Fast facts

• Slovakia's capital city
• Population: 450,000
• Currency: Slovak koruna (crown)
• Conversion rate: £1 = 54.5 SKK (early March)
• IDD country code: +421
• Flying time from London: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Cosmopolitan capital

Bratislava, perched on the edge of the River Danube, where the Slovak Republic borders both Hungary to the south and Austria to the west, is one of the most cosmopolitan of central Europe's capitals

This is a youthful, compact city, combining fabulous baroque architecture, glitzy new shopping centres and offices, and dour Communist-era housing blocks. In the summer, ancient squares are turned into public stages for cultural events, and the cobblestoned Old Town - where coffee culture meets bierkeller - buzzes with life in the evening.

The mountains around the city are popular with hikers, but if you're only in town for a short while, the not-to-be-missed attraction is the grand, three-centuries-old St Martin's cathedral, though there are countless stunning museums and palaces. Nightlife centres on Michalska Street.

Spending power

The people of Bratislava are among the wealthiest in the region. And people here like to show it. Walking around the city reminds you of a bustling, chic Italian city.

Bratislava's GDP per capita is the highest of any city in the region after Prague's, and Bratislavans are out there having fun, spending, dining out, and enjoying smart clothes and smart cars.

Salaries rise by 10%

The average monthly wage in the city last year (2205) rose 10%, to SKK16,000 (about £300), which doesn't sound like an awful lot, but it goes a long way in Bratislava. The biggest hitters in the salary stakes are financial advisers, who make more than double the average wage, followed by senior execs working in utilities, and in property.

Bratislava is an industrial city built on shipbuilding and manufacturing, mainly of furniture, tobacco products, musical instruments, woollen goods, and leather products.

Europe's Motown

But it's the car industry that is now driving the economy.

The transport sector is also important, thanks to a thriving river port and strategic road and rail hubs.

Volkswagen's massive production plant just outside Bratislava employs nearly 9,000 people and generated 20% of the entire country's exports in 2005. Production is expected to rise by 10% this year.

Other carmakers - most notably Peugeot, which in 2006 opens its Euro 1 billion plant in nearby Trnava - are also setting up in the Slovak Republic.

Flights boost for tourism

Tourism in the Slovak Republic overall has been growing fairly slowly in recent years - by only about 13% in the six years to 2005, not because there's nothing to attract visitors - in fact the opposite is true - but more because the country's often overshadowed by its bigger and better known neighbour to the northwest, the Czech Republic.

This is all changing now, with budget airlines adding new routes into Bratislava all the time, to cater not just for growing interest in the city but also Slovaks' own burgeoning interest in - and, since joining the EU in 2004, their increased ability to - travel to other countries in Europe.

Ryanair, for instance, which runs direct flights to London, Milan and Dublin from Bratislava, struck a deal in January with the airport authority in Bratislava to use the city as a base for a number of its aircraft. The agreement is predicted to lead to extra routes in and out of the city - the Czech news agency CTK says up to 20 - being launched in the coming year or so. Bratislava is already a base for low-cost carrier SkyEurope.

On the waterfront

Tourism to Bratislava itself last year topped 358,000 people during the summer season (April to September) alone, up 9.5% on the summer before. And in May this year, a new speed boat line, Twin City Liner, will link the city with central Vienna, with a three-times-daily, air-conditioned service costing EUR17 a ticket.

The riverbank itself is undergoing a transformation with two waterside developments, one being driven by Ballymore Properties, the people behind London's Docklands development. These two huge projects, which will include apartments, shops, leisure facilities and a state-of-the-art arena with capacity for 12,000 people, will not only help Bratislava better position itself as an attractive city for international investment and tourism, but also create jobs during construction.

Language, climate and flights

The official language is Slovak, which is quite similar to Czech. The use of English is growing rapidly, especially in the tourism and services sectors where it's used extensively, and German and Russian are also widely understood.

Bratislava is one of the warmest spots in the Slovak Republic, being sheltered by Carpatian mountains. The summer heat peaks in July and August, when daytime temperatures average 26 degrees, though the evenings are cool. In winter, the mercury struggles to reach 5 degrees throughout January and February.

Bratislava is 30 miles from Vienna, and Budapest and Prague can be reached in a three-hour drive. From the UK, Ryanair and SkyEurope both serve Bratislava from Stansted, EasyJet flies from Luton, and SkyEurope also flies from Manchester.