Basel: a Rhine city of museums, a carnival and a corner shared by three countries

Basel sits where Switzerland, Germany and France meet, and a short tram or bus ride can carry you out of the country. This overview is adapted from the Wikivoyage travel guide, which calls Basel one of Switzerland's underrated destinations, with a beautiful medieval old town, a fascinating carnival and several world-class art museums by architects such as Renzo Piano, Mario Botta and Herzog & de Meuron.

Münsterplatz in Basel. Photo: Marcelw, CC BY 3.0, via Wikivoyage.

A city divided by the Rhine

The town of almost 180,000 people (2021) lies in the north-western corner of Switzerland, at the Dreiländereck, the "three countries' corner," and the guide calls it a gateway to the Swiss Jura, Zürich, Lucerne, French Alsace and the German Black Forest. The Rhine curves through it and divides it in two: Grossbasel ("Great Basel") on the south and west bank, with the medieval old town at its centre, and Kleinbasel ("Little Basel") on the north bank, which has much of the nightlife. Its mythical dragon, the basilisk, holds the city's coat of arms.

German is the official language, but most people speak Baseldytsch, an Alemannic dialect, as their mother tongue, and English and French are widely spoken. If you come from France, the city is spelled "Bâle" there.

Getting there and around

• By air. The city's own EuroAirport, 4 km away, has three IATA codes because it sits near the meeting point of three countries. Zürich airport is 90 minutes away by train, and the guide says it is the better choice for Asia, since there are no direct flights from Basel to the Gulf or, apart from summer flights to Canada, to North America.
• By train. Basel SBB, about 1 km south of the centre, is the main station. SBB trains take just under an hour to Zürich and Bern, two an hour; Paris is three hours away by TGV; ICE trains follow the Rhine north to Frankfurt in 3 hours. Basel Badischer Bahnhof, north of the river, also serves trains into Germany.
• On foot. The old town is not large, with narrow, winding streets and steep cobbled slopes; shopping streets are closed to cars. Trams have right of way over just about everyone, so watch for them.
• Tram and bus. The bright green network is, in the guide's words, prompt, clean and convenient. Trams 8 and 10 and buses 38 and 55 cross international borders, so carry identification.
• By bike. Basel is bicycle-friendly, with marked lanes and even bike traffic signals. Beware tram tracks, which can catch a wheel.
• By ferry. The Münsterfähri, a ferry that crosses the Rhine below the cathedral in two to three minutes, is an icon of the city.

The ferry below the Münster. Photo: Pedelecs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikivoyage.

What to see

• Basel Münster. Now a Reformed Protestant cathedral, it was begun in 1019, badly damaged in the earthquake of 1356 and finished in 1500 in Romanesque and Gothic style. The Galluspforte, or Gallus portal, on the western façade is a magnificent sculptural work, and inside are a sandstone lectern and a crypt with tombs of early bishops.
• Marktplatz and the Rathaus. The market square is a good start for a walking tour, with flowers, fruit and vegetables, and bread. The town hall is a beautifully renovated Renaissance palace still in official use, and you can wander into its courtyard. After the 1356 earthquake extra city walls were built, and gateways survive: Spalentor, St. Alban Tor and St. Johanns Tor.

The Rathaus. Photo: Pedelecs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikivoyage.

• Museums. The Kunstmuseum Basel has a huge permanent collection of 19th- and 20th-century works, a whole room of Picasso and paintings by Holbein and Grien. The Kunsthalle Basel is the city's main non-commercial space for changing contemporary shows, and the Museum der Kulturen, an ethnographic museum, is famed for its South Seas, Ancient America, Tibet and Bali exhibits and its textiles. The Antikenmuseum holds mostly Greek antiquities.
• Further out. The Museum Jean Tinguely, designed by Mario Botta, shows the wacky animated machines of Jean Tinguely (1925–1991), and another of his machine sculptures, the Fasnachtsbrunnen, stands near the Kunsthalle. The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, designed by Renzo Piano, houses the collection of art dealer Ernst Beyeler, including works by Mark Rothko and a large Monet water-lily painting. Across the border in Germany, the Vitra Design Museum has a building by Frank Gehry, and the campus has others by Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Nicholas Grimshaw and Alvaro Siza. Basel Zoo is the oldest and largest zoo in Switzerland.

Tinguely's Carnival Fountain. Photo: Tobias Hoderlein, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikivoyage.

Fasnacht and the fairs

Basel's carnival, Fasnacht, lasts three straight days, starting the Monday after Ash Wednesday. The guide warns not to expect the raucous festival of the German Rhineland or Rio: it can feel somber, with a distinct poetry and subtle humor. Many locals take it very seriously, and the guide advises visitors not to expect to sleep. In nearby Liestal, the Chienbäse parade on the Sunday evening before the carnival begins, in which locals carry burning wooden brooms through narrow streets, adds a fire spectacle.

Art | Basel, held in mid-June and co-founded by Ernst Beyeler in the late 1960s, is described as the world's premier fair for modern and contemporary art, and its five days seem to all but double the city's population. BaselWorld, the international watch and jewelry fair, takes place in late March and early April and more than doubles the population during the show. Other seasonal events are the Basel Herbstmesse, an autumn fair that runs two weeks from the last Saturday of October, and the Christmas market on Barfüsserplatz from the last week of November to 23 December.

Learning, working and staying safe

The University of Basel, founded in 1460, is Switzerland's oldest; its Biozentrum attracts many international students thanks to links with the Basel-based pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Roche. Basel is a centre of the pharmaceutical industry, and also hosts the Bank for International Settlements and, with Zürich, the headquarters of UBS.

The guide says that as a rule of thumb you are safe anywhere in Basel at any time; pickpockets are the biggest threat, especially on trams and buses. Trams run silently, so be careful at busy stops. Swimming in the Rhine is popular in hot weather, but the guide warns it is not a lazy river: do not go if you are a weak swimmer, and stay clear of bridge abutments and the boat traffic, including large commercial barges that cannot change course for swimmers. The emergency police number is 117.

Day trips

By train from Basel: Zürich, Bern, Interlaken, Lucerne and Schaffhausen in Switzerland (1 to 2 hours), Freiburg and the Black Forest in Germany (about an hour from the German station), Colmar in Alsace, and Lugano in the Ticino, 3½ hours on a direct train. Closer to home, the guide mentions Laufenburg, a pretty medieval town divided between Switzerland and Germany by the Rhine, and Lörrach in Germany, with the ruins of Rötteln Castle.

Sources

• Wikivoyage contributors, "Basel", from Wikivoyage, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changed here: rewritten in hubnx's own words and condensed; listings, prices, phone numbers, opening hours and maps left out. Photographs: Marcelw (CC BY 3.0); Pedelecs (CC BY-SA 3.0); Tobias Hoderlein (CC BY-SA 3.0).