When the Romans arrived 2,000 years ago, they immediately saw the potential. And so they immediately started building hot baths. Nothing appealed to a Roman legionary more than a steaming restorative soak after a hard day spent bashing wild Teutonic tribesmen, and the hot springs in what is now the German spa town of Baden Baden must have seemed a gift of the gods.

Truth to tell they still do. If you can cope with the hellish temperatures.

"After 10 minutes you forget time," remarked American writer and humorist, Mark Twain, following a session in Baden Baden's grandiose Friedrichsbad spa. "After 20 minutes you forget the world."

Glazed eyes and wobbly steps

And after a 3-hour session, judging by the dazed, glowing bathers who shamble out of the bath houses and wander in erratic circles with glazed eyes and wobbly steps, you forget how to get back to your hotel.

This being Germany, though, everything is rather regimented and impeccably organized. You don't just arrive and hop in for a brief splash about. You enter bath house complexes that resemble Renaissance palaces and then embark upon a strictly timed course of hot baths, cold baths, saunas, showers, water massage jets, plunge pools, whirlpools, grotto pools and surge channels. These allegedly therapeutic (and surprisingly inexpensive) marathons can last up to 4 hours, leaving you, according to my guide book, "as loose as a goose." Or in my case "as limp as a wimp."

Bathing at the Friedrichsbad spa is often mixed. No clothing is allowed. Should modesty be a priority, the Caracalla-Therme (named after the Roman emperor Caracalla, who came here in A.D. 215 to cure his rheumatism and arthritis) requires bathing costumes. This puts some Germans off. Any visitor to Germany will note with surprise, embarrassment or awe the national enthusiasm for taking clothes off in public and baring all.

However, if the idea of sharing non-chlorinated water with lots of people from lots of countries who have come to bathe because they have revolting diseases with names you can't even pronounce leaves you, uh, cold, then you can, of course, skip the communal bathing bit and just lurk in the privacy of your hotel bath. Many of these are filled with water sourced from the natural springs.

Or you can drink it. The taste of the water is rather odd. The stuff I imbibed in the former town Pump House made me feel that I was swallowing the contents of a broken thermometer. But I'm sure it did me good.

Take note: Even if there was nothing else to do in Baden Baden, it would still be worth visiting just to see the Tourist Information Centre. Columns, sweeping lawns, fantastic murals of Teutonic myths, soaring arches, marbled floors; it's totally extravagant and unquestionably the grandest tourist information center the world has ever seen! And the healing water dispensed from the tap at the well in the lobby comes free of charge.

Freebie cure for lumbago

I mean really! And wow! Where else can you pick up a leaflet suggesting day trips to Germany's largest market square (it's in nearby Freudenstadt, incidentally) or the top five scenic excursions in the Black Forest, or art galleries and whatnot, in a place that looks like a theater set -- and get a freebie cure for your lumbago?

Emperor Caracalla was the first big name to hit Baden Baden. But ever since then, the place has been attracting the aristocracy, the famous and the rich. More than a few have left a great deal less richer than when they arrived (and still do), courtesy of the Baden Baden casino. Marlene Dietrich declared this extraordinarily ornate establishment to be "the most beautiful casino in the world." Having lost the proverbial shirt off my back in casinos from Cairns to Cairo, I'd have to concur.

Set in the heart of Baden Baden by the Oos River, which threads gently through the town, the casino was Germany's first. It was designed to emulate the great palaces of France, particularly Versailles. The rooms are lavishly ornamental -- the Hall of the Thousand Candles has a dazzling abundance of chandeliers, the Red Hall is draped with damask, the Winter Garden has a glass-and-wrought-iron ceiling and the facade is a knockout.

Nongamblers can join guided tours. These are relaxed, but jacket and tie are required at the tables (and can be rented). The minimum bet is 5 euros. Past patrons include such luminaries as Dostoyevsky (who was inspired to subsequently write his gem of a novel, "The Gambler"), Otto von Bismarck and Frank Sinatra -- plus countless kings, queens, counts, poets and composers. Even Queen Victoria, not a person one normally associates with "high rolling," visited the place.

The town proper isn't particularly large (population 50,000), but it is unquestionably designed with sophisticated leisure in mind.

Although the French razed it during the arithmetically challenged Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), it escaped further combat trauma and even managed to survive World War II unscathed and with its ancient, but predominantly 18th- and 19th-century buildings, intact. The hilly streets and promenades are lined with villas smothered in ivy and flowers, smart hotels with balconies, boutiques, cuckoo-clock merchants, fine restaurants and more casual open-air cafes serving beer (of course, this is Germany) and local delicacies such as spatzle dumplings and smoked goose sausages. There are museums, a 15th-century monastic church (with a hideously graphic crucifix carved by Renaissance sculptor Nicolaus Gerhaert), parks and rose gardens. Even the Roman legacy endures in the form of still very recognizable vapor bath houses.

One of my favorite buildings is the Altes Schloss (Old Castle) that towers above the town. This formidable ruin surrounded by venerable fir trees would make the perfect set for a vampire movie. It also has a beer garden.

Currently relaxing and elegant

Yes, Baden Baden's a delightful place, and not too expensive unless you want it to be. Most and best of all, it is currently thoroughly relaxing and elegant.

PS: Go soon before there's a potential Anglo Saxon re-run of the Hundred Years' War incident. England's soccer World Cup 2006 squad are staying on the outskirts of Baden Baden. The England fans will be staying in town.