Bath’s hot springs, golden Georgian architecture and beautiful Cotswolds backdrop have been drawing in the crowds for centuries. A vibrant culture and new developments that tastefully complement the city’s historic background promise to make Bath an even greater international tourist destination in the years ahead.

UNESCO World Heritage
Surrounded by parkland and rolling hills, situated on a bend of the River Avon and graced by some of the most beautiful architecture in Europe, Bath has the unique distinction of being Britain’s only city with UNESCO World Heritage site status. It is also the site of Britain’s only hot springs, around which the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that gave the city its name and still flows with natural hot water. Bath has some of Britain’s finest Georgian architecture, and around 5,000 buildings are listed for their architectural merit. The Royal Crescent, the Circus, the Pump Room, the Assembly Rooms and the Pulteney Bridge are all must-see Georgian masterpieces.

Modern Bath
The city is far more than museums and old buildings. It has a lively cultural scene with several festivals, and all kinds of shows, concerts and exhibitions fill up the events calendar. Being a university town, it also has a vibrant nightlife, and the dining scene equals that of almost any other British city. After a long period of gestation and many delays, the city’s long-awaited new bath and spa facilities, which use natural thermal water from the same springs that gave rise to the Roman baths nearly two millennia ago, opened in August 2006. This modern therapeutic spa complex has made the city’s thermal waters available to its residents and visitors for the first time in 28 years, bringing the modern city back in touch with its historical origins.

The Cotswolds
Adding to the attractiveness of Bath is its lovely surrounding countryside and the Cotswolds area with its gentle hillsides and pretty towns and villages, and the ubiquitous local golden sandstone (found in the most stately city building and the tiniest cottage) is a visual reflection of the city’s links with its environs.

Northern Ireland’s capital city Belfast is a vibrant destination, replete with stylish bars, restaurants, hotels and historical attractions.

The once battle-scarred city, which was blighted for over 30 years by “The Troubles” – religious, political and sectarian feuding, which began in the late 1960s – is now enjoying a renaissance, thanks to the ongoing peace process.

The arrival of luxury hotels like the Merchant Hotel and Malmaison symbolize the city’s growing confidence. Plans to create Europe’s largest waterfront development will dramatically transform Belfast. The new Titanic Quarter, named after the ill-fated ship that was built and launched from Belfast in 1912, will feature new hotels, restaurants, cafés, bars, galleries and parks. Meanwhile, historical buildings like the Grand Opera House are evidence of Belfast’s rich culture.

Combine all this with Belfast’s greatest asset, the warmth, resilience and character of its people, and you can understand why it has become one of the UK’s top city break destinations.

Belgrade is fast building a reputation as a city that really knows how to enjoy itself, with excellent museums and galleries, a vast selection of restaurants and cafés, and probably the best nightlife in southeast Europe. 

The Serbian capital is also a sociable, safe city where young and old mix freely together, with everyone taking their place in the ritual evening promenade, strolling, chatting with perhaps stopping for a coffee or a beer or two. There’s a real buzz to the place and an undeniable vibrancy in the city streets whatever the time of day or night.

Modern-day Serbia has worked hard to put the legacy of the bad old days of Slobodan Milošević firmly behind it and today, most visitors to the capital speak warmly of the friendliness and generosity of its citizens, who are eager to see their city portrayed in a positive light.

Known as the ‘Gateway to the Fjords’, Norway’s second city is also one of its most attractive. Bergen has a delightful natural setting, with seven imposing mountains surrounding it on three sides forming a dramatic backdrop for the rainbow-painted houses that cling all the way down to the waterfront. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bergen history
With its sheltered harbour and the proximity to rich fishing grounds, Bergen quickly established itself as one of Norway’s most important towns. By the beginning of the 13th century, it was Norway’s capital, a status it enjoyed until the late 1200s, when the seat of government transferred to Christiania – the city nowadays known as Oslo.

Economic success was further assured in the 14th century when the Hanseatic League chose Bergen as one of its four main bases. By 1600, the city was Scandinavia’s largest, with 15,000 inhabitants. Bergen has remained a successful trading port since (not least because of the discovery of oil in the North Sea in the mid 1960s) and an international business and tourist centre.

When to go
The peak tourist season runs from May to September, although it is just as likely to rain then as at any other time. The area has the dubious honour of experiencing one of Europe’s highest average annual rainfall counts.

However, this should not spoil a visit completely, as there is plenty to do indoors – Bergen has some of the country’s best museums and art galleries. Between November and March, the rain turns to sleet or snow but even the worst winter weather is not harsh by Norwegian standards, with temperatures rarely sinking below -5ºC (23ºF).

Berlin is back – back as the capital of a reunified Germany and back as one of Europe’s greatest – and most vibrant – cities. After WWII, Berlin was a crippled pawn, sandwiched between East and West, with a literal and metaphorical wall deeply dividing the two halves. The northeastern German city even suffered the ignominy of losing its capital status, as the West German government fled to Bonn. Today, the Cold War and the iconic events of November 1989, which saw the Berlin Wall torn to pieces by those whom it had oppressed for so long, are starting to seem like a distant memory and all the talk in Berlin is of the future.

In the biggest construction project in Europe since WWII, a new Berlin has emerged from the forest of cranes dotting the no-man’s land that was the divided city’s dead heart. Potsdamer Platz is the most voluminous project but the most symbolic recent construction is at the Reichstag. British architect Norman Foster has rejuvenated the German parliament with an impressive glass dome that symbolises the new transparency in German politics – that of a nation with nothing to hide, which is attempting to distance itself from the ghosts of its past.

Coupled with this wave of recent construction is a city laden with historical charm – from the old streets of East Berlin, which are slowly being restored after remaining unchanged for 50 years, through to the grand architecture of Museumsinsel and Unter den Linden, and the green lung of the Tiergarten Park.

Tourism is on the rise, as visitors come to savour the intoxicating mix of old and new. Big business, too, is booming and key industries such as electronics, manufacturing and information technology reflect the dynamism of the German economy.

Contrary to the usual cliches about Germany, Berlin is a city with a laid-back attitude and some of the liveliest nightlife in Europe. In Berlin today, there is everything from authentic beer halls and old Soviet era haunts right through to buzzing style bars and Latino nightclubs.

Berlin’s climate is equally eclectic, with hot summer days giving way to occasionally freezing temperatures during the long grey winter. Today’s quintessential Berlin experience is to laze through a summer day in the Tiergarten with the murmur of construction just out of earshot, sipping on a chilled Pilsner beer, while absorbing the rush and hum of one of Europe’s finest capitals.

Bern boasts one of the best preserved medieval cityscapes in Europe, named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. Its medieval clock tower, cathedral (the nation’s largest ecclesiastical building), ancient sandstone buildings and around 6km (3.7 miles) of picturesque arcades lend the quaint Old Town an almost fairytale atmosphere.

City of bears
Bern was founded in 1191 and, according to legend, it got its name when city founder Berchtold V von Zähringen killed a bear (bär in German) on the Aare peninsula. Ever since, the city has had a particular fascination for bears, and for the last 500 years or so, there have been bear pits in the city centre. A spacious new bear park opened in 2009, where visitors can view the city’s heraldic animal climbing, fishing and playing on the banks of the river Aare.

Swiss capital
As the federal capital of Switzerland, Bern is home to the country’s government, and a visit to the House of Parliament is a must for anyone interested in politics. The city is also well placed (just west of the country’s geographical centre) for excursions to the Alps, the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Mittelland. But it is also worth spending some time in Bern itself. With its many excellent restaurants, bars and wine cellars, its cultural activities, boutique shopping and wide variety of entertainment, there is plenty to experience in the Swiss capital.

Set on the curves of the River Nervión and surrounded by green hills, Bilbao is a striking city and the star of Spain’s Basque region, with its cultural treasures and gastronomic riches. Basque cuisine is among the best in Spain, and Bilbao boasts some of the region’s leading restaurants. 

Bilbao is also home to some world-famous architectural wonders, such as the celebrated Guggenheim Museum and Euskalduna Palace. The wonderful Old Town is another must see, with its bustling streets lined with ancient mansions, small boutiques and bars, and a gothic cathedral.

Bologna’s russet cityscape and left-wing reputation has earned it the nickname La Rossa (‘the red’), while its hearty appetite has led to the nickname La Grassa (‘The Fat’), and its penchant for all things cultural has resulted in the moniker La Dotta (‘The Learned’) – Umberto Eco teaches at the university, as did Romano Prodi before he went into politics.

The renown of tourist honeypots Florence, Rome and Venice, means that Bologna is often bypassed by the holidaying hordes, and is all the more appealing for it. This lively university city is a great medieval townscape with Renaissance palaces and 40km (25m) of ochre-coloured arcades. The city centres around twin piazzas, Maggiore and Nettuno – handsome public spaces sealed on all sides by medieval palazzi. Here, amid the pigeons, the Bolognese come to shop, to pray, to chat and, of course, to demonstrate.

The local cuisine goes far beyond the world famous spaghetti Bolognese (something the locals never eat – they call the sauce ragu and would never mix it with spaghetti, but with tagliatelle). Other local specialities include mortadella (baloney) and tortellini, and the region offers some robust and interesting local wines.

The best times to visit are spring and autumn, when the climate is mild (summers are hot, and winters decidedly chilly). Even at the height of the season, tourist numbers seldom become too suffocating. July and August are baking, and a good time for day trippers to head to the breezy Adriatic beaches, less than an hour away.

Bordeaux traces its origins to Roman times, when a settlement was founded on the Rive Gauche (left bank) of the River Garonne. The site chosen was on a bend of the river, which formed a crescent-shaped harbour, known as Port de la Lune.

The city grew rich from a surge in international commerce in the 18th century. Inspired by their new-found wealth, the city’s burghers decided to redesign their city. Its winding medieval streets were cleared to make way for grand squares and elegant tree-lined avenues, lined with monumental buildings.

Bordeaux is famous for wine, not surprising as it sits at the heart of one of the world’s
best wine regions, but the wine trade was not enough to prevent a slump in the 19th century, during which much of the city centre deteriorated.

Happily, things have improved dramatically and, after years of neglect and stagnation, Bordeaux is coming back to life. The 18th-century centre has been restored to its former glory, the quaysides have been landscaped, colonial-era warehouses are filled with trendy bars and restaurants, and new parks allow the city to breathe again.

A new network of trams makes the city easily accessible and has had a major effect on the volume of traffic. But Bordeaux’s spirit, as ever, is that of a city that knows about joie de vivre and pleasures: strolling along the Garonne or in the pedestrian streets, sitting on a café terrace and enjoying the mild year-round climate, admiring magnificent architecture and art collections, and sampling some of the finest wines together with the excellent local cuisine.

Bratislava, the Slovak capital, is an old European city full of charm, with a beautifully restored historic quarter (Stare Mesto) and Habsburg Baroque architecture that help to offset its communist legacy.

Its location on the Austrian border, with close proximity to Hungary and the Czech Republic, have resulted in a difficult political past, but like all cities of cultural confluence, the result is an emerging reputation for diverse architecture, wine and cuisine.

Bratislava lies on a bend of the Danube like Vienna and Budapest, with bridges connecting its two halves. However, sites of interest to visitors are almost all north of the river, in the cobbled streets of the Old Town.

Since Slovakia joined the EU in May 2004, Bratislava has rocketed up in terms of cost of living, but it is also rising in fame for cultural tourism as well as becoming a thriving business centre with an increasing number of direct flights coming in from the rest of Europe, especially the UK.