Stage 3 - Rheinau to Basel

Just down the road from Rheinau is the village of Ellikon am Rhein, a village basically consisting of a few houses and small pedestrian ferry which uses the river flow to ease its way across to Germany.

A few meters further on, the border veers away from the river leaving 'Rafzerfeld' firmly in Swiss hands, but after only a few kilometres it joins the river once more, and the river provides an ideal natural border with Germany almost all the way to Basel.

Canton Aargau has several spa towns. Perhaps the most well known is Baden, but it's not on the border, so I won't mention it here. Bad Zurzach however, known until 2006 simply as Zurzach, is within waving distance of Germany and has various thermal baths which are apparently very healthy. We didn't actually take the waters on this visit, but we have done in the past and baths are very warm and quite medicinal.

Further along the Rhine we stopped to stretch our legs at Full. The ferry takes passengers to and from Waldshut in Germany and one can also board here for trips along the river. Just visible in the picture is the customs office.

There are five atomic power stations in Switzerland, three of which are situated in canton Aagau, and Leibstadt, the largest, is nicely placed on the border.

Being such a hot summers day we soon felt the need for refreshment, so we stopped at the very pretty little town of Laufenburg to eat our sandwiches, drink lots, and enjoy the picturesque old town. On the German side of the river there is a town of the same name, in fact, until the town was divided by Napoleon in the early 19^th century is was the same town.

Similarly, the town of Rheinfelden was also split by Napoleon about 1802. Rheinfelden (fields of the Rhine) is about 15 kilometres east of Basel and is the home of what is probably the country's most popular beer 'Feldschlösschen' (little castle in the field). The attractive brewery building was the main reason I wanted to visit the place, but the quaint old town is well worth a visit in its own right.

We end Stage 3 in Schweizerhalle, an important industrial area near Basel. The name Schweizerhalle is derived from Schweizer (Swiss) and Halle (plural of Hall, an obsolete word for salt). Not only does The Swiss Saltworks produce here, but also several well known chemical companies such as BASF, Sandoz and Novartis are located in Schweizerhalle.

Preamble - Stage Two - Stage Four