Leoben, Austria

Leoben is another of those unprepossessing towns that reveal a few surprises once you dig down into its modest urban soul. A revamped museum quarter is one very good reason to prolong a flying visit here between trains. Leoben is also a centre for metallurgical industries and home to Gösser beer, and achieved ultimate fame with the peace treaty signed here in 1797 by Napoleon and Emperor Franz II.

Stadt Information Leoben(440 18; www.leoben.at; Hauptplatz 12; 7am-5pm Mon, 7am-6.30pm Tue-Thu, 7am-1pm & 3-6.30pm Fri, 9am-12.30pm Sat) has aGast in Leoben booklet with useful listings; if you’re in town when it’s closed, ask at the Museums Center Leoben – they keep a good supply of city material. The city’s Leoben map also includes a great environs map with hiking trails.

A secondTourismusverband Leoben(481 48; Peter Tunner-Strasse 2; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri) has information and organises tours for Leoben’s Stiftkirche, with a 1000-year-old crypt and paintings in its chapel, and the nearby Göss brewery.