Basel

One of Switzerland’s underrated tourist destinations, Basel has a beautiful medieval old town centre, a vibrant Carnival, and several world class art museums built by architects like Renzo Piano, Mario Botta and Herzog & De Meuron. Basel is also rich in architecture old and new, with a Romanesque Münster (cathedral), a Renaissance Rathaus (town hall), and various examples of high quality contemporary architecture, including more buildings by Herzog & De Meuron, Richard Meier, Diener & Diener, and various others.

Located in the Dreiländereck (three countries’ corner), Basel is a gateway to the Swiss Jura mountains and nearby cities of Zürich and Lucerne, as well as the neighbouring French region of Alsace and the German Black Forest. If interested in a trip to the country side visit Sissach a nice little town about 20 minutes from Basel. There are a number of things to see and do if you have a few days to spend.

More information on Wikitravel

Built on French soil about 4km from Basel, it is connected with the city by a customs-free road. Several major airlines, including Swiss, Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa, serve the airport. Besides the national carriers, EasyJet is building up a larger base in Basel. Current destinations are airports in the surroundings of Berlin, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Alicante, Barcelona, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Reykjavik and Rome. Another low-cost carrier is Air Berlin, which flies to many holiday destinations, e.g. some Greek islands and the Canary Islands. Moreover, Air Transat offers seasonal service to Montreal.

In the arrival hall you can choose to go through the Swiss customs and take the customs-free road to Basel or to go through French customs. Some flights to the EuroAiport are described with Basel (BSL, Switzerland) as the destination, while flights from France or other Schengen airports usually indicate Mulhouse (MLH, France) as their destination, although it is the same airport. To confuse you completely, the airport has a third international code, EAP, although it is used less frequently than BSL and MLH. When searching for flights to Basel, it may be helpful to search for all three destinations.

• Bus and Train combination
  Taking bus 11 from the French exit to the railway station in St Louis and changing to the Basel commuter train to Basel SBB station.

Taking the bus 50 from right outside the Swiss arrivals area to the Basel SBB train station. Most hotels offer a free mobility pass, which includes bus transport to and from the airport, so your printed hotel reservation might allow you free transport. Otherwise, you must purchase a two-zone ticket for CHF3.80 or the equivalent amount in Euros. This ticket can be bought at the machines next to the bus stop or at the SBB counter in the airport (in the arrivals hall, after the Swiss customs). The ticket or mobility pass must be shown whenever there is a control, but showing it to the driver is not necessary. The ticket is valid to anywhere in Basel, and you do not need to buy another ticket when you change to a tram. If you have a trioregio local ticket, you can also travel via St Louis as it is valid until Mulhouse, France.