Headquarters for the United Nations in Europe, the Red Cross and several other international organizations, French-speaking Geneva is cosmopolitan and pricey.

By Jim Johnson

Lake Geneva

A quiet breakfast on a summer morning in an elegant Geneva hotel. At one table a dapper, 60-something captain of industry wears a business suit that cost the equivalent of an around-the-world airline ticket. Opposite him a scruffy teenager with multiple body piercings and rainbow-colored hair wears jeans frayed la mode du jour. Surprisingly, they speak to each other in warm tones punctuated by an occasional laugh. The scene is a perfect metaphor for Geneva, a city of contrasts and tolerance.

Stand in the heart of downtown, and you can feel the electricity of one of the world's most cosmopolitan, international cities. Head five minutes in almost any direction and you can relax in rolling vineyards or on the expansive waters of Lake Geneva. One minute, it's an international city with 208 banks, 65 watch manufacturers and an alphabet soup of United Nations agencies (Geneva's the U.N.'s European HQ); the next minute it's small-town Switzerland's with a population of barely 180,000.

About 70 % of visitors are there on business and their presence means a strong tourism infrastructure for all visitors, including 125 hotels (14 of them five-star), more than 1,100 restaurants, and shops to strain every credit card limit. And the town's compactness means more charm and convenience for tourists, who can make the trip from one end of downtown to the other without breaking a sweat.

Nearly 40 % of residents - representing 183 nationalities - are from outside Switzerland's. Of the remaining Swiss, about a third are descendants of refugees who fled to Geneva in the 17th century to escape religious persecution. Everyone seems to have learned to get along.