Forget the Alps, Go to Basel Instead!

Planning a trip to Switzerland? Forget the Alps! We’re showing you why Basel is the city you should visit instead. In this 2025 guide, we break down the best things to do in the cultural capital of Switzerland.

From floating down the Rhine River to exploring its world-class art museums and charming Old Town, this is your ultimate checklist for an unforgettable adventure.
Watch our Other Switzerland Videos
This Place Looks Like Italy but it’s Switzerland! https://youtu.be/7PpZXD3VBLA?si=UjpktCxAb_qrDZ-s
Don’t Go to Zurich Without Watching This! https://youtu.be/x-GYizSlcPc?si=WXjNawPtHNDFR-Uv
The Perfect 3 Days in Zermatt: https://youtu.be/0PZGEvw1IGQ

⬇️ THE ULTIMATE BASEL CHECKLIST ⬇️

00:00 – Switzerland’s Best Kept Secret?
00:40 – #1: E-Bike Tour to the Three Countries Corner
01:45 – #2: Museum Hopping (Beyeler & Vitra)
03:26 – #3: The Rhine River Reaction Ferry
04:35 – #4: Floating Down the Rhine
05:06 – #5: The Tinguely Fountain & City Fountains
05:59 – #6: Basel Minster (The Cathedral)
06:55 – #7: Exploring the Old City Gates
07:47 – #8: Kunstmuseum (Fine Arts Museum)
08:32 – #9: A Walk Through the Old Town
09:25 – #10: Street Art Tour
10:23 – #11: Drinks at Les Trois Rois
10:59 – #12: A Traditional Weidling Boat Tour
Key locations: Old Town, Rhine River Float, Tinguely Fountain, Basel Minster, Museums

#basel #switzerland #travelguide #baselswitzerland #rhineriver #artbasel #switzerlandtravel
Read more at The Planet D.com –
Things to to in Basel https://theplanetd.com/things-to-do-in-basel-switzerland/
20 Reasons to Fall in Love with Basel – https://theplanetd.com/visit-basel-switzerland/
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►A Little More about Dave and Deb
Hi Everyone, we’re Dave and Deb of The Planet D and we take you around the world in our weekly video series. New Uploads every week. We’ve traveled to 120 countries and all 7 continents and our travel vlogs highlight our personal experiences at each destination. We share with you, the best things to do with travel guides, travel tips, beautiful drone footage, and 4k video.
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Join us on our latest travel vlog as we explore Basel City! We’ll be visiting some amazing Basel attractions, including a relaxing walk along the Rhine River Basel. Get ready for some Switzerland travel adventures in Basel Switzerland!
Explore Basel, the city on the Switzerland border of France and Germany, and a true powerhouse of art and culture! This Basel city guide takes you through the best of Basel attractions, highlighting some truly unique and quirky local traditions. Plan your next Switzerland travel adventure and visit Basel!

when people think of Switzerland they think of mountains and cheese but they’re missing the country’s best kept secret a city on the border of France and Germany that is a powerhouse of art culture and quirky traditions this is Basil and it might just be the coolest city in Switzerland we’re showing you all the must do experiences from floating down the Rhine to exploring its world class museums in this video you’re going to discover all the reasons to fall in love with Basil Switzerland and put it at the top of your travel list well getting an e bike is a great way to just get out of the main area I’m going to places I wouldn’t have gone before this is really fun we’re heading out to where the three countries meet and the e bike makes it so easy we’ve made it out to where the three countries meet we are standing in Switzerland everyone and right behind me is both France and Germany this is a really cool place to come out to get yourself an e bike and ride around and we’re doing the Grand Tour everyone this is so cool I really love e biking it’s such a easy way to get around you don’t break up too much of a sweat especially in some hot weather here and it’s just a great way to cover a huge distance in the city and see everything there is to see now let’s go e bike rentals cost about 50 Swiss francs for the day and it’s a great way to see a lot of sites in a short amount of time there are plenty of trails to keep you out of traffic and it’s a fun way to explore the city I would say that one of the coolest museums you have to visit here in Basel is the Beller Foundation it’s a little bit out of the downtown core and we got here by e bike and it’s a great place to visit it has uh modernism art you’ll have you’ll see Andy Warhol you’ll see Suzanne you’ll see Monet and Picasso even it’s really spectacular uh it was the private collection of Ernest and Helen Baylor and they made it available to the public it’s lucky us we’re just riding along the river on a private bike path and we’re heading off to our next beautiful museum stop The Vitra Museum is in Germany actually and it is connected by a trail that has all these art installations there’s a path that connects the two museums together and this is a very cool museum because you cross the border into Germany and there’s so many amazing art installations it’s really worth coming over on your e bike oh this is the way to get around I love it nice and easy we are e biking around Basil this morning and we’re going across Center Bridge and right behind me is a little uh historic site where women were thrown from the bridge when they thought that they were witches or sorcerers and they were tossed over to their death however there were some rebellious nuns who would save them once they were down river before they drowned so it’s a pretty neat little spot here on Middle Bridge well we’re taking the ferry here across from the cathedral side over to the other side of Basel it’s cool cause there’s a cafe down here you can grab a drink or something to eat uh before you head on over so let’s go our unique mode of transportation in Basel is the reaction ferry located between Basel’s five bridges are four reaction ferry terminals that take passengers from Gross Basel to Klein Basel instead of using a motor ferries use a cable and rely on the river’s current to propel it across positioning the rudder to allow the current to push it in the right direction it cost just 2 50 Swiss francs and we caught the ferry from the river path just behind Basil Monster okay one of the things you have to do is take the ferry across there’s no motor they use just a a line and I let their current move them across I think as they use the rudder to steer maybe yeah I think so see how it goes yeah it’s cool the most silent crossing I’ve ever been on well normally the river is packed with people swimming this time of year but there was a lot of rains this year so it’s not recommended to swim however some of the locals are getting in there I guess if you’ve been doing it all your life you feel comfortable but the current’s pretty high there’s a lot of logs in the river right now if we were here on any other time except for after the rains this would be full of people swimming but as you can see there are some hardy people going in Bazel is a city of fountains that you can drink out of but this one you actually don’t drink out of it’s just a work of art fountains play a huge part in daily life in Basel used as cooling stations and places to fill up water bottles but the Tingley Fountain is a unique work of art where iron figures mimic the motions of actors and dancers that once occupied the stage at the old City Theatre on this site we were told that one of the favorite pastimes of the people of Basel is fountain swimming and we’ve seen quite a bit of it since being here they treat the fountains like a public pool it’s really great to see everybody just splashing around in the summertime make sure you come to the Basil Cathedral and go inside and go to the back and check out the crypts Basel Minster was built between 1019 and 15 in the romantic and Gothic styles it is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city with its two towers standing tall over the River Rhine its beautiful cloisters in the back are a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of the Old Town if you find yourself at the Basil Cathedral make sure you walk down a little alley to the Cultural Museum it’s a really beautiful blend of the medieval structures around me but they have built a new addition a hanging garden and a modern piece of art check it out Basil used to be a fortified city and it was surrounded by a city wall as it expanded they took down the walls but there are still three gates in the city that are intact and there are some remnants of the wall if you walk down to the area of the paper mill on the river you will see a great gate and part of the city wall that is still intact it’s one of the three and it’s not only a great stroll by the river it is really a beautiful little park here make your way to the city gate this is considered one of the most beautiful city gates in all of Europe and when you see it you can believe it The Kunst Museum is one of Europe’s biggest art museums the combination of stunning architecture with modern and contemporary art on display makes visiting the museum one of the most popular things to do in Basel when you purchase a museum pass you get 50% off entry to the museums and you definitely want to do that because there are so many of them I really enjoyed my time in the Kunts Museum there’s several levels my favorite are all of the sculptures and the modern art it’s really fantastic make sure you walk down the street in Bergasling because right behind me is the smallest museum in Basel and there’s a lot of them so this is cool Basel has a gorgeous Old Town and taking a walking tour is a must start at the red facade of city hall and make your way around the cobblestone streets as you get lost in the historic alleyways Basel may have a rich history but it also has a very urban vibe make sure to seek out some of its more modern architecture and contemporary designs well one of the most Instagram worthy spots in all of Basel is at the convention center on the other side of the river it’s a very modern building where all of the conventions happen and uh it’s pretty quiet right now so it’s a great time to come first thing in the morning to get your shots one of the great ways to see Boston is to take an Arts toobly street art tour it really takes you to different parts of the city to see all of the hidden street art throughout the town and then you end here by the train station and this is one of the coolest pieces of arts it is a face that is smashed in a big pane of glass when you walk by the glass looks like it’s just completely broken but when you look at it through a cell phone it is a face and when you look at it from afar you can tell it’s a face but if you’re just walking by it looks like a smashed window it’s incredible so much street art here in Basel it’s kind of interesting cause it’s all commissioned um but it’s also somewhat hidden so I do highly recommend a tour to find it because it is so hidden and they know exactly where all the spots are one of the bucket list things to do here in Basel is to come to Le Toit au ROI the Three Kings and have a little aperitivo on the terrace having a cocktail or dining on the river is a must and Le Toit au ROI is one of the grandest hotels in Basel with a 300 year old history don’t let its grandeur intimidate you they are friendly and welcoming I’m ready I got my knee pads on my life vest ready to head out on the Rhine River Awesome Whoo a vidling is a traditional boat that dates back 2,000 years we took a trip up and down the Rhine with Vidling Basilea where we Learned how to row a vidling boat and Learned to spike our way upstream it’s a fun way to see Basil from the river while learning about the city’s history well this is one of the most unique experiences I think I’ve ever done yeah for sure I love doing traditional ways of traveling and I love that here in Basel they’re bringing it back well I think it’s great that you get to be part of the history rather than just read about it or look at it that’s it you gotta do this when you come here oh this is so different day oh yeah the rolling always easy rolling all right down the river I got us through the hard part so now Dev can take over and stalk on the easy part yeah I think I think you want your father to do that yes we’re so lucky to have Dave here that should be on a T-shirt wow you’re really moving against the current that’s impressive yeah it goes pretty fast it’s really impressive because we’re going against the current right now and they’re just pushing by hand there’s a lot of skill and strength involved I think but they’re making it look so easy way easier not gonna be the same when we do it hahaha I really love it it’s such a great way to see Basil from an original way of transport and you get to see it from a different angle and I think that’s another great thing about doing this activity here is that you see the whole city from a completely different way than you would if you’re just walking along the shoreline get on the water when you come here oh wow that was so much fun I’m telling you look at this river like what a one of a kind thing to do to go videling on the River Rhine here in Basel Switzerland Basel is a city you will fall in love with and if you are in Switzerland make sure to add this cultural capital of the country to your itinerary you’ll enjoy the perfect mix of history and contemporary travels in a nutshell Basel has it all if you enjoyed our video don’t forget to subscribe and ring that bell and we’ll see you next week when we put up our latest travel video