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ZURICH
Switzerland's biggest city is a whirlwind of history, art and financial success. By Rob Arnhem

Zurich has been described as 'the small big city', and it neatly fits that description. Like the country as a whole, it's trim, clean and orderly and superbly organised. Dull, predictable and fussy are some nasty adjectives used by others of the Swiss, but let a visit to Zurich do the sales talk to counter that prejudiced view. Zurich lies almost bang in the centre of Europe and is a great place to have a stopover or catch a connecting flight to dozens of destinations worldwide. If you opt for the first choice, you won't be disappointed. It's Switzerland's biggest city, but its population only numbers some 360,000, and it combines the charm of an old city with the dynamic buzz of a financial metropolis. If ever there was a city whose streets were paved with gold, this is the closest you'll get to it. Just imagine all that gold bullion and those dark tales stashed away in the vaults under your feet while you stroll down the Paradeplatz, Zurich's international Moneyville, where the headquarters of Crédit Suisse loom in understated but eloquent assurance. Don't miss this building's splendid atrium. If your wallet is up to it the Hotel Savoy will lure you inside, but any of the Sprüngli confectionary chain will serve you excellent coffee and mouth-watering pastries for a reasonable sum.

You might ask why Switzerland became the world's safe banking haven so early and why the Swiss make such a slick service of banking. There must be a conspiracy theory to answer that, and there is. With The Da Vinci Code sweeping book sales, yes, you've guessed, its yet another Templar tale. Well, there is a story that many of the Knights Templar fled to Switzerland after their order was suppressed. There they assiduously set about putting Switzerland on the high road to financial success by using their own formidable skills as international bankers and bankrollers. And why has such a small country, surrounded by such powerful and hungry neighbours as Germany, France, Austria and Italy, managed to avoid invasion by its enemies for two hundred years? Again, because of the military know-how of the Templars, who forged the Swiss into such a formidable fighting force. Whether you believe that or not, it's a fact that the Swiss army is one of the most efficient citizen forces in the world, and men are obliged to do annual military service. The country had few resources except its position, work ethic and stolid independence. When the country was poor, Swiss mercenaries fought all over Europe. A relic of the past remains in the pope's famous Swiss Guard. You can quite see why such preparedness, efficiency and time management skills produced the Swiss watch, the Swiss Army Knife and that eternal pick-me-up and comforter Swiss chocolate. And why most Swiss are bilingual in German and French, while others can speak Italian and Romance as well, and still find the energy to master English. Money speaks all languages, and the Swiss were quick to grasp this. Plus realising that discreet efficient service is another major crowd pleaser.

A 1.5km stroll along the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's swish main shopping street, will give you an overview of who buys what and how much it all costs. While you can pop into any of the many big name designer shops, do make time for the Jelmoli and Globus department stores. When you need a snack, you won't need to pay the earth if you spot one of the popular Silberkugel food chain outlets, or Dézaley, which offers good Swiss food. As in all big cities, one or two streets up from the main shopping drag's expensive tourist traps, there are cheaper alternatives to sample. And some good news for those worried about their stretched holiday bank balances – although VAT is 7.6 per cent, it can be reclaimed for purchases over 400 Swiss Francs. Other cheaper shopping venues include the flea market every Saturday on the Burkliplatz from May to October, and another, the artisan's market at Rosenhof Square in the Niederdorf on Thursdays and Saturdays between April and Christmas. The annual Sechseläuten, the guilds festival, is another good reason to visit Zurich. In winter, a great attraction for gourmets is the 'Gastro Tram,' which feeds you on rich warming fondues while you enjoy a two hour tour.

One good way of orientating yourself is to buy a ticket before boarding the well-known blue trams for a circular city tour. At the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) at the beginning of the Bahnhofstrasse, visit the tourist office for tips on easy travel. While you're about it, buy a ticket taking you up the Uetliberg, for wrap-around views of the city. Below you'll see the Limmat and Sihl rivers, and the long lakeshore of the Zürichsee, dotted with swans. As a des-res magnet, this place has a long history. On the shores of these Swiss lakes, early settlers thousands of years ago laid out their neat wooden houses on stilts. The Romans, always with a practical bent and a sharp eye for strategy, followed and built Castellum Turicum in 58BC. The local Celtic tribes, the Helvetii, proved difficult fighters, but the Romans won, and Zurich was well on the way to becoming an important city. The connection with the Romans goes further; Switzerland was part of the Holy Roman Empire (which, confusingly, was German, not Roman), but in 1351 the formation of the Swiss confederation set Switzerland's destiny apart from its neighbours. The highly individualistic cities agreed to unite against the threat of being engulfed by Austria (get out that old copy of William Tell again). So now you know why Swiss stamps proclaim Helvetia, not Switzerland, and cars bear those simple letters CH. It was Napoleon's invasion in 1798 that forced Switzerland to adopt the name Helvetic Confederation, or Confederazio Helvetica – CH.

The Swiss have always been republicans and democrats. It may be a bourgeois society, but it works. The closest they got to royals were their burgomasters (mayors) and heads of the powerful old medieval trade guilds. The Rathaus is the town hall and has nothing to do with the Pied Piper and his entourage of vermin, by the way. The most flamboyant of the Baroque guild halls is Zur Meisen, built in 1757. These sumptuously decorated Zunfthaus or guild halls abound along the river opposite the Niederdorf, or 'Lower City' – the Old Town. Nearby is the stolid plain Romanesque 12th century Grossmünster cathedral with its two bell towers, where the stern 16th century Protestant reformer Ulrich Zwingli preached. The first cathedral was built here on the orders of Charlemagne, the first great Holy Roman emperor.

Zurich is the seat of a world-famous polytechnic and an excellent university, unique in being the first in Europe to admit women from its foundation in 1833. Since then the city has attracted a gallery of rich and famous folk (and the money of others about whom few questions were asked) from Noel Coward and Charlie Chaplin to Scott Fitzgerald, Graham Greene and the Aga Khan. James Joyce, the great Irish author, is buried here. Wagner wrote Tristan and Isolde here. The two most notorious foreign residents, perhaps, were those fervent communists Trotsky and Lenin, who both sheltered conveniently in this temple of capitalism while they plotted to overthrow the system. Einstein found asylum here too, and the city was home to the great philosopher-psychologist Jung. Heidi fans who want to relive their childhoods will no doubt want to visit her creator Johanna Spyri's house. This should prepare you for a spot of dipping into Jung and his theories on the collective unconscious.

The odd wet day shouldn't put you off, because a range of indoor attractions in the form of superb museums and galleries awaits you. For a comprehensive look at what makes the Swiss tick, the Landesmuseum, or National Museum, housed in a great Gothic pile near the station, is a top must-do. The airy and beautifully designed Kunsthaus (Art Museum) sets off a stunning selection of art works. There are enough Van Goghs, Breughels, Monet's luminous water lilies and Matisses to keep an army of art lovers slavering over the huge collection of old masters to moderns. Alberto Giacometti has a whole wing to his own works, and the museum has the second biggest haul of Munch's works after his native Norway. Just around the corner is one of the best private galleries of African art anywhere – the Galerie Walu. The Rämistrasse is a whole street of art dealers, and the zoo at Zurichberg and the botanical gardens are major attractions in their own right. Then there's the Bellvue Park, the biggest in the city. Above the city on a hill overlooking the river is Lindenhof, where the first inhabitants settled and where the Romans built their fort.

St Peter's Church has the largest clock face in Europe – a proud and somehow apt Swiss boast. Zurich's skyline is happily still dominated by its three great churches. Another morning can see you wandering around the Zurich Schipfe, the oldest quarter of the city, a magnet for shoppers after superbly designed and finished art and craft. The rich smells of coffee and confections lure you onwards, and its trendy shops and restaurants will most probably force you to part with some of your budget. The Swiss are said to be tight with money, as befits canny traders and bankers, but you will get quality for the price. And speaking of coffee, the Johann-Jacobs Kaffee Museum is just that – a whole museum to coffee and its part in world culture. It's in Seefeld, which is also home to an innovative development in a once run-down area – the Lowenbrau Brewery, a renovated complex of galleries and shows. Architects and designers will have a field day in this city. The last home of the high priest of the international style Le Corbusier is here too, now a museum, plus the superb Museum of Design (Museum für Gestaltung). Yet another architectural gem is the Wasserkirche, or Water Church. One of the most absorbing places to visit, and please make the time, is the Beyer Museum of Time – you'll be ticking on automatic for hours. And don't think there's no nightlife in this once sternly Protestant city. It's buzzing and multifaceted, and there is a range of discos for everyone's taste, if not your pocket. Good live music abounds – the Tonhalle is the place for concerts, there's a magnificent Opera House, theatres of all kinds, and lots of jazz – try the Widder Hotel Piano Bar.

From Zurich, you can take easy day trips to the Black Forest in Germany and to the Rhine Falls, the Rhone glacier and the Jungfrau. The modern and efficient Swiss train service is a huge timesaver when planning trips, and the main station is in the centre of the city, while the airport is not far away.

A last word: it might puzzle you to see the city's strange coat-of-arms – the Romans beheaded the city's patron saints, Felix and Regula, but they miraculously and calmly went about finding their heads and went to where the Grossmunster stands today, where they're buried. You won't lose your head in Zurich, though, but if you're after value for money, you'll get it.