FACTBOX BERNE Inhabitants: 122,000 Major attractions: Bear Pit, Parliament (Bundeshauser), Clock Tower, Muenster Famous People: Albert Einstein, Ferdinand Hodler, Paul Klee (born nearby), 50s/60s German cinema star Liselotte Pulver, footballer Eugen Meier Food Fact: 1867 Jean Tobler created the first Toblerone chocolate bar in Berne. Language: Swiss German 3 must do’s: Visit wave-shaped Paul Klee Centre, take a dip in the open-air Marzili pools, see the city by bike for free, courtesy of Bern Rollt. Little known fact: Barry, the most famous St Bernard rescue dog, who saved no less than 40 lives, has been stuffed and is on view in the Naturhistorisches Musem.

FACTBOX ZURICH Inhabitants: 340,000 Major attractions: Old Town, Fraumuenster, Corbusier Pavilion, Kunsthaus art museum, Cabaret Voltaire museum. Famous People: Ulrich Zwingli, Swiss coach Jakob (Koebi) Kuhn, tennis player Heinz Günthardt Food fact: Speciality Zuercher Geschnetzeltes (sliced veal), famous Luxemburgerli biscuits. Language: Swiss German. 3 must do’s: Drink wine and whisky at lounge bar Hard One, Buy chocolates at Confiserie Spruengli, swim, sauna or pedalo on the lake. Little known fact: Swiss trainer Jakob (Koebi) Kuhn has a square named after him in the Wiedikon district of Zurich where he was raised.

FACTBOX GENEVA: Inhabitants: 185,000 Major Attractions: Red Cross Museum, Jet d’Eau, the Botanical Gardens, St Peter’s Cathedral. Famous people: Jean Jacques Rousseau, Henri Dunant (a founding father of the International Committee of the Red Cross), John Calvin. Food fact: Lake perch and chips a speciality and chocolate cooking pots (marmite) commemorating the defeat of Savoy troops Language: French. 3 must do’s: Take a sauna and jump into Lake Geneva at the Bains des Paquis, swim in the giant 1930s outdoor pool at Geneve Plage, take a yellow water bus (mouette) or steamship across the lake. Little known fact: Geneva claims the longest known bench in the world at the Promenade de la Treille, 120 metres.

FACTBOX BASLE Inhabitants: 160,000 Major Attractions: Muenster, Rathaus, Tinguely Museum and Fountain featuring Swiss artist Jean Tinguely’s mad-looking metal sculptures. Famous People: Historian Jacob Burckhardt, footballer Alexander Frei, tennis star Roger Federer Food fact: Laeckerli is the celebrated Basel gingerbread Language: Swiss German. 3 must do’s: Swim in the Rhine, stroll round the Old Town, have a drink in the Bar Rouge panoramic lounge on 31st floor of the Messeturm, Switzerland’s tallest building or try the three-course Bier Menu at Fischerstube. Little Known Fact: It was in Basle that chemist Albert Hofmann accidentally took the first acid trip in 1943 and revealed the pyschedelic effects of LSD.

DPA 2007