Switzerland has a reputation for being the destination of choice for ski fiends and adrenaline junkies, but Lake Lucerne, right in the heart of the country, is perfect for anyone who appreciates taking it slow. If your ideal holiday is filled with lake cruises, gentle hikes and long, leisurely lunches where you can measure the…

Known for its lavish balls and even more lavish cakes, Vienna is overflowing with art. If there’s one image that encapsulates the city, it’s of an elegant, gold-clad muse staring out at the viewer with an unsettling beauty. No, not Conchita Wurst, but the women of Gustav Klimt’s paintings. A tour of his artworks not only takes you to Vienna’s…

“Little Big City” proclaims the sign on the side of Bratislava’s trams. It’s certainly right about the first, Slovakia’s capital is dinky compared with its neighbours on the Danube – Vienna, the grand old dame of European capitals, ninety minutes to the west by boat, and exuberant Budapest, three hours to the southeast by train.…

Rough Guide readers voted Berlin one of the top places to visit in 2014, and it seems like the film industry agrees. Everyone from Tom Cruise to Quentin Tarantino has made films here in recent years, continuing Berlin’s extraordinary cinematic history. From the earliest days of filmmaking at Babelsberg studios through the Nazi era, Cold…