Karlstad, Sweden

Capital of the province of Värmland, KARLSTAD is named after King Karl IX, who granted the place its town charter in 1584. The town has had its fair share of disasters: devastating fires ripped through the centre in 1616, 1729 and, most catastrophically, in 1865, when a blaze that started in a bakery burnt virtually the entire town, including the cathedral, to the ground. Rebuilding began apace, with an emphasis on wide streets and large open squares to guard against another tragedy. The result is an elegant and thoroughly likeable town.