Budapest

Modern travellers aren't the first to take short breaks to Budapest. Centuries ago, after a fearless bunch from Siberia founded the villages of Buda and Pest on opposite banks of the meandering Danube River, the Mongols invaded, and then the Turks.

Ensuing centuries found the region under the thumbs of the Slovaks, Austrians, Germans and Russians. Buda and Pest, however, flourished. In 1872 they were united, along with neighbouring Obuda, to create one of the world's most beautiful and atmospheric capitals - as anyone who has enjoyed short breaks to Budapest will testify.

There's so much to see on city breaks to Budapest, it's hard to know where to start. The Chain Bridge, whose sturdy arches and lion statues link hilly Buda on the west bank with the flat plains of Pest on the east, is a good bet.

In Buda, travelling by cable railway up Castle Hill is a must. Explore the Castle District's cobblestone streets, stop for a sweeping panorama of the city from the turreted Fishermen's Bastion and take in the hybrid architecture and museums of the Royal Palace. It's no surprise that city breaks to Budapest are often spent gaping for hours at its incredible buildings.

In Pest, walk up the Main Market Hall and join throngs of shoppers on Vaci utca, before soaking up the fantastically ornate State Opera House, the vastness of St Stephen's Church, and further out, the memories and statues in Heroes' Square. For others, the Roman ruins in Obuda, the oldest part of the capital, will hold the strongest attraction.

Perhaps the city's most alluring quality is its ambience - even short breaks to Budapest provide a taste of how eclectic and atmospheric the city is. Excitement about the future mingles with a fierce pride in the past - and, from a backstreet kitchen window, the tantalising waft of goulash.