The Top 20 World's Best Places to Live 2008 Part I

Mercer Consulting's annual roundup of the global cities with the best quality of life is here, and Zurich once again comes out on top. The best place in the U.S.? Honolulu at No. 28.

New York, London, and Paris are internationally renowned cities but consultants at Mercer Consulting have picked Zurich, Switzerland, as the best place to live in the company's annual survey.

Consultants rated each city on a variety of factors including the level of traffic congestion, air quality, and personal safety reported by expatriates living in more than 600 cities worldwide. In the top 25, U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago were all edged out by Geneva, Switzerland, Vancouver, B.C., and Auckland, New Zealand. The highest-scoring U.S. city is Honolulu, which came in at No. 28.

Still, Mercer acknowledges that cities with a high quality of life are not necessarily the most exciting. "There are a lot of 'sleepy' towns that got high ratings," said Rebecca Powers, a principal consultant in human capital for the company. "But if you were to judge them on something like nightlife, there are some that probably wouldn't have rated as high."

By: Planetware.com

Zurich (German spelling Zürich), Switzerland's largest city and capital of the canton of Zurich, is also the country's economic and cultural hub; but with all its bustling activity it is still one of the finest Swiss towns, with carefully cherished traditions and much to attract and interest the

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visitor. The town lies at the lower northwestern end of Lake Zurich astride the river Limmat which flows out of the lake at this point, between the Uetliberg on the west and the Zürichberg on the east. It has both a University and the Federal College of Technology. Three of the five major Swiss banks have their head offices in the famous Bahnhofstrasse, one of the finest shopping streets in Europe. Zurich is also a great financial and industrial capital (mainly textiles, engineering and electrical equipment). In addition it is the country's leading tourist attraction, with about a million visitors a year. A fifth of the country's total national income is earned in Zurich.

Zurich is also the most important focus of communications in Switzerland. It has the country's largest airport; its railroad station is on the great international through routes from Vienna and Munich to southern France and Spain and from Stuttgart to Milan; and a number of highways meet at the city. The highways all end, however, at the city boundary, since the citizens of Zurich - who have a large say in the matter - have been unable to agree on the line of an urban expressway. As a result, all through traffic has to find its way through the city, which can be very time-consuming. The suburban railroad was completed in 1994.

The city of Zurich has a total area of 92 sq. km/36 sq. mi. The population in 1892, before the incorporation of suburban communes, was 87,400. In 1960 the population of the enlarged city had risen to 440,170 - its highest point - but by 1987 it had fallen to 353,000 (840,320 for the whole urban area). Less than half the resident population belong to the canton of Zurich. Until the end of the 18th C. the population of Zurich was almost entirely Protestant but by 1979 the proportion of Roman Catholics had reached almost 40%, giving Zurich the largest number of Catholics of any town in Switzerland.

Since 1830 Zurich has been capital of the canton of Zurich, the seventh largest of the Swiss cantons in terms of area (1,729 sq. km/668 sq. mi) and the largest of them all in terms of population (1,131,000 (1987)). Situated in the Swiss Mittelland, it has a green and gentle landscape, reaching its lowest point in the Rhine valley (330 m/1,083ft) and its highest in the Schnebelhorn (1,292 m/4,239ft). It has much to offer the visitor, with its charming little towns and neat villages, its beautiful countryside and well-kept vineyards.

The earliest traces of human occupation on the site of Zurich were a Neolithic settlement excavated on the Bauschänzli, the little island in the River Limmat. The Roman fortified settlement of Turicum was established on the Lindenhof, where there had been a Roman military station as early as 15 B.C.. According to the legendary story the town's patron saints Felix and Regula fled to Zurich with the Theban Legion and were beheaded there; their remains were preserved in the Grossmünster (begun not later than the ninth C.). The works of Hartmann von er Aue and the poems by other medieval minnesingers preserved in the Manesse Manuscript (written in Zurich but now in the University Library of Heidelberg) are a reminder of the great days of chivalry. The development of Zurich into a city state was given a considerable stimulus when the guilds obtained equal rights with the nobility after an assault on the Town Hall in 1336 and, in 1351, it became a member of the Confederation. In 1523 Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) established the Reformation in Switzerland and made Zurich one of the great cities of the Reformed faith, ranking equally with Wittenberg and Geneva. The town rose to prosperity through its silk and cotton industries; but when a federal state was established in the 19th C. the status of capital passed from Zurich to Berne. In the 18th C. Zurich became influential in intellectual life, with such figures as the theologian Johann Caspar Lavater, the educationalist Heinrich Pestalozzi, the great scholar Johann Jakob Bodmer and the writer Salomon Gessner. During the 19th and 20th C. the town continued to be a pivotal point of liberal thought, and among the notable personalities who stayed here were Gottfried Keller, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Georg Büchner, August Bebel, Lenin, James Joyce, C. G. Jung, Ludwig Klages and Thomas Mann. In 1916 the Dadaist school was founded in Zurich. In 1980 and 1981 serious confrontations occurred between young people and police (including the occupation and clearance of a youth center). In June 1982 the autonomous Youth Center of Zurich was closed.

One of Europe's most important newspapers, the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", is published in Zurich. Founded in 1780 by Salomon Gessner, it now has an editorial staff of 100 and a circulation of some 145,000.

The Bahnhofstrasse in Zürich is one of the most attractive streets in Europe for shopping. Here there are fashion houses, boutiques, department stores and specialist shops (especially jewelry, watches and clocks, shoes, furs and fashion accessories). Small boutiques and antique dealers can be found mainly in the old town to the south of the Lindenhof (Rennweg, Strehlgasse, Augustinergasse, St Petershof, Münsterhof) and north of the Grossmünster. The Limmatquai (right bank), with its fine guild houses, is also a favorite shopping street. Unusual articles and curiosities can be found in the side streets of the old town, in Oberdorf and Niederdorf, where there are many bars, cafes and restaurants. The Löwenstrasse district and the adjoining "Shopville" in the station subcourse is another popular shopping area. The pedestrian zone around the Oerlikon market place is only a few steps from the exhibition center. Local souvenirs are sold by the Schweizer Heimatwerk at Rudolf-Brun Bridge, Bahnhofstrasse 2, Rennweg 14 and at the airport. A large flea-market is held every Saturday between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the Bürkliplatz from May until October and many handmade and exotic articles are on sale at the Rosenmarkt curiosities market (Thur. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.).

Among the sports and recreational activities available in Zurich are sailing on Lake Zurich and boating on the Limmat. There are football stadia in Letzigrund and Hardturm, a covered stadium and a race-track in Oerlikon. The Allment indoor sports complex is in Zurich-Wiedikon. Other facilities include a swimming pool with wave-making equipment and an artificial ice-rink in Dolde. There are covered municipal swimming pools at the Silhporte and in Oerlikon.

Zurich is a town for sightseeing on foot, since the principal places of interest are on both sides of the river Limmat and on the north shore of Lake Zurich.

Mercer score: 107.9 2007 rank: No. 3

By: planetware.com

Vienna (Wien), capital of the Republic of Austria, lies at the foot of the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), the northeasterly foothills of the Alps, on the banks of the Danube, which here emerges, up to 285m/310yds wide, into the Vienna basin and some 50km/30mi downstream enters Slovakia at Bratislava

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Being thus situated at the intersection of the old traffic routes from the Baltic to the Adriatic and from the Alpine foreland to the Hungarian plain made Vienna the gateway for trade between the different provinces which meet here and the natural nucleus of the Habsburg empire with its far-ranging territories, extending from the Alps and the Bohemian Forest by way of the Danube valley to the Carpathians.

Vienna also has the status of a federal province of Austria (a "Bundesland") and, although the smallest in terms of area, it is the most densely populated and the most heavily industrialized and is thus - in spite of its peripheral location in present-day Austria - very much the metropolis and the political, economic, intellectual and cultural hub of the Republic. It is also the see of a Roman Catholic archbishop. After the Second World War UNO City grew up on the eastern edge of the city, where the international organization is housed.

In recent years Vienna has been the venue of many top-level international meetings and countless conferences and congresses, while continuing to attract hosts of visitors throughout the year with its great cultural and historic sights and its busy program of entertainments and events. One of the world's greatest tourist cities of unmistakably cosmopolitan atmosphere, it still retains a distinctive charm and a native flair of which - no less than of the notable elegance of Viennese women - every visitor is at once aware.

Tips for tourists

The following are a few tips about traveling in the city, shopping, the Viennese cafe, etc.

Otto Wagner's plans at the turn of the century provided for a comprehensive urban transport system (tramways). In recent years the most important lines have been replaced by underground lines retaining the Secession-style buildings of the stations at Stadtpark, Karlsplatz, Schönbrunn and Hietzing (which are under statutory protection as national monuments).

The famous Viennese horse-cabs (Fiaker) ply for hire during the summer months. There are cab ranks in Stephansplatz, Heldenplatz and Albertinaplatz. The fare varies according to the type of cab, route, time of day and number of horses; a firm price should be agreed with the driver before setting out.

The principal shopping streets in the central area (Bezirk I) are the Kärnter Strasse (between the Opera intersection and Stock-im-Eisen-Platz and Kohlmarkt), the Kohlmarkt (between the Graben and Michaelerplatz) and Rotenturmstrasse (between Stephansplatz and Franz-Josefs-Kai); and in Bezirk VI the Mariahilfer Strasse (between the Messepalast and the Westbahnhof). (Note: the "Bezirke" are the districts or wards into which the city is divided, each with its own number).

Viennese craft products, following old traditions of craftmanship, are valued for their beauty and quality. Particularly popular are both useful and decorative items of hand-painted Augarten porcelain, goldsmith's work, fine ceramic ware, enamel and wrought-iron, and leather goods of all kinds.

Collectors and art-lovers will find the antique shops of Vienna an inexhaustible source of treasure trove; and the city's numerous antiquarian and secondhand bookshops and art dealers offer a tempting range of valuable old books, prints, etchings and pictures. Art auctions are held in the state-run Dorotheum at Dorotheergasse 17 and other art galleries and at antique dealers.

The Naschmarkt is a traditional food market held on weekdays on the covered-over section of the River Wien between the Linke Wienzeile (Bezirk VI) and the Rechte Wienzeile (Bezirk IV).

The Viennese cafe is a famous and historic institution. The first cafe is said to have been established by Frans Georg Kolschitzky, a Pole who is supposed to have brought coffee captured from the Turks to Vienna in 1683 and was granted the right to sell coffee in the city in 1685. (His establishment was at Domgasse 6). The cafe soon developed into a regular feature of public and social life, providing newspapers and games as well as coffee. In the Biedermeier period in particular they developed into luxuriously appointed establishments, and later in the 19th C. the elegant cafes on the Ring were built. These now became the meeting-place of artists, writers, scholars and journalists; and although something of the glory departed with the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy the Viennese cafe is still a popular meeting-place, with newspapers and magazines always available for the use of customers.

Since the Second World War the modern espresso cafe has also become popular in Vienna. This is usually a small establishment patronized by those who want a quick cup of coffee and perhaps a snack.

Places in the city offering particularly fine views include the Türmerstube in St Stephen's Cathedral, the Upper Belvedere, the Giant Wheel (Riesenrad) in the Prater, the Gloriette in Schönbrunn park, and the outlook terraces on Kahlenberg, Leopoldsberg and Höhenstrasse.

History

The oldest traces of human settlement in the Vienna basin date from the Neolithic period.

The Illyrian population of the Early Iron Age (from about 800 B.C.) was overlaid from about 400 B.C. by Celts coming from the west (Late Iron Age), and there was probably a Celtic stronghold on the Leopoldsberg.

About 50 A.D. the Romans built the fortified military camp of Vindobona (from the Celtic Vedunia, "a stream") on their Danube frontier. Its walls enclosed a rectangular area bounded on the west and north by the steeply scarped edge of the Tiefer Graben and the Salzgries, on the east by Rotgasse and Kramergasse and on the south by the Graben and Naglergasse. In the course of the first century A.D. a civilian town began to develop on the slopes of the Belvedere, a site occupied since Bronze Age times, lying at the intersection of the route through the valley of the River Wien with the route along the higher (and thus flood-free) west bank of the Danube (the main course of which roughly followed the line of the present Donaukanal). In 487 the Romans abandoned the Danube area.

In 792, according to tradition, Charlemagne founded St Peter's Church in the course of his campaign against the Avars. In 881 the Bavarians had their first clash at Wenia with the Hungarians pushing forward from the east. Vienna itself was then only a village huddled in the ruins of the Roman fort. During the Crusades, from 1096 onwards, it became involved in world trade and developed into an economic center, and by 1137 we find it referred to as a town. In 1156 Duke Henry II Jasomirgott moved his court from the Leopoldsberg to Vienna, which thus became the capital of the Babenberg territories in the Ostmark (Eastern March). In 1158 the Schottenstift was founded to provide accommodation for pilgrims.

Vienna now rose to prosperity through trade with the East which passed along the Danube and from 1200 also through Venice. By this time the town had reached the boundaries which remained those of the inner city until 1859. In 1237 the Emperor Frederick II, then locked in conflict with the last Babenberg duke, also called Frederick, granted Vienna the status of Reichsunmittelbarkeit (direct subordination to the Emperor). After his death the duchy was ruled from 1251 to 1276 by King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who did much to promote the development of Vienna.

The ideas of the humanists and the Renaissance gave rise in Vienna, as elsewhere, to a great flowering of intellectual and artistic life. From September 22 to October 15 1529, under the leadership of Count Niklas Salm, the town held out stoutly against a siege by the Turks. In 1551 the first Jesuits arrived in Vienna. From 1612 it was the permanent residence of the Imperial Court.

The Reformation was combated by Melchior Khlesl (Bishop from 1598) and completely suppressed by Ferdinand during the Thirty Years' War, when Vienna had to suffer attacks by Bohemian, Hungarian and Swedish forces. Vienna

The period of the Counter-Reformation saw the building of many churches in Early Baroque style; between 1620 and 1630 alone eight monasteries were founded in Vienna.

From July 14 to September 12 1683 a force of 200,000 Turks under the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa laid siege to the town, which was heroically defended by 11,000 troops and 5,000 members of the citizen militia under the leadership of Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg. The siege was finally raised by a relieving army of 75,000 men (Imperials, Saxons, Franconians, Bavarians, Swabians and 13,000 Poles) under the leadership of Duke Francis of Lorraine (although nominally commanded by King John Sobieski of Poland), advancing from the Kahlenberg.

After the removal of the Turkish danger Vienna rapidly developed into a brilliant Baroque city, on a scale matching its importance as capital of the Empire. By about 1700 the population had risen to over 100,000. In 1686 the first professional firemen were appointed; in 1688 two thousand street lamps were erected. In order to protect the suburban areas with their numerous noble palaces against attack by the rebellious Hungarians the Linienwall was constructed by the citizens under the direction of Prince Eugene - a rampart which served as a toll barrier until 1893. Art and learning flourished under artistic patronage. In 1722 the bishopric was raised to the status of archbishopric.

During the reigns of Maria Theresa (1740-80) and Joseph II (1780-90) the reform and centralization of the Imperial administration benefited the capital, though it was deprived of its remaining powers of self-government in 1783. The Viennese love of music and the theater, however, tied great composers such as Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven firmly to the capital.

In 1806, during the reign of Francis I, Vienna ceased to be capital of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1805 and again in 1809 it was briefly occupied by the French. During the Congress of Vienna (1814- 15) and the following decades Metternich made it one of the focal points of European politics and of the reaction against liberal and nationalist aspirations. Music and painting enjoyed a further flowering in the Biedermeier period (roughly 1815-48).

The Danube Shipping Company was founded in 1831; the first railroad line from Vienna (the Nordbahn) was built in 1837. Metternich's rule and the tight control exercized by his police were swept away by the Revolution of March 1848.

During the long reign of the Emperor Francis Joseph (1848-1916) Vienna - which recovered its powers of self-government in 1849 - lived through the age of developing technology. In 1850 the suburban districts as far as the Linienwall were incorporated into the city. The vigorous building activity which now followed gave Vienna a handsome new ring road on the line of the old fortifications (pulled down between 1858-68), but also led to a rapid growth of the city without any unified plan. The result was to create very much the Vienna which we see today.

After the First World War Vienna, no longer the nucleus of an empire of 12 different nationalities, became the capital (and a "Land" from 1920) of a small state confined to the German-speaking Alpine and Danube regions.

It faced further difficulties during the Nazi period (1938-45), suffering damage by air attack during the Second World War, and during the post-war occupation by the four victorious Allied powers, but these problems were overcome by the vigor and resolution of the people of the city, particularly after the signing of the Staatsvertrag and the withdrawal of the occupying forces in 1955.

Vienna is now the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the UNESCO International Music Complex.

The population and intellectual life of Vienna

The population, the basic element in which was the Bavarian settlement from the Carolingian period onwards (note the place-names ending in -ing, such as Grinzing and Ottakring), has shown a powerful capacity to absorb other population groups. Gifted individuals were regularly attracted to Vienna from the Alpine territories and from Bohemia; and from an early period there was a steady influx from Franconia and Swabia. The Slav, Dutch and Italian incomers who were drawn to Vienna by the Babenberg and Habsburg rulers contributed much to the German cultural sphere. From their manifold contacts with other peoples the citizens of Vienna developed a lively feeling for form and beauty, a natural openness of disposition and curiosity, a cheerful acceptance of life which enabled them to face difficulties with grace and equanimity. The Viennese enjoyment of life encompasses both intellectual and physical pleasures at the same time. Viennese wit is sharp but is not aimed at destruction. The 19th C. playwright Nestroy always saw through the externals of comedy to the serious core of things - a Viennese characteristic which lends a touch of melancholy to so many Viennese creations, in music and in poetry as in other fields. The close association between the city and its natural setting is reflected in the down-to-earth naturalness of many aspects of Viennese life. The proverbial Viennese charm turns out on the whole to be somewhat superficial: when occasion arises the local dialect can put things very bluntly, and the people are not averse to a good grumble from time to time.

Vienna's place in German literature is ensured by such figures as Walther von der Vogelweide, the 17th C. preacher Abraham a Sancta Clara and the 19th C. dramatists Ferdinand Raimund, Johann Nestroy and Franz Grillparzer. In the field of education it came to the fore at a very early date, and it has preserved its attraction for the peoples of southeastern Europe down to the present day. The city has a number of universities and technical colleges, and research is catered for by the Academy of Sciences and various important libraries and archives. The arts are securely rooted in the gifts and the interest of the population, and fostered by the government and a variety of associations, successors to the princes and nobles who were the patrons of the arts in earlier centuries. Visitors will find a rich fund of interest and enjoyment in the theaters and concerts, the museums and exhibitions of Vienna.

Features of the city

With a total area of 404 sq.km/156 sq. mi, the city is divided into 23 Bezirke (districts or wards) numbered I-XXIII. Its layout reflects its long historical development, with some streets still following the pattern of the Roman town.

The central area (Bezirk I: inner city) corresponds mainly to the ducal town of the Middle Ages, cramped within its defensive walls, and the effect of this construction can still be seen in the height of the buildings and the depth of the cellars of Vienna. Of the medieval structure of the town, however, little is left. There are a few Gothic churches, especially St Stephen's Cathedral, which rears up magnificently in the old town. The pattern of the inner city is set by its fine Baroque buildings, in particular the Imperial residence, the Hofburg, which bounds the old town on the west, and numerous palaces of the nobility. Among predominantly Baroque streets and squares are the Josefsplatz, Dr-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz, Bankgasse and a number of streets opening off the eastern side of Kärnter Strasse. Neo-Classical and Biedermeier buildings are found here and there, particularly in the Hoher Markt and Seilerstätte. To the north and south of the central area, extending outward to the Ring, are blocks of dwellings of no great architectural merit dating from the time when the area occupied by the former fortifications was developed into the Ring (see below).

One peculiarity of Vienna, particularly in the inner city, is the large number of passages or lanes (Durchhäuser) running through a whole block from one street to another. Some of these alleys are throbbing with life; others afford glimpses of quiet old houses and courtyards.

The central area is surrounded by the monumental buildings and gardens of the Ring road, the area developed between 1859 and 1888 on the site of the old fortifications and surrounding glacis which linked up the heart of the medieval town with the older suburbs.

Beyond the Ring and the Donaukanal (Danube Canal) to the northeast extends a circuit of inner suburban districts (Bezirke II-IX). In this area many Baroque summer palaces of the nobility were built after the removal of the Turkish threat in 1683, but the pattern of these districts is now largely set by middle-class houses of the Biedermeier period. In the Alsegrund district (Bezirk IX) stands a large complex of modern buildings, the General Hospital.

These districts are circled, on the north, west and south, at a distance of 1.5-2km/1-1.25mi from the Ring, by the broad Gürtelstrasse with its gardens and open spaces, an outer ring road laid out from 1893 onwards on the line of the old Linienwall.

Around the Gürtelstrasse lie the outer suburban districts, which reach up through the valleys to the west and northwest (Bezirke XIII-XIX) to the wooded hills of the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), with the Höhenstrasse to the Kahlenberg. Within these districts can still be found the remains of old villages and numbers of country houses of the Biedermeier period and late 19th C. The palace of Schönbrunn (Bezirk XIII), Maria Theresa's country residence, was completely engulfed

by the advancing tide of houses in the 19th C. Bezirk XI also preserves something of a country atmosphere; but Bezirk X, extending towards the Wiener Berg on the southern side of the city, is a predominantly industrial area developed from the middle of the last century. One quite recent development, dating only from the 1970s, is the Kurzentrum (health or treatment complex) of Wien- Oberlaa on the Laaer Berg.

The Danube now flows through the central area of Vienna only in the form of the Danube canal (Donaukanal). The main river was embanked between 1868 and 1877 and flanked on the east by a flood zone 500m/550yds wide. The Danube proper is spanned by two railroad bridges (the Nordbahnbrücke and the Stadtlauer Ostbahnbrücke), four road bridges (the Nordbrücke; the Florisdorfer Brücke, rebuilt 1977-78; the Reichsbrücke, collapsed 1976, rebuilt 1980; and the Praterbrücke), as well as two pedestrian bridges. There are also two ferries.

Below the Reichsbrücke the river is flanked by wide expanses of meadowland, laid out as a park in the Prater but still more or less in their natural state in the Lobau.

Between the Alte Donau (Old Danube), an abandoned arm of the Danube, and the main river, lies the Donaupark, with the Donauturm (Danube Tower) and the modern complex of UNO-City.

To the east of the Danube lie the industrial suburb of Floridsdorf (Bezirk XXI, with some residential areas), which grew up from the 19th C. onwards, incorporating a number of older villages, and Donaustadt (Bezirk XXII), reaching eastward to the Marchfeld.

Mercer score: 107.9 = 2007 rank: No. 2

By: myswitzerland.com

The symbol of the «world's smallest metropolis» is the "Jet d'eau" - a fountain with a 140-metre-high water jet at the periphery of Lake Geneva. Most of the large hotels and many restaurants are situated on the right-hand shore of the lake. The old town, the heart of Geneva with the shopping and business quarter, holds sway over the left-hand shore. It is dominated by St. Peter's Cathedral, however the actual centre of the old town is the Place du Bourg-de-Four, which is the oldest square in the city. Quays, lakeside promenades, countless parks, lively side streets in the old town and elegant shops invite guests to stroll. One of the best-maintained streets is the Grand-Rue, where Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born. The «mouettes», a type of water taxi, enable crossings to be made from one lakeshore to the other, while larger vessels invite visitors to enjoy cruises on Lake Geneva.

Geneva is Switzerland's most international city, as it is where the European seat of the UNO is based. Even the International Red Cross directs its humanitarian campaigns from here. Besides being a congress city, Geneva is also a centre for culture and history, for trade fairs and exhibitions. The «Horloge Fleuri», the large flower clock in the "Jardin Anglais" (English Garden), is a world-renowned symbol of the Geneva watch industry.

Culturally, this city on the westernmost fringe of Switzerland has much to offer. International artists perform in the Grand Théâtre and Geneva Opera House, and an extremely diverse range of museums such as the "Musée international de l'horlogerie", a watch museum with a collection of jewellery watches and musical clocks, and the International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which provides an insight into the work of these humanitarian organisations, invite city guests to visit them.

A rewarding excursion destination is Mont Salève, which is situated in neighbouring France. The cableway lifts visitors to an altitude of 1100 metres in less than five minutes, giving rise to outstanding vistas across the city of Geneva, Lake Geneva, the chain of Alps, the Jura and Montblanc.

Highlights

• Jet d'eau - visible from afar, the 140-metre-high water jet is the ‘landmark' of Geneva.
• St. Pierre Cathedral - the north tower of the three-naved basilica in the old town of Geneva offers up a unique vista over the city and lake.
• Palace of the United Nations - on passing through the paled gate of the Palace of the UNO, visitors enter international territory.
• International Museum of the Red Cross - the birthplace of the International Red Cross houses the only museum dedicated to the history and work of this organisation.
• Cruises on Lake Geneva - from the cruise boats, visitors can marvel at the unique scenery of castles and magnificent residences set against wonderful landscape and mountain panoramas.

How to get there

Public Transport: Direct train connections. The ride from to airport to Geneva City takes 6 minutes.

By car: Direct connection to the national and international Autobahn network.

Other/Air: International Airport Geneva, 10 minutes by car from the center of the city

Mercer score: 107.6 2007 rank: No. 3

By: Travel.yahoo.com

Cradled between the ocean and snow-capped mountains, Vancouver's dazzling downtown district fills a narrow peninsula bounded by Burrard Inlet to the north, English Bay to the west and False Creek to the south, with greater Vancouver sprawling south to the Fraser River. Edged around its idyllic waterfront are fine beaches, a dynamic port and a magnificent swath of parkland, not to mention the mirror-fronted ranks of skyscrapers that look across Burrard Inlet and its bustling harbour to the residential districts of North and West Vancouver. Beyond these comfortable suburbs, the Coast Mountains rise in steep, forested slopes to form a dramatic counterpoint to the downtown skyline and the most stunning of the city's many outdoor playgrounds. Small wonder, given Vancouver's surroundings, that Greenpeace was founded in the city.

Vancouver's 1.9 million residents exploit their spectacular natural setting to the hilt, and when they tire of the immediate region can travel a short distance to the unimaginably vast wilderness of the BC interior. Whether it's sailing, swimming, fishing, hiking, skiing, golf or tennis, locals barely have to move to indulge in a plethora of recreational whims. Summer and winter the city oozes hedonism and healthy living - it comes as no surprise to find that you can lounge on beaches downtown - typically West Coast obsessions that spill over into its sophisticated arts and culture. Vancouver claims a world-class museum and symphony orchestra, as well as opera, theatre and dance companies at the cutting edge of contemporary arts. Festivals proliferate throughout its mild, if occasionally rain-soaked, summer and numerous music venues provide a hotbed for up-and-coming rock bands and a burgeoning jazz scene.

Vancouver is not all pleasure, however. Business growth continues apace in Canada's third-largest city, much of its prosperity stemming from a port so laden with the raw materials of the Canadian interior - lumber, wheat and minerals - that it ranks as one of North America's largest ports, handling more dry tonnage than the West Coast ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego put together. The port in turn owes its prominence to Vancouver's much-trumpeted position as a gateway to the Far East, and its increasingly pivotal role in the new global market of the Pacific Rim. This lucrative realignment is strengthened by a two-way flow in traffic: in the past decade Vancouver has been inundated with Hong Kong Chinese (the so-called "yacht people"), an influx which has pushed up property prices and slightly strained the city's reputation as an ethnically integrated metropolis.

Much of the city's earlier immigration focused on Vancouver's extraordinary Chinatown, just one of a number of ethnic enclaves - Italian, Greek, Indian and Japanese in particular - which lend the city a refreshingly gritty quality that belies its sleek, modern reputation. So too do the city's semi-derelict eastern districts, whose worldly lowlife characters, addicts and hustlers are shockingly at odds with the glitzy lifestyles pursued in the lush residential neighbourhoods. Low rents and Vancouver's cosmopolitan young have also nurtured an unexpected counterculture, at least for the time being, distinguished by varied restaurants, secondhand shops, avant-garde galleries, clubs and bars - spots where you'll probably have more fun than in many a Canadian city. And at the top of the scale there are restaurants as good - and as varied - as any in North America.

These days Vancouver is more dynamic than ever, its growth and energy almost palpable as you walk the streets. In just five years, between 1987 and 1992, the city's population increased by an extraordinary seventeen percent. The downtown population, currently just over half a million, is the fastest-growing on the continent. In response the downtown area is spreading - visibly - to the older and previously run-down districts to the southeast of the old city core. Development over the last decade is symbolized by a superb library and performing-arts complex which constitutes the most expensive capital project ever undertaken in the city. Real estate here is now more expensive than Toronto, and in the 1990s the city became North America's largest film and TV production centre after Los Angeles and New York; The X Files is just the most famous of the many movies and programmes that have been, or are being, made here. Yet, in the peculiar way that seems second nature to Canadians, the changes are being handled in a manner that's enhancing rather than compromising the city's beguiling combination of pleasure, culture, business and natural beauty.

By: Travel.yahoo.com

AUCKLAND's urban sprawl completely smothers the North Island's wasp waist, a narrow isthmus where the island is all but severed by river estuaries probing inland from the city's two harbours. To the west, the shallow and silted Manukau Harbour opens out onto the Tasman Sea at a rare break in the long string of black-sand beaches continually pounded by heavy surf. Maori named the eastern anchorage the Waitemata Harbour for its "sparkling waters", which constitute Auckland's deep water port and a focus for the heart of the city. Every summer weekend the harbour and adjoining Hauraki Gulf explode into a riot of brightly-coloured sails.

There could hardly be a more appropriate venue for the America's Cup, which was held in the Hauraki Gulf with great fanfare over the summer of 1999-2000. Team New Zealand's emphatic victory brought the event back to the Waitemata Harbour over the summer of 2002-2003, and with the infrastructure now firmly in place - there are pavement cafés and trendy restaurants everywhere - Auckland seems set to consolidate its position as New Zealand's most progressive city. Yet despite Auckland's cosmopolitan bustle and harbourside setting, few fall in love with the city on short acquaintance or stick around long enough to scratch below the surface. Those who persist might just find themselves as enthusiastic about the place as Aucklanders.