Braunau Am Inn

A stone’s throw from Germany, Braunau am Inn is a favourite pit-stop for cyclists pedalling the Inn Trail to Innsbruck. This border town has achieved unwanted attention as the birthplace of Hitler, though it would prefer to be described as die gotische Stadt (the Gothic city).

The long main square,Stadtplatz, is lined with elegant homes in pastel shades. At the northern end is the tourist office (626 44;www.tourismus-braunau.at; Stadtplatz 2; 8.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat), while its southern end narrows to the Torturm, a 16th-century gate tower. To the west of Stadtplatz rises the spire of late-GothicStadtpfarrkirche St Stephan(Kirchenplatz; daylight hr). At almost 100m, it’s one of the tallest in Austria.

Not far from the Torturm is Hitler’s Geburtshaus (birth house); born in 1889, he only spent two years of his life here before moving with his family to Linz. The inscription outside his birth house simply reads Für Frieden Freiheit und Demokratie, nie wieder Faschismus, millionen Tote Mahnen (For peace, freedom and democracy, never again fascism, millions of dead admonish).