Baden

From Wikitravel

Baden old town
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Baden old town

Baden is a town in the Northeastern region of Switzerland. It has a lively shopping centre, and a beautiful old town with traditional swiss buildings, and small castle, all on the banks of the river Limmat which flows from Lake Zurich. Half of the town is dominated by the industrial/office complex of Alstom, and the local economy is dependent upon their power plant manufacturing, but historically people were attracted to Baden for its thermal baths.

Table of contents
1 Get in

1.1 By train
1.2 By Car

2 Get around
3 See
4 Do
5 Buy
6 Eat
7 Drink
8 Sleep
9 Get out
10 External links

Get in

The town is situated between Zurich and Basel

By train

17mins train from Zurich. or 25mins train direct from Zurich Airport (not via Zurich) or 40mins train from Basel

By Car

Its near a big motorway. The A1 perhaps.

Get around

The town centre is small enough to walk around, with a pleasant pedestrianised shopping street, and riverside walkways.

To explore further afield you might like to take a bus from the main station. Pay with coins in the machine on board, or buy a 6 journey strip card from the train ticket office.

Note with all trains busses the "halbtax" option ('1/2' button on the machines) is for local people who have spent 150CHF on an annual half fair pass.



See

Walk up to the old ruined castle on the hill, for an excellent view across Baden.

The Baden Museum gives a full historical overview of how the baths, and industry have shaped the town.

Do

Go for a thermal bath. The city is named Baden (bath) because of the natural geothermally heated pools. The main 'thermalbaden' costs 16CHF + 5CHF deposit pawn, for an adult. Lots of luxury hotels are located around the thermal area by the river. Many hotels have private thermal baths.

Buy

The main street is bustling with shoppers during the day. Lots of clothes shops, and various chain stores including 'Manor' (huge department store) and 'Merkur' (get your swiss chocolate here). There's a market on Saturday morning near the old town tower.

Eat

  • Isebahnli, 10 Bahnhofstrasse (opposite Manor store), 056 / 222 57 58. 11AM-2:30PM and 4PM-12PM. Excellent (but expensive) swiss style food. Often full (make a booking) 25 CHF - 45 CHF
  • Brasserie Zum Schwyzerhusli, 38 Badstrasse (station end of the main shopping street), 056 / 222 62 63. Mon-Fri 09.30-23.00, Sat 09.00-19.00. Swiss specialities including fondue, at a reasonable price. Can be smokey inside. 15 CHF - 30 CHF

Drink

  • Mullerbrau Biergarten Big beergarden round the back of the brewery. Popular and crowded, but only open in the summer.
  • Sonnendeck An outdoor bar on a deck by the river under the tall Mellingerstrasse bridge. Also only open in the summer
  • Mojo Brand new Japanese themed bar and sushi restaurant near the station. Spacious, stylish, and modern
  • Cerosa Down spooky alleyway, but don't let that put you off. Its fun, unpretentious, and has cheap beer
  • Mr Pickwicks English themed chain pub. Smokey. Grimy. Popular with... English people.
  • LWB Big club under a concrete railway underpass. Very young (teenaged?) crowd.

Sleep

  • Pepitos Rooms above a bar (not quiet) Clean rooms, but slightly grotty bathrooms, and breakfast is hardly worth bothering with, but its the only cheap central hotel. It always seems to have rooms free. Single room 80CHF. http://www.pepitos.ch/
  • Gasthaus zum Hirchen Outside Baden, in Kirchdorf dorf; a charming little village further up the valley. There's a bus every 20mins into Baden, which takes 15mins. Good clean modern rooms in an old traditional swiss building. Single room 95CHF. http://www.hirschen-kirchdorf.ch/Index.htm

Get out

Hop on a train into Zurich, or in the other direction to Basel.

External links