The town is divided into two, with the station in the middle. South (right) of the station is the centre, focused around the Old Town with the ruined Stein castle above. North (left) of the station, in a bend of the Limmat, is the low-lying Kurgebiet, or Cure District, with the thermal baths and a handful of venerable old hotels clustered around Kurplatz. The main Badstrasse, which becomes Bäderstrasse, connects the two neighbourhoods, running along a terrace above the Limmat valley.

Baden’s friendly and helpful tourist office is 100m north of the station, at Bahnhofstrasse 50 (Mon–Fri 8.30am–noon & 2–6pm, Sat 10am–noon; 056/222 53 18, www.baden-schweiz.ch). They offer excellent free guided tours of the town (Mon 2pm).

Accommodation
On the east side of the Limmat, about 200m south of the wooden bridge, you’ll find an HI hostel, Kanalstrasse 7 (056/221 67 36, fax 221 76 60; a; mid-March to Christmas), clean and safe, with dorms from Fr.25; and on the busy riverside street in Ennetbaden, also on the eastern bank of the Limmat but directly opposite the Kurgebiet, is Hirschen (056/222 69 66; a) with plenty of dead-simple rooms. Baden’s hotels are good value compared with those in Zürich nearby, but they’re geared towards monied long-stayers and you’ll need deepish pockets. Aim if you can for one of the Belle Epoque Kurhotels in the spa district, all of which exude bags of period charm: choice is Blume, Kurplatz 4 (056/222 55 69, fax 222 42 98; c–d), dating back to 1421 and built around an amazing interior atrium space, with classically grand public areas and a range of elegant rooms. Romantic Verenahof, Kurplatz 1 (056/203 93 93, fax 203 93 94, verenahof@bluewin.ch; c–e) is a more upmarket, renovated version of the same.