Bischofszell

Bischofszell grew at the confluence of the Thur and the Sitter, and the bishops of Constance who held it left it a compact town centre; a fire in 1743 destroyed the old town hall and some seventy houses, and the rebuilding in a restrained baroque gives the main street a coherence unusual for a place of this size, with a town hall built by Johann Caspar Bagnato in 1747-1750, arcades and painted facades. The crooked eight-arched Thur bridge of 1487, one of the oldest stone bridges in the country, crosses below the town. Every year since 2002, in late June, the Rosenwoche fills the streets with rose displays and draws some 60,000 visitors. The town won the Wakker Prize for its heritage in 1987. The surrounding Thurgau is fruit country, and cider and juice from the orchards are a local staple.

What's there

• A coherent baroque main street - rebuilt after the fire of 1743.
• A medieval stone bridge - among the oldest surviving in Switzerland.
• The Rosenwoche - a rose festival every year in late June.
• Thurgau orchard country - cider and fruit juice from the surrounding farms.

When to go

Late June for the roses; April to October otherwise. Half a day.

Before you go

It is a small town and an hour or two covers it. The rose festival week brings crowds. Museums keep short hours. Rail connections are branch-line and infrequent.

Nearby

St Gallen and its abbey library are east; Lake Constance is north.

Key facts