Things to do in Basel

Things to do

1. The Kunstmuseum

   The oldest public art collection in the world: Holbein, Böcklin, Picasso. On Wikipedia (in French)

   Culture and historyMuseum3 hr≈ €25best in the morning

2. The Fondation Beyeler

   A Renzo Piano pavilion in a park, with Monet’s water lilies in front of a pond. On Wikipedia (in French)

   Culture and historyMuseum3 hr≈ €28best in the afternoon

3. Floating down the Rhine

   Your things in a fish-shaped dry bag, and the current carrying you past the city. On Wikipedia (in French)

   Off the beaten trackSport1 hr 30 min≈ €25best in the afternoon

4. The Museum Tinguely

   Jean Tinguely’s absurd machines, which you set going at the push of a button. On Wikipedia (in French)

   Culture and historyMuseum2 hr≈ €20best in the afternoon

5. The Vitra Campus

   A museum by Gehry, a fire station by Zaha Hadid, a dome by Buckminster Fuller, just across the border. On Wikipedia (in French)

   Culture and historyMuseum3 hr≈ €22best in the morning

When to go

The most pleasant months in Basel: from May to September, taking weather and crowds into account.

More ideas for those months: where to go in May, where to go in June, where to go in July, where to go in August, where to go in September.

Averages measured over recent years: mean temperatures and number of rainy days, month by month.

What budget on the ground?

Per person and per day, including accommodation, meals, local transport and visits — excluding the round trip. An estimate calculated the same way as in the app, from the local cost of living.

Budget

€110

Mid-range

€205

Comfort

€380

Getting there from Paris: the carbon footprint

Per person, round trip, in kilograms of CO₂ equivalent — manufacturing, energy and, for flights, contrails included.

Train

34 kg

Bus

39 kg

Plane

190 kg

By train rather than by plane: 160 kg less CO₂e per person (6 times less).

Factors from ADEME (Impact CO₂); outside France, rail uses the European average published by the European Environment Agency.

Book on the ground

Tours and tickets

• Go City Multi-attraction passes for big cities
• Klook Tours, tickets and excursions
• Tiqets Museums and monuments, skip-the-line tickets
• WeGoTrip Self-paced audio tours

Internet on site (eSIM)

• Airalo Data eSIM, by country or region
• Drimsim SIM card that works in almost every country
• Saily Data eSIM
• Yesim Data eSIM

From the airport

• GetTransfer Drivers make an offer for your ride
• Intui Private transfers at a fixed price
• Kiwitaxi Booked transfers, from taxi to minibus
• Welcome Pickups Driver waiting on arrival, price fixed in advance

Rent a car

• Auto Europe Rental comparison
• EconomyBookings Rental comparison
• GetRentacar Cars from rental companies and private owners
• Localrent Local rental companies, often no credit card needed

Partner links: if you book through them, Tripora may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you and without changing the order of these lists, which is alphabetical.

Good to know: Switzerland

Plugs

Type C, J, 230 V

Emergencies

112, 117 (police), 144 (ambulance), 118 (fire)

Driving

On the right

Near Basel

• Colmar France, 60 km
• Zurich Switzerland, 74 km
• Lucerne Switzerland, 78 km
• Interlaken and the Bernese Oberland Switzerland, 99 km
• Strasbourg France, 110 km
• Montreux and the Vaud Riviera Switzerland, 140 km

Elsewhere in Switzerland

• Geneva
• Interlaken and the Bernese Oberland
• Lucerne
• Lugano
• Montreux and the Vaud Riviera
• St. Moritz and the Engadin
• Zermatt
• Zurich