ZÜRICH

Not so long ago, ZÜRICH was famed for being the most icily calm, cleanest city in Europe. Apocryphal stories abound from the 1970s of tourists setting out to find a cigarette butt or a food wrapper discarded on the streets and drawing a blank every time. Since then, Zürich has reinvented itself. This most beautiful of cities, astride a river and turned towards a crystal-clear lake and distant snowy peaks, has plenty to recommend it. Now you can people-watch on crowded, multi-ethnic streets, drink, dance or hang out at bars and clubs as hip and varied as those in more celebrated European cities, and feel a lived-in urban buzz that contradicts the Swiss stereotype. The steep, cobbled alleys of the Old Town are perfect for exploratory wanderings, and with an engaging café culture and a wealth of nightlife, you could easily spend days here.