Free Walking Tour Aarau: Painted Eaves and Two Museums

Your Aarau walking tour, from gate tower to Kunsthaus

1. 1

   Oberer Turm

   

   You start at the town's landmark: the Oberer Turm, also called the Obertor, a gate tower 62 metres high at the edge of the old town. It stands on the Holzmarkt, where the Rathausgasse, the Graben, the Vordere Vorstadt and the Ziegelrain meet, so it is easy to find and easy to use as a meeting point.

   Take a few minutes to look at it properly, because you will come back here at the end and see it differently once you know the streets behind it. Viewing it from outside is free at any hour.

   From the tower it is 250 metres, about 3 minutes, to the second gate on the loop.

   Hours

   24/7 (exterior viewing)

   Price

   Free (exterior), 5 CHF (tour if available)

   Location

   Oberer Turm on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Haldentor

   

   Two gates, two different fates. The Oberer Turm still rises free above the roofs; the Haldentor has been absorbed into the row of houses along the Halde, a passage running through otherwise ordinary façades.

   That contrast is the point of this stop. Walk through slowly and notice how tightly the town once closed itself off here. There is nothing to enter and nothing to pay; the gate is part of the public street.

   The Stadtkirche is just 120 metres on, about 2 minutes.

   Hours

   24/7

   Location

   Haldentor on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Stadtkirche Aarau

   

   The Stadtkirche Aarau, locally the Reformierte Stadtkirche, is a late Gothic three-aisled basilica built between 1471 and 1478. Its plain, sober design follows the architecture of the mendicant orders, and today it is listed as a cultural property of national significance.

   It has an unusual double life: it belongs to the Reformed parish of Aarau but is also used by the Christ Catholic congregation, so two churches share one building. Entry is free, and it is worth a short look inside for anyone who likes quiet, unadorned Gothic spaces.

   Back outside, the painted eaves start just 110 metres away, about 2 minutes on foot.

   Local name

   Reformierte Stadtkirche

   Hours

   08:00–18:00

   Price

   Free admission

   Website

   stadtkirche.ref-aarau.ch ↗

   Location

   Stadtkirche Aarau on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Altstadt mit Dachhimmel

   

   This is the detail Aarau is known for, and it is above your head. Along these old town streets the burghers' houses carry painted undersides on their roofs: painted skies where you would expect plain beams under the eaves.

   There is no entrance and no fee; the whole stop is the street itself. Walk it slowly and keep looking up, because the effect builds ceiling after ceiling along the lane.

   From here it is 300 metres, about 4 minutes, to the Schlössli, passing the Kultur- und Kongresshaus Aarau on the way.

   Hours

   24/7

   Location

   Altstadt mit Dachhimmel on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Schlössli Aarau (Stadtmuseum)

   

   The Schlössli is a small castle on the northeastern edge of the old town. It dates from the 13th century and is the oldest surviving building in Aarau, which makes it a fitting home for the town museum, the Stadtmuseum Aarau.

   Going in is worth it if you want the story of the town you have just walked through, and the ticket is a modest price for that.

   The Forum Schlossplatz is right on the same square, 100 metres away.

   Hours

   Tue–Fri 11:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 11:00–17:00, Mon closed

   Price

   CHF 8.- regular, CHF 5.- reduced (AHV/IV, trainees, students up to 26, Kulturlegi), children and youth up to 16 free

   Location

   Schlössli Aarau (Stadtmuseum) on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Forum Schlossplatz (Haus zum Schlossgarten)

   

   The Forum Schlossplatz occupies the Haus zum Schlossgarten on the same square as the Stadtmuseum. It is currently closed, so this is an exterior stop: look at the house and the square it frames.

   If museums were never your plan, the square is a good place for a pause before the longest leg of the loop: 480 metres, about 7 minutes, along the Aarepromenade to the market street.

   Status

   Currently closed

   Location

   Forum Schlossplatz (Haus zum Schlossgarten) on Google Maps ↗

7. 7

   Aarauer Wochenmarkt (Aarepromenade)

   The weekly market takes place on Saturday mornings only. On a Saturday this is a traditional open-air market with no gate and no ticket, simply the town doing its shopping, and it is free to wander.

   On the other six days you walk an ordinary street that carries the market's name; it stays on the route either way, so do not plan a weekday around it. If you are here for the market, build the morning around it and leave the museums for afterwards.

   The Kunsthaus is only 100 metres further, about 2 minutes.

   Hours

   Sat 07:00–12:00

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Aarauer Wochenmarkt (Aarepromenade) on Google Maps ↗

8. 8

   Aargauer Kunsthaus

   

   The finale is the Aargauer Kunsthaus on the Aargauerplatz, an important Swiss art museum and the pricier of the two museums open on the loop. If you pay for only one interior today and art matters to you, make it this one.

   Give yourself enough time inside before you head back to the start.

   When you come back out, the last leg runs 250 metres, about 4 minutes, back to the Oberer Turm. The circle closes where it began, and this time you know the town behind the tower: two gates, a shared basilica, painted skies, a castle museum, a market street and whatever the Kunsthaus just put in your head.

   Hours

   Tue–Wed: 10:00–17:00 | Thu: 10:00–20:00 | Fri–Sun: 10:00–17:00 | Mon closed

   Price

   CHF 17.- regular, CHF 12.- training/students, CHF 10.- IV, children and youth up to 16 free

   Website

   aargauerkunsthaus.ch ↗

   Location

   Aargauer Kunsthaus on Google Maps ↗

Three ways to walk the Aarau loop

The loop is short enough to do in one go, but how long you spend depends on whether you go inside, and on whether it is Saturday morning.

The free outdoor loop

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

For anyone with an hour and no museum plans. You walk the full circle, look in at the Stadtkirche, read the painted eaves and see both museums from outside. 25 minutes of walking, no entry fees at all.

Old town and castle museum

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

For history lovers short on time. Gate tower, Haldentor, church and painted eaves take 11 minutes of walking to reach the Schlössli, where the Stadtmuseum charges admission. Plan about two hours including the museum.

Saturday market and art

Stops: 7, 8, 1

For a Saturday morning. Begin among the market stalls, walk 2 minutes to the Kunsthaus once it has opened, then 4 minutes back to the Oberer Turm. If you still have energy, carry on round the loop to the Schlössli.

How long the Aarau tour takes, with and without museums

The 25 minutes of walking are spread over eight short legs, most of them two to four minutes. The one longer stretch is the 480 metres from the Forum Schlossplatz to the market street, about 7 minutes.

Without going into the museums, give the loop about an hour: time in the church, slow walking under the painted eaves, a pause on the museum square. Add roughly an hour for the Stadtmuseum and an hour and a half for the Kunsthaus, and the full version with both interiors fills about three and a half hours. The Old town and castle museum version takes about two hours, the Saturday market and art version about two hours if you stop at the tower.

Before you set off in Aarau

• Start and finish: The recommended start is the Oberer Turm on the Holzmarkt, and the loop ends there too. You can join at any stop and follow the order from there.
• Best day: If you want to go inside, choose a day when both the Stadtmuseum and the Kunsthaus are open. A Saturday morning adds the market.
• Time of day: The church is open during the day. A start in the mid-morning lets you reach both museum doors while they are open.
• Costs: The walk itself costs nothing. The Stadtmuseum and the Aargauer Kunsthaus charge optional entry, with reduced prices and free entry for children and teenagers at both.

Common questions about walking Aarau