's a rundown of what's new and changing in Europe this year, to make your trip more fun and to shorten the time you spend standing in line for must-see sights.

Other museum openings and closings include the recently refurbished Impressionist galleries of the Musee d'Orsay. After a bit of a shakeout, paintings have settled into permanent locations, offering a fresh view of this rich trove of masterworks. The long-closed Picasso Museum should finally reopen this summer. Meanwhile, the Rodin Museum is undergoing a major renovation until 2014. While statues will be moved around and some rooms will close altogether, the museum's lovely gardens remain open.

There are several intriguing new tour options in Paris. Classic Walks offers new Easy Pass tours that allow you to skip the lines at major sights such as the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower (easypasstours.com). TripUp's pedicab tours, helmed by hard-pedaling drivers, are a charming way to experience Paris at a snail's pace (tripup.fr). If rumbling around Paris in a funky old Citroen 2CV convertible a la Inspector Clouseau sounds like your kind of fun, check out Paris Authentic (parisauthentic.com) or 4 Roués Sous 1 Parapluie (4roues-sous-1parapluie.com).

The city's Velib bike program is now more accessible to visitors, who can buy a one- or seven-day subscription online (en.velib.paris.fr). This is a fun way to tootle between sights -- the first 30 minutes of any trip are included with your subscription; after that, there's a small fee for each additional 30 minutes.

St. Kilian's Cathedral -- the main church in Würzburg, and the fourth-largest Romanesque cathedral in Germany -- has reopened after a 3.2million-euro renovation. The ornate stucco decoration inside has been spiffed up and the cathedral's two organs restored.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is reopening its Kunstkammer (Cabinet of Wonders) exhibit to show off the lavish curiosities the Habsburg emperors gathered to impress their friends and enemies. Meanwhile, in the upstairs gallery known as the Gemaldegalerie, curators have been busily rearranging the paintings.

Vienna's most impressive and crowded palace, Schonbrunn, now has an online ticketing system. It's possible to avoid the admission lines there by reserving a timed-entry ticket at the palace's website in advance (schoenbrunn.at).

Vienna's train stations will be in disarray for the next few years, as the city rebuilds its central station and remodels several others. The wonderful Westbahnhof (West Station) already has been beautifully renovated -- with the 1950s shell now filled with a modern mall of services, shops, and eateries.

The Uffizi Gallery is still undergoing a massive, yearslong renovation that bodes well for travelers. Although a few rooms are off-limits, many more have been opened to the public, such as the Caravaggio Rooms and the new "Foreign Painters Section," featuring mostly Dutch/Flemish painters (including Rembrandt) with some Spanish and French artists.

From April through September, the best late-hours sightseeing is at the Palazzo Vecchio, the fortified palace where the Medicis ruled. The site generally stays open until midnight. Also, the Palazzo Vecchio's tower has reopened to visitors, providing a great cityscape view.

The Galileo Science Museum, which was renovated recently, has rearranged and dramatically updated its exhibits. Engaging video screens (in English) have been added to many rooms to help illustrate inventions and scientific principles.

To make the most of cruising the Grand Canal on a public vaporetto (water bus), catch the boat at Piazzale Roma (just before the crowded train-

station stop), where you'll have your choice of seats.

Formerly presented every other year, the Venice Biennale -- a world-class, contemporary art fair -- is now an annual event. It alternates between visual art in odd years and architecture in even years. The exhibition spreads over the Arsenale and Giardini park and runs June 1 through Nov. 23.

Visitors hoping to capture some of the Olympic afterglow can soon visit the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The northern part will open July 27, on the anniversary of the opening ceremonies, and will feature footpaths, playgrounds and picnic-friendly greens. The southern half, highlighted by the twisty red Orbit, is slated to open next spring. Visitors will be able to swim in the pool where Michael Phelps won his 18th gold medal, as construction is under way to open up the Aquatics Centre for public leisure (pronounced LEH-zhoor in Britain).

Travelers interested in royalty will delight in the newly refurbished Kensington Palace, which now hosts a worthwhile series of exhibits on its most notable past residents, including William and Mary, and the Hanovers (the "Georges"). The highlight is the exhibit on Queen Victoria, who was born and raised in this palace.

The wizarding world is abuzz over the opening of the "Making of Harry Potter" studio tour in Leavesden, a 20-minute train ride from London. The attraction lets Potter-philes see the actual sets and props used in the films, along with exhibits about how the special effects were created. Visitors must book a time slot in advance (wbstudiotour.co.uk).

Near Bath, visitors can explore Avebury Manor and Garden, the subject of "The Manor Reborn," a four-hour BBC documentary on the refurbishment of the 500-year-old estate by a team of historians and craftspeople. Nine rooms decorated in five different styles show the progression of design trends from Tudor to Queen Anne to early 20th century. A limited number of timed tickets are sold each day.

Renovations continue at the stately York Minster. While the Great East Window remains behind scaffolding, several examples of the window's stained glass can be viewed up close in the Orb, a space-age-looking vessel located inside the Minster.