Sopot, Poland

One-time stamping ground for the rich and famous, who came from all over the world to sample its casinos and high life in the 1920s and 1930s, the beach resort at Sopot is very popular with Poles, and is increasingly attractive to Westerners. It has an altogether different atmosphere from its neighbour: the fashionable clothes shops and bars scattered round ulica Bohaterów Monte Cassino, the main street, seem light years away from both historic central Gdańsk and the industrial grimness of the shipyards. Sopot has always enjoyed a special position in Polish popular culture, as the birthplace of Polish beat music and as the place where media personalities traditionally come to see and be seen. Today, Sopot's position slap in the middle of the Trójmiasto ensures that it's more than just a summertime seaside resort: it's a year-round nightlife centre servicing the big-city populations of both Gdynia and Gdańsk, as well as a growing business centre and an enduringly fashionable place in which to live. In terms of local affluence and outside investment, it's the fastest growing town in Poland, and the current multi-million-zoty project to redevelop the seafront area will do much to improve its appeal.