Baden-Baden is one of Europe's grand spa towns, built on a series of hills at the northern edge of the Black Forest in southwestern Germany. The Romans discovered the hot springs here two thousand years ago, and the town has been drawing visitors ever since — Russian aristocrats, European royalty, and writers from Dostoevsky to Mark Twain all came to take the waters.
The Kurhaus and its casino, designed in 1824, anchor the centre of town with the kind of grandeur that makes Las Vegas look restrained. The surrounding Lichtentaler Allee, a riverside promenade lined with exotic trees, is one of the most elegant walks in Germany. The town is impeccably maintained — flower gardens, classical concerts at the Festspielhaus, and an unhurried pace that makes a weekend here feel like a week.
The thermal baths are the essential experience. The Friedrichsbad is a 19th-century Roman-Irish bathhouse where you follow a 17-stage programme of dry saunas, steam rooms, scrubs and thermal pools — clothing is not an option, and the experience is liberating. The Caracalla Therme next door is a modern complex with indoor and outdoor pools for those who prefer a more relaxed approach. The remains of the original Roman Baths at Römerplatz prove that the tradition here is genuinely ancient.