Yes, the European Championships are important, but don’t miss out on the opportunity to travel around Switzerland at its most beautiful.

VIENNA - Overheard recently from a tourist in one of Vienna's grand cafes: ''Waiter, I'll try a slice of your soccer tort.''

OK, so it's actually Sacher (SAH'kerr) Torte, the famed Viennese chocolate cake filled with apricot jam. But no one's going to quarrel with a slight mispronunciation - not with the European Championships in soccer about to unfold in Austria and Switzerland. The event is second only to soccer's World Cup.

If you're thinking of combining sports and sightseeing with a trip here, you'd best move quicker than Ronaldinho. Hotel rooms in the eight venue cities scattered across the neighbouring alpine co-hosts are being snapped up fast.

The Euro 2008 tournament opens in Basel and Geneva 7 June, and wraps up with the final on 29 June in Vienna. Posters capturing the soccer fever sweeping the Austrian capital show a little old lady corkscrewing through the air as she bends it like Beckham.

You won't see the Los Angeles Galaxy star play here this summer: England failed to qualify. But there's plenty to do, see and taste in between matches. Here are some leading attractions:

GENEVA: One way to enjoy the city is to view it from a paddlewheel steamer on Lake Geneva. Day passes for Swiss trains are accepted on the boats, which can be ridden to ports on both the French and Swiss sides of the lake.

The dramatic Jet d'Eau is one of the world's largest fountains, with the stream of water towering 150 metres above the lake at the Geneva end and visible for kilometres. In honour of Euro 2008, the city has tethered a giant balloon in the form of a soccer ball to make it appear to be riding on the fountain.

Nearby is the Old Town on the hill overlooking the lake. It's dominated by St. Peter's Cathedral, where Christian reformer Jean Calvin preached in the 16th century, making Geneva the Protestant Rome.

Stroll along the lake or along the Rhone River leaving it, or pause in sidewalk and park cafes. Don't miss the 5-metre-diameter floral clock made of more than 6,500 plants.

The annual Fete de la Musique, 20 – 22 June, features free concerts. There are city beaches for a dip in the lake on balmy summer days. The Red Cross museum and U.N. buildings point up the city's connection with humanitarian organizations and peace talks.

Euro 2008 matches in Geneva are played in the Stade de Geneve, near the Carouge section, which has a Mediterranean atmosphere thanks to its history as a possession of the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

BERN: The Swiss capital centres on an old town nestled in a loop of the Aare River. It features picturesque streets, flowers and fountains. Some six kilometres of arcades dating to the 15th century line streets in the heart of the city.

Providing shelter from the rain and access to many small shops, the arcades make Bern one of Europe's biggest covered shopping areas. The Cathedral, or Muenster, has an adjacent terrace with a view over the river and access to steps and an elevator going down to the riverside, where there are cafes and restaurants.

A stroll across the river leads to the bear pit, featuring the city's mascots and the source of its name in German. City bus and tram service takes visitors to the new Paul Klee museum on the outskirts of town, home to about 40 percent of the Swiss-born artist's 10,000 paintings, watercolours and drawings.

BASEL: Switzerland's main port on the Rhine offers views and walks along the river. Many people swim or float downstream in the cool, clean water during the summer. An ingenious ferry carries passengers across the river for a nominal charge. The boat, tethered to an overhead cable anchored to each bank, is powered solely by the current.

The imposing Muenster cathedral and colourful Rathaus (town hall) are major attractions in the old town. The Kunstmuseum, the art museum, is classed as one of Europe's best. It dates to the 1661 purchase by the city of an art collection featuring many works of the Holbein family, who lived in the city.

It became the world's first public municipal museum, and still holds the bulk of the Holbein paintings, along with a large Impressionist collection.

ZURICH: The Swiss financial capital is the country's largest and liveliest city, with many attractions along its lake and river sides.

The large old town runs from the main train station along the Limmat River to Lake Zurich, with hidden points of interest. There's the cafe where the Dada art movement was born, and a house where Vladimir Lenin lived before returning to Russia to lead the 1917 revolution.

The Bahnhofstrasse and Paradeplatz feature luxury shops and major bank buildings, including a leading chocolate specialist. The city features art museums and the Swiss National Museum, with exhibits on the country's cultural heritage going back to prehistory.

On the outskirts of town is the zoo with the Masoala Rainforest, a dome-shaped enclosure recreating a Madagascar environment - complete with live lizards and lemurs in the trees overhead as you wander the paths below.

For the literary-minded, a short walk from the zoo is a cemetery with the graves of James Joyce and Nobel literature laureate Elias Canetti, both of whom lived and died in Zurich.

Switzerland tourism office: http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/home

text by dpa / Expatica
photos by Flickr contributors Fr Antunes, Toni V, Daniels View, Olly M Pus and Irene2005