Neuf-Brisach

When France lost Breisach across the Rhine in 1697, Louis XIV ordered a replacement fortress, and Vauban designed Neuf-Brisach from scratch on empty flat ground in 1698, his final and most theoretically complete work. The plan is an octagon: bastions and outworks on the perimeter, a grid of forty-eight blocks inside, a central square, and no natural feature to compromise the geometry, which is why it is best understood from the air or a plan. It is one of the twelve Vauban sites inscribed by UNESCO in 2008. The town inside is still inhabited and ordinary, and the ramparts can be walked and cycled.

What you actually see

• The octagonal plan - a complete geometric fortress on flat ground.
• The bastions and outworks - Vauban's mature defensive system intact.
• The grid town - forty-eight blocks around a central square.
• The Belfort gate - a monumental gate housing the Vauban museum.

When to go

April to October; the ramparts are open year-round and free. A guided tour or the museum helps, because the geometry is hard to read from ground level.

Honest expectations

From inside it looks like an ordinary small town; the design only becomes impressive with a plan or aerial view. The museum is small. There is little to do beyond the walls.

Nearby

Colmar lies west; the Rhine and Germany are a few kilometres east.