A swimmingly good time

Visit Zurich, a city full of character with plenty of places to bathe, says Jess Phillips

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Each year the people of Zurich burn a giant effigy of a snowman on Sechsel äutenplatz, the city's central square. How long it takes the snowman to burn - and the time it takes the flames to lick the bundle of fireworks encased in its head, setting off an explosion - dictates how good summer in the Swiss city will be.

This year, it took 26 minutes and 30 seconds for the Zurich B öögg to explode, denoting an "average" summer season. Although you wouldn't think so given the dazzling sunshine and hordes of people rushing to bathe in the badis (swimming areas) dotted across the city. Zurich is a city of contradictions.

There's the Old Town with its traditional coffee shops all offering authentic Swiss chocolate and hot drinks.

There's the bustling financial district, with smart business people looking just a little out of place in the heat.

There's Zurich West, a gentrified suburb well suited to creative types. And then there are the incredible bathing spots hidden around the city - the badis.

It was the promise of so much outdoor bathing that drew me to the city in the first place. When one thinks of Switzerland, outdoor swimming might not be the first activity that springs to mind.

But in the metropolis of Zurich, workers and tourists love nothing more than jumping into the clear freshwater rivers and lakes.

After flying in on Swiss International Air Lines, my first stop is the Unterer Letten - the city's oldest riverside bathing facility on the Limmat River.