Bremgarten is a medieval town on a bend, and the bend is the whole point. The river Reuss, fast, green and cold from the Alps, loops in a tight horseshoe here, and the old town is built inside the loop, on a spur of land that makes it nearly an island. Its medieval lords chose the site for its defensibility and built walls, gates and towers around it. Some of the towers still stand, and steep lanes run from them down to the water.
The old bridge is the place to start. It is a covered wooden structure, roofed and enclosed, of the kind Switzerland is famous for, and it crosses the Reuss in a few wooden spans, with the pale green water below. Swiss covered bridges were roofed to protect the timbers from rain and snow, which extended their life by decades, and this one is one of the most photogenic. The view back from the far bank, with the old town stacked above the river, is the one on the postcards.
The ride here lies in the low hills of the Freiamt, a gentle region of farms, orchards and beech woods on the edge of the Swiss Plateau, a country of cherry trees in April and a patchwork of crops in summer. Roads are quiet, curving and well maintained, and the main hazard is farm machinery. The Reuss valley has a wetland reserve of floodplain forest where kingfishers and beavers live, and a cycle path runs along the river. At 386 metres, the climate is mild, and fog often fills the valley on autumn mornings.
Bremgarten has fuel and shops, being a town of about six and a half thousand, and the old town has bakeries and cafes. The classic Aargau treat is the Rüeblitorte, a carrot cake with almonds and marzipan carrots on top, and it goes perfectly with a coffee on a terrace by the river. Visit on a weekday if you can, since weekends bring cyclists and walkers. The bridge itself is closed to motor traffic, so leave the bike in the parking areas outside the old walls and walk across.