NEW YORK -- Each month last year between May and September, well over a million Americans flew to Europe, with a peak of nearly 1.6 million arriving in June, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Travel & Tourism Industries. The European Travel Commission expects those numbers to increase this year.

If you'll be among the masses from the U.S. sampling culture, cuisine and countryside on the other side of the Atlantic this spring or summer, here are some events to consider. And remember that regardless of where your plane lands, you can always hop a train, rent a car or take a short-haul flight from your initial destination to another part of the continent.

Feeling homesick in Paris? After you've paid homage to the Mona Lisa, you can check out "American Artists and the Louvre," June 14-Sept. 18, including works by Edward Hopper. And if you missed "Modern Art in Paris: the Vollard Gallery from Cezanne to Picasso" at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, catch it at the Louvre June 19-Sept. 16.

Or explore America's English roots from a different perspective at the American Museum in Britain at Claverton Manor in Bath, where a new exhibit interprets American history from the Colonial period to the 20th century. The show opens April 25.

For a glimpse of Victorian England, a new entertainment center called Dickens World will take you back to the late 19th century, complete with cobbled streets, shops, pubs, live burlesque shows and a boat ride through a theme park version of old London sewers. (Watch out for Fagin.) Dickens World is scheduled to open in late April in Chatham, Kent.

In Germany, the contemporary art exhibit Documenta 12 takes place in Kassel, June 16-Sept. 23, while Muenster hosts Sculpture Projects June 17-Sept. 30. Documenta is held every five years, and the sculpture exhibit every 10. The Venice Biennale, held in Italy every two years, runs June 10-Nov. 21. And while Art Basel Miami is the place for art-lovers to be seen in December, the original Art Basel takes place in Switzerland, June 13-17.

If you're heading for Holland, get ready for tulips, chocolate and ... clubbing! 2007 is the year of "Dance & Music" in the Netherlands, and the country is promoting its DJ and club scene, including Waterfront in Rotterdam and the Supper Club and Escape in Amsterdam, along with various music festivals, such as Sensation Black, Sensation White, Dance Valley and Mystery Land. Or if you prefer to stick to the tulips, the Keukenhof gardens, located between Amsterdam and The Hague, hosts what's billed as the world's largest flower show through May 20.

For more ideas, go to http://www.visiteurope.com.