Charmant wie eh und je
Die Basler Altstadt hat eine architektonische Vielfalt zu bieten, die ihresgleichen sucht. Die Mittlere Brücke, wie sie heute steht, wurde 1905 fertiggestellt. Ihre Vorgängerin stand aber bereits um 1220. Von der Brücke hat man einen beeindruckenden Blick auf Basels Skyline und das Basler Münster. Unser Münster erhebt sich seit über 800 Jahren anmutig über die Stadt. Definitiv ein Must-see! Sie können die imposante Kirche und den Kreuzgang besichtigen und während der Öffnungszeiten des Münsters über die 250 Stufen die Türme erklimmen – die Aussicht ist es auf jeden Fall wert!
Die Pfalz, das ist die Terrasse hinter dem Münster und fantastischer Aussichtspunkt. Mit Blick über Kleinbasel, den Rhein, zum Schwarzwald und den Vogesen sollten Sie hier eine Pause einlegen! Das Spalentor war eines der ursprünglich acht Stadttore, die zur äusseren Mauer gehörten. Mit seiner Lage an der wichtigen Handelsstrasse Richtung Elsass wurde dieses Tor von vielen Händlern und Reisenden durchquert. Das ist wohl auch der Grund, warum es eines der schönsten und prächtigsten Stadttore der Schweiz ist. Ein Glück, dass es die Jahrhunderte überdauert hat! Unser beachtliches und reich verziertes Rathaus ist auf jeden Fall ein Hingucker. Auch der Marktplatz davor ist durchaus sehenswert: Beim Schlendern über den Markt und dem Verkosten unserer Leckereien können Sie in unseren Alltag eintauchen. Touristisch gesehen eines der schönsten unter unseren Quartieren, lädt Sie das St. Alban-Quartier, auch als kleines Venedig Basels bekannt, zu einem gemütlichen Spaziergang ein. Durch enge Gässchen vorbei an uralten Häusern und Mühlen, und immer wieder ist Wasser in Sicht. Kleine Bächlein, von Mönchen gegrabene künstliche Kanäle, und natürlich der Rhein. Romantik pur!
Home to 40 museums, the city of culture for connoisseurs has the highest concentration of museums in the country. Basel also has a beautiful Old Town, modern architecture, and the Rhine – an inviting spot to rest a while.
Description
Basel is Switzerland’s oldest university city. Historic landmarks of the city include the large market square with its richly decorated red sandstone town hall and the late Romanesque-Gothic cathedral. During a walk through the old town, past small boutiques, antique book shops but also shops of modern designers, a visit to the „Läckerli Huus“ to try the traditional Basel honey cake is well worth your while. Basel is tradition-conscious and open-minded at the same time, a fact born out by several modern buildings designed by renowned architects such as Herzog & de Meuron, Mario Botta, Diener & Diener and Richard Meyer.
Almost 40 museums make Basel the city with the highest density of museums in the country. Internationally known museums, such as the Basel Art Museum, the museum devoted to the iron sculptor Jean Tinguely, the Fondation Beyeler and the Museum of Cultures attract a great many visitors, as do several galleries and playhouses. Basel is among other things home to the symphony orchestra and the chamber orchestra as well as the musical theatre featuring international productions. And a wide range of classical and contemporary productions are shown on the stages of the Basel Theatre and the Playhouse.
Basel is a green city. The Botanical Gardens, the Merian Gärten and the banks of the Rhine are perfect places to relax and linger for a while. And the Etoscha House at the zoo Basel offers spectacular insights into the Namibian Savannah.
You can easily explore Basel on foot or by bike. There are four Rhine ferries that connect Grossbasel with Kleinbasel.
At nearby Augusta Raurica near Augst impressive ruins and a great many finds at the museum bear testimony to the busy lives of the Romans in the region in the past. The charming countryside of the Basel region with its many cherry trees in spring boasts a particularly beautiful display of blooms. Germany and France, the Black Forest and Vosges Mountains are only a stone’s throw away from the border city of Basel.
The yearly Fasnacht (Carnival) is the most important celebration for the people of Basel. On the Monday following Ash Wednesday the city rises with the „Morgenstraich“. At four in the morning on the dot all the lights in the city go out and a colourful and brilliant procession through the streets of the city begins.
BaselCard
If you stay overnight in Basel, you can benefit from discounts on numerous cultural and leisure activities with the BaselCard. The personal guest card is available free of charge with every booking in Basel accommodation and can also be downloaded to a smartphone as a web app.
Winter
Basel is widely regarded as Switzerland’s cultural capital, and with good reason: in this city you will encounter art at every turn, whether you stroll through the beautiful Old Town or visit one of almost 40 museums. What’s more, Basel also features top-class modern architecture just waiting to be discovered on a city tour.
Basel’s Christmas market on Barfüsserplatz and Münsterplatz is considered one of the most beautiful and largest in Switzerland. During the pre-Christmas period, many events and spectacular special exhibitions in the museums also enrich the city’s cultural offerings.
Summer
Basel’s secret landmark is the Rhine. People relax in the charming buvettes – the lovingly designed, small open-air gastronomic establishments – or let themselves be carried along by the gentle current in the river. On a hot summer day, there is hardly anything more beautiful than cooling off by swimming in the Rhine while watching the backdrop of the city pass by.
Conferences and congresses
Basel’s central location, first-class public transport connections and modern infrastructure make it a leading venue for trade fairs and conventions. The Congress Center Basel, located right in the middle of the city, is the largest and most modern convention centre in Switzerland. Basel is located in the heart of Europe, straddling the Rhine. The city is at the centre of the idyllic area where the borders of Switzerland, Germany and France converge. Getting here is easy, with the EuroAirport only around 15 minutes from the city centre. Rail passengers can arrive at either the city’s SBB railway station or the Basel Badischer station operated by Deutsche Bahn. The city’s proximity to the border means that visitors can also arrive by TGV and ICE.