Merano, Italy

MERANO (Meran) lies in a beautiful, wide part of the Adige (Etsch) valley. Closer geographically and in looks to the Swiss and Austrian Alps than the Dolomites, the grandeur of the landscape turns up a notch here – and a simple event like a summer storm becomes a drama, with the whole valley reverberating to the rumble of thunder. A sedate spa town, Merano has a mild climate that attracted Central Europeans at the beginning of the last century after Empress Elizabeth of Austria – known as Sissi – chose the town for her winter cure. A resort of fin-de-siècle hotels, neat gardens and promenades evolved.