Basel

Basel is Switzerland’s second largest city, situated on the bank of the River Rhine with its city boundary interestingly stretching to the French and German frontiers. We spent two nights there, making Basel as the base to visit Freiburg (40 minutes by train) in Germany and Montreux.

Having actually spent only half a day walking around the city, I must say we saw only a little of it. Indeed, to me, Basel is that sort of place that has more to offer to business visitors rather than tourists.

With the Mobility Card given to us by the hotel while check-in, we were entitled to free tram and bus travels throughout the city. Having not decided where to go, we boarded a tram at Barfüsserplatz hoping that it would gave us some ideas on where to go. It turned out well though. The tram went from Barfüsserplatz to Marktplatz (Market square) then continued to the other side of the city across the Rhine via the Mittlere Rheinbrücke (Middle Rhine Bridge).

We then got off the tram and decided to walk from the bridge back to the old town area stopping by some interesting places. There is a nice view of the medieval Münster (Cathedral, one of Basel’s landmarks) by the river from the brigde. At the Marktplatz, the red Gothic-style Rathaus (Town Hall, built in the 16th century) dominates the skyline and that's where the cultural centre of the city.

Barfüsserplatz is just a few blocks south of Marktplatz. Here we found lots of shops, cafés, restaurants and fast food outlets; also that's where most of the trams make a stop. Next to the theatre, the Tinguely Fountain is also worth a visit. This wonderful work by Jean Tinguely consists of some “kinetic sculptures” moving and spraying water in a pool.

That's more or less sums up on what I saw in Basel!