Seven destinations in the spotlight for 2014

The Olympics, the World Cup and commemorations of World War I, D-Day and the fall of the Berlin Wall are some of the events that will spotlight destinations like Sochi, Brazil, Sarajevo, Normandy and Berlin in 2014.

Elsewhere abroad, a potentially game-changing high-speed rail service has just launched linking Paris and Barcelona. Some travelers may now prefer the train over a plane, with the train ride cut in half to just over six hours between the two cities.

Back in the U.S., St. Louis marks the 250th anniversary of its Feb. 15, 1764 founding with celebrations in February including a reenactment, parties and a music festival. Other events are planned throughout the year.

Harry Potter fans will have a new reason to visit Florida next summer when the Universal Orlando theme park opens a new area with attractions inspired by the books’ fictional scenes in Diagon Alley and London. A train called the Hogwarts Express will take visitors back and forth between the new Potter attractions — including a restaurant called the Leaky Cauldron — and Universal’s existing Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal also plans an 1,800-room 1960s-themed resort and eight new restaurants at the CityWalk dining area for 2014.

Nearby, Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., will open a new family coaster, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, in the spring.

This artist rendering provided by NBC Universal shows the new Harry Potter-themed area of the Universal theme park in Orlando, Fla., planned for 2014, which was inspired partly by the fictional Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books and movies. The area will be linked to the existing Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction by a train called the Hogwarts Express.

Torch bearers held Olympic torches during the Olympic torch relay in the Sheregesh winter sports resort near Tashtagol, Kemerovo region, western Siberia. The Winter Olympics take takes place in Sochi Feb. 7-23, raising the profile of the Russian Black Sea resort that is one of the least-known Olympic destinations in years.

Tourist boats moored on the Rio Negro, the largest left tributary of the Amazon, in Manaus, Brazil. Manaus is the most exotic of the 12 cities where the World Cup games will be played in June in Brazil. Despite receiving some early bad press, the steamy city is a gateway to Amazon tourism and is likely to attract loads of soccer fans as some of the tournament’s top games will be played there.

The exterior of a new gallery, Norsk Kultur in the Norway pavilion at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The new exhibit explores how the culture and beauty of Norway inspired the filmmakers during the creation of Disney’s “Frozen.” Norsk Kultur, meaning “Norweigan Culture,” features items such as an authentic hand-made bunad, the traditional costume of Norway; a hardanger fiddle and other handmade instruments; hand-carved artisan furniture; examples of rosemaling (traditional Norse decorative painting).

The graves of three German World War One soldiers at the German Military Cemetery, Soldatenfriedhof, in Menen, Belgium. During World War I, Menen was occupied by German troops. The cemetery contains the graves of 47, 864 soldiers who lost their lives. Events are planned across Europe beginning in the summer of 2014 to mark the century since World War I began.

Thousands of Berliners crowded at the Brandenburg Gate and stood on top of the Berlin Wall after two new crossings were made, reuniting the divided city after 28 years. In 2014, Berlin will mark 25 years since the wall was breached. Events and exhibits commemorating the anniversary will include an installation of illuminated balloons on a 7 1/2-mile path where Berlin was once divided by the wall into East and West.

Johannes Vermeer’s famous painting “Girl With a Pearl Earring” part of the “Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis” exhibit at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, one of a number of places the painting and other Dutch masterworks were exhibited while their home museum, the Mauritshuis in The Hague, underwent a two-year renovation. The museum in Holland reopens in June with the Vermeer and other paintings back in its collection.