Tours in Basel

You notice the river first. Not because it is dramatic, but because everyone in Basel seems to arrange their day around it. People swim down it in summer with their clothes bundled into a waterproof bag they float beside them, and in the early morning you will see swimmers getting out near the Mittlere Brücke looking entirely unbothered, like this is just what a commute looks like here. The Rhine splits the city into Grossbasel and Kleinbasel, and which side you are on changes the mood completely. One has the old town climbing up from the water, the other feels looser and more residential.

The old town rewards slow walking more than almost anywhere in Switzerland. Head up toward Basel Minster in the early morning and the streets are still quiet, the light catching the red and green patterned roof tiles before the day gets going. Behind the Minster, the Pfalz terrace gives you a wide view over the river and the rooftops, and it costs you nothing but the walk up. From there the medieval lanes pull you down toward Marktplatz, where the market stalls open early and the Rathaus stands out immediately, painted a deep red that makes it impossible to miss among the sandstone buildings around it.

Basel is also a city that takes art seriously without making a fuss about it. The Kunstmuseum anchors one end of the old town, and during Art Basel the streets nearby fill with galleries and installations that spill out past the museum walls. Away from the exhibitions, there are smaller pleasures: the Tinguely Fountain, with its odd, clattering sculptures that spray and spin in the Theater square, is the kind of thing you stumble on rather than plan for.

A morning walk through the old town, from the Minster to the market stalls at Marktplatz, is the easiest way to get a feel for how the city fits together, and if there is a landmark or corner of Basel you are curious about that is not mentioned here, a local guide can usually build a route around it.