The world’s best places to stay

The world's best places to stay 2008

Want to enjoy your vacations or live in the worlds most exotic places here are some of the worlds best locations to choose from, pictures and details included
Zurich, Switzerland

No. 1: Zurich, Switzerland

Mercer score: 108
2007 rank: No. 1

GDP: $300.9 billion (2007 est.)*

Population: 7.58 million (total country); 347,517 (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.74 years

in English generally Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 376,815 at the end of 2007; population of urban area is 1,007,972) and capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland’s main commercial and cultural centre (the political capital of Switzerland being Bern), and is widely considered to be one of the world’s global cities. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the “best quality of life” in the world.

vienna austria

No. 2 (tie): Vienna, Austria

Mercer score: 107.9

2007 rank: No. 3

GDP: $319.7 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 8.21 million (total country); 1.83 million (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.36 years

Vienna in German Wien pronounced is the capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria’s primary city; with a population of about 1.7 million

Geneva, Switzerland

No. 2 (tie): Geneva, Switzerland

Mercer score: 107.9

2007 rank: No. 2

GDP: $300.9 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 7.58 million (total country); 185,000 (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.74 years
Geneva is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). Situated where the Rhône River exits Lake Geneva (French Lac Léman), it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.

Vancouver, Canada

No. 4: Vancouver, Canada

Mercer score: 107.6

2007 rank: No. 3

GDP: $1.27 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 33.21 million (total country); 560,000 (total city)

Life expectancy: 81.16 years

 

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is bounded by the Strait of Georgia, the Fraser River, and the Coast Mountains. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer.

Auckland, New Zealand

No. 5: Auckland, New Zealand

Mercer score: 107.3

2007 rank: No. 5

GDP: $112.6 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 4.17 million (total country); 1.18 million (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.24 years
The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country, with around 1.3 million residents, over a quarter of the country’s population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest of the country. Increasingly cosmopolitan, Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world

Dusseldorf, Germany

No. 6: Dusseldorf, Germany

Mercer score: 107.2

2007 rank: No. 6

GDP: $2.833 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 82.37 million (total country); 581,858 (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.1 years

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is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an economic centre of Germany. The city is situated on the River Rhine and also has a high population density – the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area has over 10 million inhabitants alone. The city is renowned for its many events and also for its fashion and trade fairs. Every July more than 4.5 million people visit the Große Düsseldorfer Kirmes fair.

Munich, Germany

No. 7 (tie): Munich, Germany

Mercer score: 107

2007 rank: No. 8

GDP: $2.833 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 82.37 million (total country); 1.33 million (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.1 years

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is not the only location within Bavaria known as “München”, three locations exist. The one which is known as “Munich”, another which is northeast of the city of Nuremberg, and also a town north of the city of Passau. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps.
Munich is the third largest city in Germany. Ahead of it are Berlin and Hamburg. There are approximately 1.35 million inhabitants within Munich.

Frankfurt, Germany

No. 7 (tie): Frankfurt, Germany

Mercer score: 107

2007 rank: No. 7

GDP: $2.83 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 82.37 million (total country); 3.7 million (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.1 years
is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2007 population of 667,598. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine Main Area which has a population of 5.3 million and is Germany’s second largest metropolitan area.

Bern, Switzerland

No. 9: Bern, Switzerland

Mercer score: 106.5

2007 rank: No. 9

GDP: $319.7 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 8.21 million (total country); 122,178 (total city)

Life expectancy: 79.36 years
is the Bundesstadt (federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland and, with 128,041 people (agglomeration: 344,000), the fourth most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel).
Most of Berne’s residents speak German, or more specifically, Bernese German, which is a high-Alemannic dialect. The Canton of Berne has a French-speaking part. Very few people still speak the Mattenenglisch[citation needed], a language game used in the former workers’ quarter of Matte, but several words have found their way into Bernese German.

Berne also functions as the capital of the Canton of Berne, the second most populous of Switzerland’s cantons.

Sydney, Australia

No. 10: Sydney, Australia

Mercer score: 106.3

2007 rank: No. 9

GDP: $766.8 billion (2007 est.)

Population: 20.6 million (total country); 4.30 million (total city)

Life expectancy: 80.73 years
is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million (2006 estimate). It is the state capital of New South Wales, and the site of the first British colony in Australia, established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, leader of the First Fleet from Britain. A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider.