Tampere, Finland

"Here it was as natural to approve of the factories as in Mecca one would the mosques," wrote John Sykes of TAMPERE in the 1960s – and you soon see what he meant. But although Tampere has long been Finland's biggest manufacturing centre and is currently Scandinavia's largest inland city, it's a highly scenic place, with leafy cobbled avenues, sculpture-filled parks and two sizeable lakes. The factories that line the Tammerkoski rapids in the heart of the city actually accentuate its appeal, their chimneys standing as bold monuments to Tampere's past – it's no coincidence that the town is known colloquially as the Manchester of Finland's north. Its rapid growth began almost two centuries ago, when Tsar Alexander I abolished taxes on local trade, encouraging the Scotsman James Finlayson to open a textile factory here, drawing labour from rural areas where traditional crafts were in decline. Metalwork and clothing factories soon followed (mobile phone giant Nokia was founded here in 1865 as a wood-pulp manufacturer), their owners paternalistically supplying culture to the workforce by promoting a vigorous local arts scene. Free outdoor rock and jazz concerts, lavish theatrical productions and one of the best modern art collections in Finland maintain such traditions to this day.