Top things to do in Basel (in 24 hours)
Basel is surprisingly an awesome city to visit in the summer in Switzerland and with these top things to do in Basel, you can make the most of a short trip. We only spent 24 hours in Basel on our way from Freiburg to Zurich. One night felt like enough to see all the highlights. As with everything in Switzerland, things are expensive, but the 24-hour limit really allowed us to enjoy this city. From swimming in the Rhine, eating Sri Lankan food, and exploring unique art museums, Basel has a lot to offer.
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Where to stay in Basel
Hotel Motel One
With limited time on our side, we opted to stay in the old town area’s shopping district at the Hotel Motel One. It was the perfect place for us to easily visit all the top things to do in Basel. In this location, we were able to walk everywhere.
The hotel also offered the BaselCard. These cards are available with any hotel stay and give you a discount on museums and activities, as well as a free ride on public transportation. We didn’t know this was included with our stay, but we actually saved some money on our entrances because of this! I would highly recommend this hotel just because it was so easy and it was one of the more affordable options for us.
The other hotel we were considering is called Nomad. It’s very similar to Hotel Motel. I really just wanted to sing Pitbull’s “We at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn” so I picked Hotel Motel.
Two must-see Museums in Basel
Museum Tinguely
Tickets: CHF 18
Remember to use your BaselCard for 50% off.
Museum Tinguely is dedicated to the kinetic artwork of Jean Tinguely. Using scrap material, Tinguely designed and developed contraptions that played music, drew art, or even self-destructed. It’s hard to describe Tinguely’s pieces; he hated materialism and so the majority of his sculptures make fun of that (while also using reclaimed items). The easiest way I can put it is: the “point” of his artwork is that “there is no point.” Enjoy this! Everything is super funky and the interactive exhibits are unique. It’s definitely one of the top things to do in Basel.
You should spend 2 hours at Museum Tinguely. You may want to walk around each section a couple of times as you wait for the machine timers (usually 5 min between activations).
What to see in Museum Tinguely
There are four unique sculptures you should see if you’re trying to race through the museum.
Meta Harmony Klamauk: a tractor-turned-musical machine.
Grosse Méta-Maxi-Maxi-Utopia Méta-Harmonie: the largest machine you’ll see is near the entrance of the museum. With a curtain, a horse from a merry-go-round, and other trinkets, you won’t know where to settle your eyes when the machine is in action.
The self-drawing machine: You can buy a token for the machine (and paper) from reception and then use the pens to help the machine make art.
The Meta Harmony II: Playing on the hour between 12-5pm, listen to the chaotic harmony where nothing and everything makes sense.
Tips for visiting
- The museum’s first exhibit about Tinguely, which will give you a lot of good background, is through the gift shop. We didn’t realize this and were pretty confused about who Tinguely was. If you’re facing the pay station to buy your ticket, look right and go through the doors.
- Also, visit the Tinguely Fountain in town around Offene Kirche Elizabethan Church.
- If you’re visiting in the summer, you can buy a Wickelfisch bag (around 30 CHF) at the gift shop to keep your belongings dry and float down the Rhine River; the start of the floating section begins at the museum.
Visit here.
Kuntsmuseum Basel
Tickets: 26 CHF (with the special exhibit) or 16 CHF (without the special exhibit)
Remember to use your BaselCard for 50% off.
- Closed Mondays
- Tuesday, Thursday-Sunday 10am-6pm
- Wednesday 10am-8pm
The Kuntsmuseum in Basel is one of the greatest fine art collections in the world. Spread across 3 museums, you’ll find a little bit of everything here. We spent just over 2 hours, but we could have spent more if we had more time. I’d suggest getting the full ticket with the special exhibit (depending on if its something you’re interested in).
It doesn’t really matter what building you visit first. Just plan to visit all the exhibit rooms. See the floorplan here.
In addition, there are also special exhibits. When we visited in August 2022, the special was “El Greco,” an ode to Pablo Picasso and the old master El Greco (1541– 1614), (born Doménikos Theotokópoulos) had on his work. The exhibit set up a series of paintings from El Greco and compared them to studies Picasso had done.
#1 Summertime Activity: Float Down the Rhine
After spending a day in Basel, I’m convinced the number one thing to do in Basel is float down the Rhine River. We didn’t understand what people were doing when we arrived from the train station on our way to the hotel. once we realized river swimming is possible, we rushed to get out swimsuits, and to buy the popular Wickelfisch bag (a waterproof bag also used for floatation).
The swimming section of the Rhine River starts at Museum Tinguely and ends at the last bridge, Dreirosenbrücke. When we visited in August 2022 (during the heat wave that clung to Europe), the water was 25°C and felt super refreshing on a hot day. In the summer, people were still floating at almost 9pm, though I suggest starting the float at 7pm at the latest.
It’ll take around 45 min to float (with some kicking involved) from start to finish. The current is strong and you’ll float down the Rhine naturally. There are several spots to get in and out of the water along the way.
You can buy a Wickelfisch from the museum for 30 CHF (worth it!) or get one at the tourist center. The Wickelfisch will actually keep everything dry! It looked like some people had an extra plastic bag or Tupperware for their phones. Though, nothing in our bag got wet. I used a second dry bag I had to wrap our phones, but it wasn’t necessary.
Tip: Get dinner at Sri Veda afterward as you’ll be close by!
Top sights to see in Basel
We did our own mini-walking tour of Basel. When you’re walking around, look out for…
Middle Bridge
Middle Bridge is a lovely old bridge with great views of Basel along the Rhine River.
Basel Town Hall
The Basel Town Hall is a Gorgeous red town hall building with gold elements. There is a produce market here in the mornings and some food/coffee stalls.
Basel Minster
This gothic-style church from the 9th century is huge!
Tinguely Fountain
Visit the Tinguely Fountain in town.
Offene Kirche Elizabethen
Visit Offene Kirche Elizabethan Church after dinner for an evening sunset.
St. Alban City Gate
Stop at the old city gate for a picture and also see the old wall.
Hoosesaggmuseum
There wasn’t anything in the window when we visited but this is a tiny “pocket museum.” The entire museum consists of a window with a tiny collection of items. According to the website, because the owners lived on a popular tourist street “many people just wanted to press their noses against our front door to get a glimpse of the inside. That bothered us. So we thought about it: Should a curtain block the view or should a frosted pane of glass? No, we turn the “door window” into a “window shop”, ie a mini shop where smaller things could be offered for sale and bought. But people didn’t have the courage to ring the bell to buy any of the items displayed in the window. So we started to present our smaller and larger collections in this small shop window.” Love it.
Graffiti
If you’re into graffiti, you’ll want to stop by this cool area.
Bonus
If you have the time, rent bikes or take the train to visit Bottmingen Castle. It’s an old castle that now operates as a fancy restaurant. Go for the moat!
Go on a tour
You can experience a Cheese, Chocolate, and Local Pastry Tasting Private Tour, a storytelling tour, or a historical town tour.
Food in Basel
Markthalle
Markthalle is an eclectic food hall with stalls from all over the world.
This is the best place to eat in Basel when you’ve only got a short amount of time. The Markthall is also close to the main train station so you can visit before or after your rides. We had lunch here before catching our train to Zurich.
After a week of German food, we were feeling the need for something with a real kick to it. We opted for the vegan momos from the Tibetan stall and a noodle bowl from the Vietnamese stall. We were still hungry and got a delish roasted eggplant dish from the Israeli stall as well.
Although it’s a market, the food is going to cost you as much as a restaurant; each of our dishes was between 15-22 CHF.
Hours: Although google stays it’s open all day, this isn’t true. The market stalls are closed during the afternoon. Typical timings are 11:30am-2pm and 6pm-10pm. Some stalls have different timings on different days so check the website.
Check out all the stalls here and see the map location here.
Sri Veda
Sri Lankan food is usually a unique find in the Western world with Indian restaurants dominating. However, you can find Sri Lankan platters at Sri Veda. Get one of the few tables outdoors on the balcony overlooking the Rhine River.
The dishes focus on Ayurvedic, gluten-free, and vegan options with a small but satisfactory menu. We got the vegan meal and the street food meal. I’d recommend both! The main dishes cost around 25 CHF.
If you’re on a budget, skip the drinks. A cocktail will put you out 15CHF. However, I got one that had saffron pieces in it, and it felt pretty special. (Did I deserve it? No. Did it get it? Yes).
Right before we visited Sri Veda, we floated down the Rhine. One of the last stops brings you near the bridge you’ll have to cross to get to Sri Veda. I recommend you do the same (in summer!).
Visit here.
Indigo Elephant
Although we didn’t have a chance to eat here, Indigo Elephant looks like a lovely vegetarian restaurant. it was my top pick for dinner until Wilhelm found Sri Veda. They are kinda in the same neighborhood you can see what suits your vibe.
BaselCard for discounts
The BaselCard is offered as a free bonus when you book a hotel in Basel. You’ll receive the card when you check into your hotel. Keep the card in your wallet as you go around town or load it onto your phone via the QR code. The card was an unexpected bonus for us as we went to two museums and used public transport. In all, it saved us around 20 CHF per person in our 24-hour stay.
Included for free:
- Use of public transport
- Surfing the Guest Wi-Fi Basel
Half price:
- Basel museums
- Basel Zoo
- Theater Basel (only applies to tickets purchased at the evening box office)
- Tour on the sightseeing bus
- Guided tour (please make a reservation): Stories of Basel’s Old Town, daily at 2.30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays also at 11.00 am
- Scheduled cruises offered by Basler Personenschifffahrt
- Volta Art Fair Basel (only valid for general admission tickets purchased at the event and with the BaselCard)
Check out all the offers on the Basel Card site.