Boutique Hotels in Zürich

Start in the Old Town, the Altstadt, which spreads along both banks of the Limmat between the main station and the lake. On the east bank, Niederdorf is a near-kilometre of cobbled, car-free lanes, oriel windows and courtyards, packed with cafés and bars; on the west, the Lindenhof hill — a Roman site — gives the classic view over the rooftops and the river. Two churches stand over it: the twin-towered Grossmünster, the cradle of the Swiss Reformation, and, across the Münsterbrücke, the Fraumünster, with its luminous stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall. Between them runs Bahnhofstrasse, one of the world's great shopping streets, with Sprüngli's confectionery counter as its sweetest landmark.

Beyond the centre, Zürich opens up. The Kunsthaus holds the city's outstanding art collection, from old masters to a deep run of modern work, in a building extended by David Chipperfield; the Swiss National Museum tells the country's story in a fairy-tale pile behind the station. For the city's other face, take the tram to Zürich West, the old industrial quarter now full of design shops, galleries and bars in the railway arches of Im Viadukt and around the Freitag Tower. And the lake is never far: ride a boat out across it, walk the promenades, or — in summer — swim from one of the Badi, the wooden bathing platforms that are a Zürich institution and as close as the city comes to a beach. For the big view, the Uetliberg, the city's own mountain, is a half-hour train ride and a short climb to a panorama of city, lake and Alps.

Zürich eats well and broadly. The traditional table runs to cheese — fondue and raclette — and hearty dishes like Zürich-style veal in cream sauce with rösti, best had in an old-town stube; but the modern city is cosmopolitan and inventive, with everything from lake-view fine dining to the street food and natural-wine bars of Zürich West, and an Italian-influenced coffee culture throughout. Sprüngli's Luxemburgerli, the city's featherlight macarons, are the edible souvenir; the Friday and weekend markets are worth timing a visit around.

The city is also a springboard. Within an hour by train lie the thundering Rhine Falls, Europe's largest waterfall, and lovely Lucerne on its own lake; the Lindt Home of Chocolate is a short hop for the sweet-toothed. As for where to stay, the club's choice sits right in the heart of it: the Hotel Ambassador, a boutique hotel in a restored 1899 lakeside palace in cultured Seefeld, two minutes from the Opera House and steps from the water, with a roof terrace looking out over the lake. Central, characterful and beside the water — the right base for a city best taken at a stroll.