While many of the world's oldest cities, settled around the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East, are off-limits to travellers at present, Europe's most ancient settlements are very much open to visitors. These are the continent's 16 oldest continually inhabited.

1. Yerevan, Armenia

When did the earliest inhabitants settle? 782 BC

Some 30 years before Rome was founded, the city that is now Armenia's capital was serving as an important stop along the caravan routes from Asia to Europe. It was invaded by Assyrians, Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Mongols and Turks, and later by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the capital of the Republic of Armenia has seen the growth of cultural institutions (it is home to a bewildering number of museums). Tourism is also developing slowly - a handful operators currently offer guided trips to the country.

By Lizzie Porter