Art and Beauty in Basel Switzerland: City of Museums

 

Our visit to Basel was short but sweet, with only two days to explore, so our post here will just scratch the surface of everything there is to do in this great city.  We came to Basel Bahnhof SBB from Paris via TGV-Lyria train, with a train change in Mulhouse, France--total cost of the one-way trip for two people was a little over 100 Euros, and took about four hours.  After a quick walk from the train station we arrived at our hotel, the Ibis Styles, which has a fantastic clean modern look (and free breakfast!), and was very close to a couple of tram stops.  All hotels in Basel will give you a free BaselCard with your stay, which gives you unlimited use of the city trams and buses, plus savings on entry to the three-dozen museums within the city limits!  For the price the hotel was a great quality, but we wished our room wasn't facing the train tracks that ran directly behind the hotel.  Basel also has numerous grocery stores dotted throughout the city, mostly Coop and Migros, so you'll have no problem finding affordable meals.  TIP: Pair the Basel tram system map with Google Maps to use the system most effectively--you'll need to know your desired path to know which side of the tram stop to stand on.

Lunch time at Markthalle

After a short tram ride, we began exploring the city on foot, starting with lunch at Markthalle--a huge concrete dome structure with numerous food stalls (basically a big food court), and occasional events.  Our bellies full of fresh local food, we continued on foot up to Swiss sculptor Jean Brunnen's "Carnival Fountain", which is a group of kinetic installations with a very unique style--if you have time, be sure to visit the full Tinguely Musuem as well! In the area are also a few beautiful churches (Kirches), including one that is part of the Basel Historical Museum, the unique red sandstone Basel Minster cathedral, and a few other museums.  The two prominent towers of the Minster is a feature that you will see repeated in churches of Lucerne and Zurich as well.

Tinguely's Carnival Fountain

Offene Kirche Elisabethen

Basel's Marktplatz is a busy part of town, much smaller than that of Munich, but it does have a weekday fruit & veg market.  The other attraction here is of course the Rathaus, in the typical Germanic style--it is definitely worth exploring for a bit.  Our appetites were getting the best of us, so we crossed the Mittlere Bridge over the Rhine River, took a moment to appreciate the beautiful scenery, and continued to the hip Klara food court for a relaxing dinner.  Klara is a smaller version of Markthalle, with a similarly diverse offering of local and ethnic food vendors. 

Basel Rathaus

Inside Klara, ordering veggie pad thai

As the sun began to set and everything besides bars closed for the day, we searched for stylish architecture at the Novartis Campus, which unfortunately is closed off to public, but we did catch a glimpse of some of the modern architecture from afar.  Thankfully, our second day in Basel satisfied our needs at the Vitra Design Campus, which is just across the border in the small German town of Weil am Rhein.  Getting there and back can take a little while with public transport, regardless of whether you use the tram or bus--the tram requires about a 30 minute walk from the closest stop, and while the bus will get you much closer, it usually only passes the campus once per hour.

There is a vast amount to see and explore on the campus, and if you're really interested in back stories of the architecture and the company itself, we highly recommend the guided tour as well.  Whether you are a mid-century modern fanatic or just looking for a fascinating and unique museum to visit, the Vitra campus is definitely worth a visit--we spent several hours exploring its numerous buildings and extensive furniture and design collections, and enjoyed a nice lunch at one of the on-site cafes.  There's even a 55-foot slide!

Serendipity struck on our way back to Basel, with a fellow traveler letting us know about an annual event occurring that evening--Rheinschwimmen occurs every August, and sees hundreds of people floating down the Rhine and partying afterwards along the banks.  You can purchase a water-proof bag to keep your stuff dry and also use it to float along, or just swim and have a friend run along with the dry items.


While Basel might not have the amount of luxurious shopping that Zurich does, or the endless picturesque scenery of Lucerne, for lovers of art and architecture wanting to experience Swiss life in a city less crowded with tourists, Basel has a LOT to offer.  As with most larger European cities, there is a solid public transportation system, and the BaselCard helps offset the typically higher rates at Swiss hotels.  Though we used Basel as a stopping point between Paris and Interlaken (and squeezed in a day trip to Lucerne), we really enjoyed our stay here and wished we had more time to experience all it has to offer.  Let us know what your favorite things about about Basel are, or if you have any questions--and travel safely!