Basel City Guide

Altstadt, Rhein & Kunst

From the Marktplatz with its bright-red town hall to the red-sandstone minster and the Pfalz terrace above the Rhine, across on the current-powered minster ferry and back over the Mittlere Brücke - then into the world-famous art museum, to the kinetic Tinguely fountain and the medieval Spalentor gate.

1. Market Square & Town Hall – The walk begins on the Marktplatz with the bright-red town hall of 1504 - a tower, wall paintings and gilded façade make it the heart of the old town. In the mornings a colourful market of flowers, cheese and fruit fills the square.
2. Basel Minster – The red-sandstone minster with its brightly patterned tiled roof is Basel's landmark. Over 250 steps lead up the Martin's Tower for a sweeping view over the city and the Rhine; inside lies the tomb of the scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam.
3. Pfalz – Right behind the minster lies the Pfalz, a tree-lined terrace high above the Rhine. From the parapet the view sweeps over the turquoise river, the ferry and the rooftops of Kleinbasel to the Black Forest - the old town's finest viewing balcony.
4. Minster ferry (Fähri) – From the steps below the Pfalz you reach the minster ferry - one of Basel's four "Fähri" that glide across the river on a wire, driven by the Rhine current alone, without an engine. A short, wonderfully old-fashioned crossing with a view back to the minster.
5. Middle Bridge – The Mittlere Brücke of 1226 was one of the very first permanent Rhine bridges and links Greater and Lesser Basel. From it you get the classic postcard view of the old town with the minster - especially lovely as the ferry glides past below.
6. Kunstmuseum Basel (Art Museum) – The Kunstmuseum Basel holds the world's oldest public art collection - from Holbein and the Old German masters via Böcklin to Picasso, van Gogh and classic modernism. A must for art lovers and the reason Basel is known as a city of museums.
7. Tinguely Fountain – On Theaterplatz, the ten black iron machines of the Fasnacht Fountain splash and turn - a playful water sculpture by Basel artist Jean Tinguely from 1977. A local favourite and a wonderfully quirky photo motif.
8. Spalentor – To finish, the Spalentor - the grandest of the three surviving city gates and one of Switzerland's finest. The massive red-sandstone gate with its two round towers and portcullis once marked the western edge of the city; the trams back to the centre stop right beside it.