Zurich

While you're enjoying the tranquil surrounds on one of our short breaks to Zurich, you'll soon see why the city's skyline forms the backbone of the Swiss postcard industry.

With a backdrop of jagged alpine peaks whitewashed with snow and sandwiched between clear blue skies and the waters of Lake Zurich, Switzerland's most populated city more than lives up to its claim to be among the most beautiful in Europe.

Wandering the cobbled streets of the Old Town it's easy to forget that you're in the financial capital of mainland Europe (Zurich is home to the world's largest gold bullion market and the fourth largest stock exchange).

But travellers who have been on city breaks to Zurich will testify that far from being a city of grey commerce, it is also a city of immense cultural wealth. Historically the birthplace of the avant-garde Dadaist movement, the city has also provided lodging for such liberal thinkers as James Joyce, Thomas Mann and Carl Jung.

A great way to explore on your city break to Zurich is on one of the free bikes that are scattered about, but be warned - while Zurich is small enough to explore under your own steam - with 30 museums, over 100 galleries and more than 1,700 bars and restaurants, you'd better start early.

Time is of the essence during short breaks to Zurich because clocks are big business in Switzerland, and in Europe they don't come any bigger than the eye-catching clock face adorning the medieval tower of St Peter's Church.

Other 'don't miss' experiences include the view from the Karlstrum (one of the two pinnacles that top the 12th century Grossmünster church) and the five beautiful stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall that illuminate the choir in the otherwise gothic Fraumünster church.

For art aficionados, the catalogue of works hanging in the Kunsthaus, reads like a dictionary of art, with favourites including Rodin's 'Gate of Hell', a wing dedicated to Swiss-born sculptor Giacometti and the largest Edvard Munch collection outside of Scandinavia.

Souvenir hunters will be happy to find out that shopping on a short break to Zurich goes beyond multi-purpose army knives and chocolate (although chocoholics shouldn't miss out on a tour of the Lindt & Sprüngli factory just outside the city centre), and boutiques don't get much more chic (or expensive) than along Bahnhoffstrasse.

Come nightfall, cap your city break to Zurich at one of the procession of lively bars and cafes that line Niederdorf.