Unusually, my wife Jane picked up a copy of the Financial Times (FT) a couple of weekends ago.  On Saturday’s, it’s a thick paper with a variety of sections – some more interesting than others.  In the travel section, there was an article on Antwerp which we visited several years ago and, alongside that, an article on visiting Basel in Switzerland.  Upon reading it, Jane suggested that we book a trip there the following weekend to mark my birthday.  Within 20 minutes, we were booked into car parks, flights and a hotel and were set; retirement flexibility, a bit of money in the bank and the internet on our phones makes delivering on a whim so easy!

We arrived late in the evening, checked in to our room and ventured out to a brasserie recommended in the FT article for something to eat.  We chose simply – just a beer and a burger each – but were taken aback by the cost of restaurant food.  Meal prices are about twice those in our part of the UK.  It took us a couple of days to recalibrate our expectations as we picked up menus in a variety of places over the next few days.  The food quality was excellent everywhere but the prices were eye opening.

Other aspects of the city break in Basel weren’t so expensive.  Our hotel (Hotel Märthof) was very central, perfectly comfortable and decent value.  The service there was exceptional and there were some useful addons, notably including the free BaselCard which all Basel hotels provide for overnight stays and which offers half price museum and gallery entry, and free public transport. 

That last perk was very useful on our last afternoon in Basel when the weather was rainy, almost all the public buildings and bars were shut, and we found ourselves wanting to kill some time in comfort.  We simply got the number Line 10 Tram, one of the longest tram rides in Europe and one of only five tram lines in Europe to span more than one country (in this case France and Switzerland).  It was an interesting hour or so that enabled views of misty hills and nice, green French and Swiss countryside.

Our first full day in Basel was very sunny and warm.  After substantial pastries at Bio Andreas, we walked a lot and got a feel for the old part of the town and beyond.  We visited the Cathedral (Basler Münster) and took in our first daylight views of the Rhine that separates the two halves of the city.

The cathedral dominates much of the south bank of the Rhine but, inside, it is of a good scale.  The extensive roof has pretty coloured tiles and, while the exterior walls are mainly red, inside the walls are a muted grey/brown colour.  We both liked this colouring, the lighting and the simplicity of the interior.  It was also clear even at this early stage of our trip that we were not going to be overwhelmed by crowds of other tourists; nice!

We walked on to the Tinguely Fountain which was an amusing array of mechanical, moving fountains and then to the nearby Offene Kirche Elisabethen.  The nave of this church was (or at least seemed) taller than the cathedral and I loved the airiness and, again, the lighting. 

Our hotel had a roof terrace and so we thought that we would try that out while the sun was shining.  We enjoyed a couple of complimentary glasses of fruit infused water while perched over the market place, watching the market customers choose from the pricey but high-quality fare for sale and listening to the bells of the surrounding churches.  This was all very relaxing but, with phones now recharged, we thought it time to find a bar.

Jane did a couple of searches on her phone and re-consulted the FT article.  This led us over the main bridge to the north side of the city where we could see seating in front of hotels and bars on terraces leading down to the Rhine riverbank.  These would have been fine I’m sure but we wanted something a little quieter and offbeat. 

Jane found a description on her phone of a ‘quirky’ bar and, despite the significant distance to it, we set off west along the Rhine.  The walk was delightful.  It was initially between rows of lime trees with seating along the river on one side and some substantial houses on the other.  Then the walk became indispersed with small pop-up bars and DJs with portable sound systems.  Finally, past some rather run down industrial buildings and cranes, we came to Holzpark, an alternative cultural centre and play-space, and the quirky bar called Landestelle.

Landestelle was almost perfect for us.  It was buzzy with interesting looking, local people but not crowded.  The staff were friendly and the music choices were unusual but to our taste.  The Rhine – already wide despite still about 1,000km from the sea – was right alongside.  We watched huge barges slipping past and the sight of swimmers and divers on the far bank near modern offices and imposing factory chimneys.  The only drawback for me was that the draft beer was so continental and lager-like – not the hoppy IPAs we have become used to in our local pub.  Notwithstanding that, we felt as though we had found a lively but relatively undiscovered aspect of Basel.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the walk back to the hotel.

Our step count merited a nice dinner.  Jane had already booked us in at the Volkshaus restaurant.  The weather was still warm and sunny enough for us to eat outside in a charming courtyard under a canopy of heavily managed plane trees and next to a continuous tinkle of a fountain.  I was braced for the price list by this time (and I wasn’t disappointed there!) but the asparagus soup and steak frites (with the steak covered innovatively in a tarragon sauce) was top notch. 

Much of the rest of our time in Basel was spent indoors avoiding the increasingly heavy cloud then rain.  However, we had planned for that and were very happy in the Kunstmuseum, with its very large collection of art from the 15^th century onwards, the Swiss Architecture Museum and, on the Monday when the rain was heaviest, Fondation Beyeler where there was an exceptional exhibition of paintings by artists’ works portraying the boreal forests around the Arctic.  More on those visits, for those who are interested in art and architecture, in the next blog post.

We had a great break from our normal home routine whilst we were in Basel.  Despite the impetuousness and short notice of our trip, Jane had done enough planning to make the trip full and thoroughly rewarding.  I enjoyed especially the mix of good food (once I had adjusted to the price shock), relaxed drinking, friendly and helpful people, and the impressive galleries and museums we had time to visit.  It was a very memorable birthday weekend.