Baden, Switzerland

A pleasant, relaxing spa town on the River Limmat, Baden makes for a good stopover on a journey across the north of the country. There's not an awful lot to do other than enjoy the ancient Old Town, take in a fine collection of Impressionist art, and enjoy a soothing dip in the warm, sulphurous spring waters… but that's the point. People have been coming to Baden for centuries to sit around doing absolutely nothing, and there are few more genteel and stately towns in the country in which to follow suit.

The town is divided into two, with the station in the middle. South of the station is the centre, focused around the Old Town with the ruined castle above. North of the station, in a bend of the Limmat, is the low-lying spa area (signed as ThermalBaden). The main Badstrasse, which becomes Bäderstrasse, connects the two neighbourhoods, running along a terrace above the Limmat valley.