Zurich

The eccentric café-cabaret where Dadaism was born in 1916, now a club-like cultural centre of performances, workshops and exhibitions. Subversive by design.

A Zürich bag label making sleek, plant-based pieces instead of plastic, in a shop built around the same sustainable ethos. Shop with a clear conscience.

A storied five-star on the Limmat, with riverside rooms, a Michelin-starred rôtisserie and the beloved Barchetta bar. Swiss hospitality at its most polished.

A venerable Zürich institution since 1924, serving French-Swiss classics beneath original Chagalls, Mirós and Picassos. Impeccable, old-school service — book the bar for a cocktail.

A Milan-meets-Manhattan coffee bar, the original of a small local group, popular with politicians and financiers from dawn to dusk. Good beans, good papers, good jazz.

An 1894 silk house revived by two sisters, with a three-storey flagship of homeware, dresses, scarves and coats. Heritage with a fresh streak.

A design-savvy Old Town bookshop from two Swiss publishers, stacked with architecture, photography, art and design titles. A browse for the visually inclined.

A 1952 river pool on the Limmat with a fast-flowing swimming channel and a diving platform. Jump in, ride the current and refuel with a spritz at Panama Bar.

Mats Klingberg's warm, well-judged menswear shop, drawing on Japan, Italy and the UK, with a strong in-house, made-in-Europe line. Quietly excellent.

Monocle's Seefeld shop and café, a Dufourstrasse fixture for coffee, the latest issue and the full own-label range — with a live radio studio overhead.

Monocle's own three-bedroom apartment within the Widder Hotel in the Old Town, showcasing Swiss and European craft alongside vintage finds and archive prints. Hotel services on tap.

Switzerland's largest art museum, expanded by David Chipperfield in 2021, with a vast collection and a buzzy bar. A cornerstone of the city's cultural life.

Zürich's smallest hotel, a discreet aristocratic mansion in Seefeld with nine rooms, a fireside lounge and a tiny cinema. Removed from the bustle, a short walk from the Monocle shop.