Getting around Basel

Like most Swiss cities Basel has an excellent public transport network that operates frequent and reliable services throughout the urban and suburban areas. Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB) (tel: (061) 685 1414; www.bvb.ch) operates the city's many trams and buses. There are 15 tramlines and numerous bus lines, most operating every 6-7 minutes during the day and every 15 minutes late in the evening (although some lines only operate at rush hour). Day cards and two-, three-, four- and seven-day tickets are available.

As a supplement to the public transport network there are four ferries crossing the Rhine between the city's bridges. They are operated by the Basel Ferry Association (tel: (061) 692 7173; www.faehri.ch), and they travel across the river without a motor, propelled only by the force of the current.