Here is a sampling of the many special events and developments taking place in Europe this year.

ACROSS THE CONTINENT

TRAINS: Eurostar trains between England and the Continent have resumed normal service following months of repairs to the English Channel tunnel. www.eurostar.com.

• A new high-speed rail link cuts the time between Milan and Rome by an hour to 3 ½ hours. www.raileurope.com.

MOTORING: Some auto rental companies in Europe are cracking down, requiring an international driver's permit (IDP) from car renters. IDPs are available from most AAA offices in the United States for about $15. www.aaasouth.com.

AUSTRIA

• Vienna has scheduled dozens of concerts to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the death of composer Franz Haydn. www.haydnfestival.at.

• Linz, along with Vilnius, Lithuania, is Europe's Gultural Capital of 2009, with special events keyed to that city. www.linz09.at. Also, www.austria.info.

BELGIUM

• A new museum dedicated to the works of surrealist painter Rene Magritte opens in Brussels in June. www.visitbelgium.com.

DENMARK

• Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen's famous amusement park, will open Northern Europe's fastest interactive ride, a 360-degree aerobatic swirler that reaches 62 mph, on May 1. Its Nimb building now has become a culinary complex with gourmet restaurant, its own dairy, bakery, wine cellar and five-star hotel. www.visitdenmark.com.

FRANCE

• It's the year of Picasso in Provence, featuring a special exhibition at the Granet museum in Aix en Provence and a rare opening of the artist's home, Chateau of Vauvenargues.

• In Normandy, the 65th anniversary of D-Day may be one of the last times aging American veterans come to visit. www.franceguide.com.

GERMANY

• Ninety years of Bauhaus design are being celebrated this year with events in Weimar, Dessau, Berlin and other cities. www.weimar.de, www.visitBerlin.de, www.cometogermany.com.

• Berlin is reopening its venerable Neues Museum on Museum Island Oct. 15 after a decade-long restoration, and its celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall climax in November. www.visitBerlin.de.

HOLLAND

• Opening in Amsterdam June 20 is Mermitage Amsterdam, the only ''branch'' of the great Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than 1,800 treasures from the original Hermitage will be displayed in the opening exhibition, At the Russian Court.

• It's been 400 years since Henry Hudson founded New Amsterdam, now New York City, in the New World. Famed Keukenhof Gardens will celebrate the occasion with an American theme -- a flower version of the Statue of liberty with 50,000 flower bulbs, plus representations in flowers of the Hudson River, Hollywood, Manhattan, Washington and Portland. www.holland.com.

SPAIN

• A new terminal will open at Barcelona's busy airport by summertime.

• A new Rock and Roll Museum also opens in Barcelona this year with such exhibits as the wedding dress Madonna wore on her Like a Virgin tour, Jim Morrison's poems and Bruce Springsteen's manuscripts.

• Granada boasts two new museums this year: The $50-million Museum of the Memory of Andalusia and a $50-million expansion of the Granada Science Park with scientific exhibits, a planetarium, observatory and butterfly house. www.spain.info.

SWITZERLAND

• The renowned Art Basel show (parent to Miami Beach's annual event) marks its 40th anniversary with more than 300 galleries exhibiting and an expected 60,000 attending its June 10-14 show. Also in Basel: An exhibit of rarely seen Van Gogh landscapes at the Kunstmuseum Basel.

• As of Jan. 1, the country has joined the Schengen area, which means travelers now can move freely without a separate visa between it and other EU countries. www.myswitzerland.com.

UNITED KINGDOM

• The $33-million Great North Museum opens in Newcastle this spring with such displays as a large interactive model of Hadrian's Wall, a lifesize T-Rex skeleton, Greek and Etruscan relics.

• Celebrating the 250th birthday of poet Robert Burns, Scotland is putting together year-long special events. www.visitbritain.com.

-- JAY CLARKE

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