Bern

Six kilometres of covered walkway along the old town streets, built so goods and shoppers stayed dry. Half the shops are in the vaulted cellars beneath, reached by trapdoor stairs opening straight out of the pavement.

The old west gate turned clock tower, rebuilt after the fire of 1405, with an astronomical clock and mechanical figures dating from 1530. A rooster crows and the puppets turn in the minutes before each hour; stand on the east side to see it.

Three brown bears in a five-thousand square metre enclosure running down to the Aare below the old town. Free, open around the clock all year, and the bear has been Bern's emblem for eight centuries.

Renzo Piano's three steel waves on the edge of town, holding the largest single collection of Paul Klee's work anywhere. Bus 12 from the centre drops you at the door.

In summer the city walks upstream to Eichholz or Marzili and floats back down on the current. The water is fast and genuinely cold, the exits are marked, and you must know which one you are taking before you get in.

Bern is under an hour from Zurich, about 50 minutes from Interlaken Ost and under two hours from Geneva. Almost every long-distance Swiss route passes through here, which makes it an easy pivot.

The old town is a kilometre-long peninsula and you will walk all of it. Trams and buses cover the rest, and the Bern Ticket comes free with your hotel booking for the length of your stay.

The arcaded streets are largely closed to traffic and parking in the old town is limited and expensive. Use one of the park-and-ride sites on the edge and take the tram in.

June to August, when the Aare is warm enough to swim and the Gurten has open-air concerts.

November to February, minus the Christmas market weeks: the cheapest rates of any Swiss city this size.

Any week the Federal Assembly is sitting, plus fine weekends from May onwards.

Walk the arcades from the station down to the Nydegg bridge, stopping at the painted fountains; the child-eater on Kornhausplatz is the one everyone photographs.

Puppets at the Zytglogge on the hour, then up the Minster tower, the tallest church spire in Switzerland, for the view over the river loop.

A cellar restaurant off the Kramgasse, or a sandwich from the Bärenplatz market eaten on the Münsterplattform terrace.

Cross to the BärenPark, then climb to the Rosengarten for the standard and still excellent view back over the old town roofs.

If it is warm, Marzili and a float down the Aare with the rest of the city. Otherwise eat in Lorraine or Breitenrain, where Bern actually goes out.

A funicular from Wabern up the city's own hill to a plateau with views to the Alps, a park, a small railway for children, and the Gurtenfestival in July.

Twenty minutes by train to a castle above an arcaded old town, and the boats from there up Lake Thun to Interlaken.