Basel travel guide

Basel has been an important commercial, intellectual and cultural meeting point since Celtic times. This is thanks to its location on the River Rhine in the northwest corner of Switzerland, near the point where the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland meet.

Basel has a fascinating and varied cityscape, from the Old Town with its picturesque facades, fountain-splashed squares and magnificent cathedral, to the more modern districts, graced by striking buildings by such notable contemporary architects as Renzo Piano, Richard Meier and Frank Gehry.

The surrounding region is equally appealing, with the excavated remains of the old Roman town Augusta Raurica nearby, and the natural wonders of the Jura, the Vosges and the Black Forest.

Basel's cultural riches are immense. The city is a centre for modern design and architecture, and it has several impressive galleries, theatres and music halls as well as more than 30 different museums.

Among them are the renowned Kunstmuseum (one of the world's oldest art collections open to the public), and the Museum Jean Tinguely, dedicated to the avant-garde artist Jean Tinguely, who was born in Basel.

Switzerland's first university was founded in Basel in 1460. It attracted humanist scholars like Erasmus of Rotterdam (who is buried in the cathedral), and this in turn helped give Basel a reputation as a city of academic and humanistic excellence and a peaceful, tolerant and welcoming culture.