Destination: Basel, Switzerland

Although I had little knowledge about it, Basel had been at the top of my bucket list to visit for quite some time. Since I was in Strasbourg for a week in late November, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to cross the French-Swiss border for the day to visit Basel. With that said, I spent the day with my friend in the Swiss city, exploring, eating, and otherwise checking out what it had to offer for us.

Basel (or “Bâle,” as it’s called in French) is a city in the German part of Switzerland that also borders the countries of Germany and France. Considering its location, it’s a notable international hub, as locals and visitors cross frequently every day for work and/or leisure. Being that it’s close to France, it made for an easy day trip for my friend and I from Strasbourg, as we took the 70-minute train ride over.

Since Switzerland isn’t considered part of the EU, nor the Schengen Zone, I was concerned that there would be passport control at the border. I’d crossed the French-Swiss border before when I went from Paris to Geneva in 2016, and I’d gotten my passport checked. That said, I brought my passport just to be safe, but surprisingly (and fortunately), it turned out that there weren’t any inspections on the train, nor when we pulled into Basel’s train station. Perhaps it’s because so many people commute to-and-from the cities every day that border control wasn’t enforced, but in any case, it made it a lot easier for us!

It was around 9:30 when we arrived in Basel. It was still early and we hadn’t planned exactly what to do for the day, so we ducked into a Starbucks nearby to figure out our itinerary, as well as to get out of the cold. My friend ordered a drink for approximately 7 Swiss francs (equivalent to 6,50 euros) while I opted for the *free* water. As any Swiss cities go, Basel is incredibly expensive, so we also had to budget money wisely– I’d brought 50 Swiss francs (approximately 43 euros), as it’d been left over from my parent’s trip to Switzerland just a couple of years ago, and I made sure that I didn’t go over that amount on my day in town.

We left Starbucks close to 11:00, making our way into the city center. It was about a 10 to 15-minute walk, and we passed by plenty of traditional restaurants and cute cafes along the way. Of course, they were all way out of our budget, so we merely by-passed them. While it’s true that visiting Switzerland made us feel inadequate and poor, we couldn’t help but imagine how it must be like to be rich and afford living in the country– one can dream!

Arriving into the city center, we first passed through Barfüsserplatz where a Christmas market was going on. It was fairly densely-packed, for the streets were quite narrow as we weaved through the crowd. Despite the *slightly* claustrophobic vibe, the Christmas markets were festive, and I enjoyed checking out the variety of ornaments, gift items, and snacks that were being sold. Although not anything special compared with other Christmas markets I’ve been to in France or Germany, the Christmas markets in Basel were still lovely.

Even though items were expensive, I still opted to splurge a bit on a vin chaud mug at Barfüsserplatz‘s Christmas market. It was a hefty 7 CHF (about 6,20 euros), but it was beautifully-decorated, including the “Basel” logo on it. Considering that I was collecting vin chaud mugs while traveling during the Christmas holidays, I didn’t regret purchasing the one in Basel to bring home with me.

We made our way through the crush of people over to Marktplatz, which was just adjacent to Barfüsserplatz. The square contained the city’s distinctive Rathaus (town hall), a building made out of red sandstone. Besides being absolutely towering, the Rathaus impressed me with its cherry-red exterior, which was something I hadn’t seen before in other town halls I’ve visited. If there’s one Rathaus that sticks in my mind, it has got to be Basel’s!

My friend and I headed towards the Rhine river, where we crossed the Mittlere Brücke (literally, “Middle Bridge”) to the other side of town. We took a few photos on the bridge of the winding Rhine before strolling along the quay– we admired the tall, colorful houses parallel to the river, and we soon crossed back on Wettsteinbrücke, ending up near the Basel Minster, the city’s two-spired cathedral.

We entered the cathedral, first checking out its cloister where we got lovely views of the Rhine and quay from above. After viewing the nave, we thought about paying the fee to climb its tower for more views of the city, but eventually we decided against it. Aside from the fact that we were concerned with our *very-limited* budget, the weather that day was rather overcast, with a bit of drizzle that occurred later that afternoon. Besides, we’d already gotten decent views from its grounds, so we left without going up the tower.

After racking our brain for places to eat for lunch (without breaking the bank), we settled on Coop, a Swiss supermarket chain that also happens to sell takeaway food (e.g. pizzas, pasta, salads…). We grabbed a large slice of pizza each, along with a couple of mini röstis, which are Swiss potato pancakes that reminded me of latkes. I didn’t expect them to be anything extraordinary (especially coming from the supermarket), but I actually found them really tasty! They were lightly crispy, and they contained Gruyère inside, which took them to another level– it’s a shame that I didn’t get more of them, but now I can say that I’m hooked!

Following lunch, we hung around Barfüsserplatz before deciding to take the tram to the northern tip of the city, where the Dreiländereck was located. Essentially a tall, thin metal monument, there’s nothing much to the Dreiländereck, except indicating where the three countries– Switzerland, France, and Germany– converge. Although I’d known that it wouldn’t be so special, I still went since I enjoy seeing country borders (albeit they’re invisible), being the geography nerd I am. My friend and I spent merely five minutes regarding France and Germany from the Swiss side before heading back to the city center, soon catching the late-afternoon train back to Strasbourg for the day.

Overall, a day in Basel was sufficient. While I wouldn’t say that there was much to see or do in town, Basel is a rather-charming city that’s an easy hop-over from France or Germany, should one desire to dip their toes into the country of Switzerland.

More adventures of my time in Alsace coming soon!

 

— Rebecca