Baden bei Wien

Baden bei Wien, a Habsburg-era spa town in the wooded hills just south of Vienna, hosts the founding casino of Casinos Austria, the state-linked operator now responsible for the country's national network of licensed houses. The town's sulphur springs and Biedermeier architecture drew the imperial court here for over a century before the casino opened in 1934, and the Kurpark setting still shapes the whole visit.

The historic Badner Bahn tram, running for more than a century between Vienna and Baden, remains the classic way to make the trip, giving the town an easy half-day or evening excursion status for anyone based in the Austrian capital.