Basel
Basel, with its 2000 years of history, is located in the Three Countries Corner of Germany, France and Switzerland. Strategically situated in the heart of Europe where the river Rhine turns north, Basel has long been an important transport hub and a junction for rail lines from every direction. Basel is both proud and very aware of its history, but at the same time very receptive to everything new. This aspect of the people of Basel is exemplified by the many modern structures designed by world-famous architects. Art ranks high on Basel's list of priorities. It is just as much a part of the city as the river Rhine. It's no wonder that a stroll through Basel often takes you past one of the many art objects that so characterize the city's image. Basel also has the oldest university in Switzerland that was founded in 1460, some 30 museums, the country's first musical theatre, a town theatre of international renown, and countless small theatres.

Discover Basel
Due to Basel’s small size and an efficient public transportation system, it is easy to get around. Whether it is a visit to one of the numerous museums, take a dip in the Rhine or enjoy an evening at the theater, allow yourself to be inspired by the joys that await you in Basel. A quick way to get to know Basel is to hop on tram #15/16 which will take you once around the city in about 45 minutes without having to switch trams. It is an easy and cheap city tour! We hope you have a fantastic time.

Tourist Office Basel
At the train station, Tel. 061 268 68 68, www.basel.com
Brochures from Basel Tourism at http://www.basel.com/en/brochures

Mobility Ticket
Visitors staying at a hotel in Basel receive a Mobility Ticket when checking in. It entitles them to free travel on the public transport system during their stay in Basel. Ask at your hotel!

BaselCard
Get everything cheap – and lots free! Whether you are planning a trip to Basel Zoo, an excursion to the Roman city of Augusta Raurica or a tour around the Old Town – with the BaselCard you are always a winner: http://www.basel.com/en/content/baselcard

Highlights
Basel is small and best explored on foot. Start at the main station and walk down into the city. Stop at the famous Tinguely Fountain and continue towards the Rhein on Freie Strasse. The many stores and boulevard café’s make for a lively ambiance. You will see the Rathaus (City Hall) which is the red house on Markt Platz. Continue towards the Rhein and walk over the Mittlere Brücke (bridge in the middle of the 5 bridges crossing the Rhein) and visit Klein Basel on the other side.  Then walk up the Rhein until you get to the Münster Ferry which takes you to the Cathedral in Gross Basel from where you can walk back to the station or explore other areas.  Basel is also the center of the 3 country area which includes the Elsass of France and the Schwarzwald of Germany. Basel is also Switzerland 2nd largest city, and hosts many of Switzerland’s best museums.

City Guides Basel – Smart Phone Apps
iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/city-guide-basel/id375154055?mt=8
Android - http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/travel_and_local/travelbook-basel_hnid.html

The essentials of Basel
1) Cross the Rhein, Basels landmark waterway which connects it to the world
2) A stroll through the Old Town including the Rathaus on Marktplatz
3) Tinguely Fountain - one of the best known pieces of famous kinetic artist Jean Tinguely
4) Visit a themed collection at one of Basel’s famous museums
5) Dreiländereck (Tree Countries Corner)

River Rhein
The Rhine is the true lifeblood of Basel and the city's enduring landmark. As one of the most important trading routes, it has had a huge influence on the development of the city. Today it contributes greatly to the quality of life the city offers its inhabitants and visitors alike. The Rhine is the artery carrying the lifeblood of the city; it provides recreation, inspiration and has molded the history and architecture of the city. In the summer months Basel's inhabitants, students and businessmen flock to the river's banks to sunbathe, promenade and generally let their cares melt away in the sunshine. Many also indulge in a special leisure activity that brings exceptional enjoyment - a swim in the Rhine. It is often said that the Mediterranean seems very close to the city, and if you mix with Basel's inhabitants you will soon discover why.

Old Town / Rathaus / Münster
Most of the Old Town attractions in Basel are in a walkable area between the Basel Zoo (just south of the Basel SBB train station) and the Rhine.  The Rathaus is right on Marktplatz; this beautifully renovated Renaissance palace is still in official use, but you can enter the courtyard on your own, or join a guided tour organized Basel Tourism. Then walk up cobbled streets and alleys from Marktplatz or Mittlere Brücke to Münsterplatz (Cathedral square) to see Basel's Münster (cathedral), built 1019-1500 in Romanesque and Gothic style, and the medieval buildings lining the square. The Münster is open to the public. Its highlight is the Gallus portal on the western façade, considered the most important Romanesque sculptural work in Switzerland. For a few CHF, you can climb St. Martin's tower at 62 meters the shorter of the two towers. Enjoy spectacular views over the Rhine, the city and Alsace and Black Forest in the distance. However, you must be accompanied in order to be allowed entrance (jumping risk). Views from the Pfalz (plaza) north of the the Münster and overlooking the Rhine are some of the best Basel has to offer. This is also a nice place to have a picnic.

Tinguely Fountain
In 1977 Jean Tinguely placed some amusing machine sculptures in an enormous pool of water where the stage of the Old Town Theatre formerly stood, Tinguely was a Swiss painter and sculptor. He is best known for his sculptural machines or kinetic art, in the Dada tradition; known officially as metamechanics. Tinguely's art satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods in an advanced industrial society.

Basel’s famous museums
Basel is by far the art and architecture capital of Switzerland. Its 40 museums can be easily reached on foot, mostly by strolling through romantic lanes and alleys in the Old Town. With its five cultural institutions – Kunstmuseum Basel, Museum Tinguely, Fondation Beyeler, Schaulager and the Vitra Design Museum – Basel enjoys a unique focus in the area of contemporary art and design. For more details please refer to http://www.museenbasel.ch

Dreiländereck (Tree Countries Corner)
One of Basel’s curiosities is its location at the meeting point of France, Germany and Switzerland. If you take tram #8 to its final stop in Kleinhüningen, cross to the north bank of the River Wiese, head left 200m to the Rhine, then right (north) along a spit of land beside some warehouses and train sidings for 300m, you’ll come to Dreiländereck (Three Countries’ Corner). It is marked by a futuristic rounded steel-and-glass building. There is a restaurant also and just beyond, on the very nose of the spit of land is a tall, slender sculpture pointing the way west across the Rhine (the other bank is France), north to the German customs shed 50m away, and south into Switzerland. Boats depart from beside the restaurant to take you back to Basel Schifflände.

Excursions
Beautiful, lush landscapes, picturesque villages and many culinary enticements surround Basel. The neighboring Cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Solothurn, France's Alsace and Germany's southern Baden form an enormous nearby recreational area with endless leisure possibilities. In only a short time you can arrive by public transport at the Roman town of Augusta Raurica in Augst, or in Alsace for a meal, or in one of the well-known wine cellars of southern Baden.

Berne – Capital of Switzerland
Berne, Switzerland's captivating Capital is only a 1 hour rail trip from Basel. This is a city of medieval magic, listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage. Attractions include the famous clock tower, the newly recreated bear park - home to Berne's heraldic animals - and excellent shopping arcades.

Schilthorn – Piz Gloria (2970m/9744ft)
Full-day excursion. The most spectacular 360° panorama in the Alps! Dine-and-wine in the world's first revolving restaurant at an altitude of nearly 3000 meters. Impressive views embrace some 200 snow-capped peaks, ranging from the Bernese Alps to Mont Blanc in France and Germany's Black Forest.

Jungfrau Joch – Top of Europe (3454m/11333ft)
Full-day excursion. Snow and ice 100% guaranteed! The Sphinx observation hall, impressive Ice Palace and hiking plateau - these are the year-round attractions up on the Jungfrau Joch, the highest railway station in Europe. Summer attractions include a ski lift, husky-drawn sledging and adventure activities.

Entertainment
The music scene in Basel functions according to the classical division: classical music, jazz and modern. In Basel a high-ranking and comprehensive classical music program has been offered for many years. Furthermore, every year several renowned international festivals take place in Basel. The Grand Casino Basel offers 15 black jack, roulette and poker tables and entertainment and spectacles. The casino is located on the road to the airport and also includes 2 restaurants and 3 bars.

Shopping
Whether on traditional market squares or through conventional shopping tours through the retail stores: the shopping opportunities in Basel are limitless. In addition to the impressive variety of shopping opportunities, the sheer range and the high quality of the goods on offer in the various sectors makes shopping in Basel a memorable experience. The main areas are Freie Strasse and Steinenvorstadt.

Museums
Kunstmuseum (Museum of Arts)
The Kunstmuseum houses the Painting Collection and the Kupferstichkabinett. The main focus is on paintings and drawings by artists active in the Upper Rhine region between 1400 and 1600 and on the art of the 19th to 21st centuries. The Kunstmuseum possesses the world’s largest collection of works by the Holbein family. Further examples of Renaissance art include major pieces by such masters as Konrad Witz, Martin Schongauer, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Mathias Grünewald.

Tinguely Museum
This museum is unlike others: here, things rattle, squeak, crash and thump. Colorful scrap rotates, multi-colored lights flicker. It is a place full of vitality, laughter, amazement and discovery; a place that sets the feelings in motion and where art reaches across to the spectator. This unique museum arouses in children and adults alike a need to experiment, to play and to think about art.

Beyeler Foundation
Over a period of fifty years, in parallel to their successful activity as gallery owners, Hildy and Ernst Beyeler built up an exceptional collection of works by modern masters. Their collection, which was transferred to a foundation in 1982, was first publicly exhibited in its entirety at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid in 1989. Currently comprising around 200 works, the Beyeler Collection documents a very personal view of modern art and an unerring ability to recognize quality.

Museum of Ethnology
This museum houses one of Europe's largest collections on European and non-European cultural life. The museum's exhibits on the South Seas, Ancient America, Tibet and Bali are world-famous, as are its textiles. The exhibitions and a full program of events make the museum's treasures accessible to a wide audience. The carved lintels from Tikal, which are the museum's most valuable treasure, provide unique testimony to the high level of culture attained by the Maya civilization.

Vitra Design Museum
The Vitra Design Museum, housed in a building designed by the Californian architect Frank O. Gehry, is among the world’s leading museums of industrial furniture design and architecture.

Paper Mill Museum
This kid friendly museum is enjoyed by all ages. Besides the great exhibitions the museum has a nice little restaurant. The area the museum is situated at the St. Alban-Tal is also a great historic location to stroll along the Rhine. It is one of our favorite spots in the city.

Museum of Music Automatons
The Museum of Music Automatons in Seewen, Canton of Solothurn, houses one of the largest and most famous collections of its kind, featuring Swiss music boxes, disc music boxes, clocks, watches and jewellery, as well as other music automatons. This institution is a Swiss federal museum. The modern museum building is designed to fit in with the surrounding countryside, its colour and materials reflecting the rough yellow of the Jurassic limestone. http://www.musikautomaten.ch

Art Galleries
Basel includes more than a 30 Art Galleries that are spread over the entire city.

Restaurants
Schlüsselzunft –  in 13-Century building - contemp. food (Freie Strasse 25 - 061 261 20 46)
Chez Donati – Classic Italian Cuisine (Sankt Johanns-Vorstadt 48 - 061 322 09 19)
Acqua – Osteria, Lounge, Bar, Caffe (Binningerstrasse 14 - 061 564 66 66)
Der Teufelhof – haute-cuisine in culture hotel (Leonhardsgraben 47 - 061 261 10 10)
Tibits – Healthy Vegetarian and Indian Fare (Stänzlergasse - 061 205 39 99)