Yverdon-les-Bains

The sulphurous springs here were used by the Romans and are still the basis of the town's thermal baths. The square castle with four round towers was built by Peter of Savoy in the 1260s, and from 1805 to 1825 Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ran his institute in it - the school that made his ideas on child-centred education internationally known and drew visitors from across Europe to watch the teaching. The castle now holds the town museum and a Pestalozzi documentation centre. Yverdon also has the Maison d'Ailleurs, a museum of science fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys, which is unusual: few towns of this size hold a public collection devoted to the genre.

Highlights

• Pestalozzi's institute - the school he ran in the castle from 1805 to 1825.
• A Savoyard castle of the 1260s - square with four round towers.
• Roman-era sulphur springs - still feeding the modern baths.
• The Maison d'Ailleurs - a public museum of science fiction and utopias.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Good to know

Museums close on Mondays. The baths are a modern spa complex and charge accordingly. The town centre is workaday outside the castle square. The lake is a walk from the centre.

Nearby

The Grande Caricaie marshes are along the lake; Sainte-Croix is up in the Jura.

Key facts