Leukerbad, Switzerland
Tourism

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which winds its way up from Sierre via Salgesch. From the highway a daringly engineered path with eight rough wooden ladders up a 100 m/328ft rock face leads to the mountain village of Albinen.

This high-altitude resort was known to the Romans; in modern times the earliest reference to the village - then known as Baden - dates from 1315. The scattered settlement has grown up around its 20 or so thermal springs; the old wooden houses of the village are on the right bank of the River Dala, the hotels and spa establishments on the left.

The water (containing lime and sulfur, 51 deg C/124 deg F; temperature of baths 28-41 deg C/82-106 deg F) is efficacious in the treatment of rheumatism, gout and paralysis; there is an open-air pool with thermal water as well as several indoor pools; polio clinic. Cableways and a magnificent sports center. Leukerbad is now popular both as a summer and a winter sports resort.