Yverdon-les-Bains
A thermal town at the tip of Lake Neuchatel, with a Savoyard castle where Pestalozzi ran his school for twenty years.
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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.
What you actually see
- 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.
Honest expectations
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.
What to pack for Yverdon-les-Bains
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.