Funny Place, Strasbourg

Strasbourg may aspire be the capital of Europe, but it is strangely inaccessible from Britain. From London, it takes two trains (and a change of station in Paris) or a variety of flights to places nearby (regulars have to live with flying the dreaded Irish carrier to nearby Karlsruhe and then taking a taxi) to get there. The train from Paris is quick, as it needs to be, since it traverses one of the most boring landscapes in Europe. Once you arrive and see beyond the ‘quaint’ and downright odd idiosyncrasies of the local architectural style you are in a rather grand and elegant Middle European city – a little chilly, perhaps, but stylish and evidently prosperous.