It may well be all of those things, but from my own experience the country must be one of the most boring places I've ever visited, not to mention incredibly expensive.
This is not an uncommon combination. But I beg to differ when it comes to Switzerland where their traditional music for example, is to be highly recommended: On a slightly different note, Switzerland is great for outdoor pursuits and in particular skiing. I knew an English guy who spent half his year in Chamonix just immediately across the border in the Alps, as he was an ardent climber and skier.
As for the music, I rest my case... You can only do so much skiing. If skiing is your thing, Austria is very good and a lot cheaper. I used to go to Geneva regularly on business, attending Telecoms conferences in Geneva for up to a month at a time. At the weekends I used to ride the buses from one end of the route to the other and back just for something to do. Hotels old and extremely high priced, same with restaurants. You could hear the Americans crying over how expensive Bigmacs were.
Zurich isn't all it's cracked up to be, take a nice stroll around Park Platzspitz behind Central Station or "Needle Park" as the locals call it...
I would choose Portugal, probably Porto. I loved ( edit. and lived ) in Lisbon for a year or two and have probably averaged a trip every year since until recently. I love the people and culture. Their attitude to family is excellent and they seem to have very few -isms. Porto is a beautiful city, a little shabby chic but full of life and colour. Its also close to the coast, the home of the Port houses and the Douro Valley vineyards.
Nice photos. I really liked the region to the south of there around Alcobaca and Nazare. I spent about 8 weeks there one time and though working it was also like being on holiday. Great climate, great restaurants and good wine. And also at that time at least, at reasonable prices.
Porto is also probably one of the cheaper places compared with the Algarve and Cascais / Estoril region.
