  We present new and independent estimates of the distances to the Magellanic
Clouds (MCs) using near-infrared (NIR) and optical--NIR period--Wesenheit (PW)
relations. The slopes of the PW relations are, within the dispersion, linear
over the entire period range and independent of metal content. The absolute
zero points were fixed using Galactic Cepheids with distances based on the
infrared surface-brightness method. The true distance modulus we found for the
Large Magellanic Cloud---$(m-M)_0 = 18.48 \pm 0.01 \pm 0.10$ mag---and the
Small Magellanic Cloud---$(m-M)_0 = 18.94 \pm 0.01 \pm 0.10$ mag---agree quite
well with similar distance determinations based on robust distance indicators.
We also briefly discuss the evolutionary and pulsation properties of MC
Cepheids.
