Fribourg

Founded in 1157 on a rocky spur above the Sarine River, Fribourg is a Swiss town whose Old City holds Switzerland's best-preserved medieval fortifications, more than 200 Gothic houses, aristocratic townhouses, St. Niklaus cathedral, and numerous churches — all within a walkable, heritage-dense centre. Sitting on the cultural border between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland, it is also home to a bilingual university, and its bridges over the Sarine link the two linguistic halves of the country.

• Population38,365
• Nearest water from center0.4 km
• Nearest mountain from center7.5 km
• UNESCO within 50 km30