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Basel main attractions: The most greater part of the tourist places are situated in the southern part of the city where the historical center of Basel is found, this zone can easily explored afoot, here in fact the places of greater tourist interest are concentrate. The Marktplatz (Plaza of the Market), the true heart of Basel, entertains the many colored market of fruit, vegetable and flowers that every day is held except Sunday. The plaza is dominated by the imposing Rathaus (town house) building of the 14th century, to its inside it is worth to visit the Ratszimmer, the inside courtyard (Innenhof), the romantic porticos and the tall tower. Among the buildings of greater interest of the city it is certainly the Cathedral of Basel (Basler Münster), building in red sandstone built between the 11th and the 15th century, on an hill dominant the river, whose façade is dominated from two irregular Gothic towers. The most important structure in the cathedral is without doubt the Portal of St. Gallus (Galluspforte (1150/70)) situated to the entrance of the northern transept it is one of the most greater sculptural works of the Romanesque epoch in Switzerland, in the last years, a lot of the original sculptures have been brought in a museum for guaranteeing a best maintenance of it and replaced by copies. The inside of the cathedral is to three aisles, with important side chapels, endowed with a crypt, that preserve the body of Erasmus from Rotterdam, complete the church the two cloisters. From the cloister of the cathedral it is possible to access the panoramic terrace of the Pfalz from which a splendid sight of the historical center enjoys. The Mittlere Brücke (Middle Bridge) built in 1226 it was the first bridge on the Rhine, built on initiative of the Bishop-prince Heinrich von Thun, to his defense was built on the right bank of the river the strengthened citadel of Kleinbasel, in 1905 the ancient bridge was replaced by the current Mittlere Brücke. Of the surrounded medieval building that once encircled the city, demolished in the 19th century, three towers are still today: St. Albantor, Letziturm and Spalentor, this last is the most imposing, it goes up again to the 14th century. Many are the public buildings as late Gothic, Baroque, rococo and neo-classical palaces and town houses. Basel also hosts a collection of buildings by architects internationally recognised as the building of the Foundation Beyeler work of Renzo Piano, or the Vitra complex at Weil am Rhein consists of three buildings designed by Zaha Hadid (station fire brigade), Frank Gehry (museum of design), Tadao Ando (congress centre), the Museum Jean Tinguely and the Bank of International Payments (Verwaltungsgebäude der BIZ) works by Mario Botta and several buildings of Herzog & de Meuron as the football stadium. One of the symbols of modern Basel is the Tinguely fountain, built in 1977 by Jean Tinguely. The city is an ideal base for exploring the Black Forest and the Vosges and Jura mountains.

Museums: Basel entertains over 30 different museums. The most important museum in the city is the Kunstmuseum Basel (Museum of art), the museum is predominantly devoted to the painting and the sketch of artists of the area of the High Rhine since 1400 to 1600, it entertains works of Holbein, Goya and Rubens; as to the art of the 19th and the 20th century. The 19th century has its exponents in the paintings of Böcklin, van Gogh, Gauguin and Cézanne, while the 20th century finds its apogee in the Cubism (Picasso, Braque, Léger), in the German expressionism and in the American art beginning from 1950. Other important harvest of art of the 20th century is found in the Fondation Beyeler (Foundation Beyeler) that it has center in the museum planned by Renzo Piano, here are exposed works of artists as Monet, Cézanne, van Gogh, Picasso, Warhol, Liechtenstein and Bacon. The Antikenmuseum Basel (Museum of the antiquities) it is the only museum in Switzerland exclusively devoted to the art and the ancient cultures of the basin of the Mediterranean, are found objects, from the 4th millennium b.C. up to the 7th century AD, of Egyptian art, Greek, Italic and Roman to which single pieces are added coming from the Near East and from Cyprus. The Historisches Museum Basel is the most important museum of history of the cultures of the High Rhine, among the most greater exposed collections it is the bathroom Amerbach, other important pieces are the treasure of the cathedral of Basel, that introduces extraordinary examples of medieval goldsmith works, Gothic tapestries, the grisly dance of Basel, the treasures of the guilds of Basel, the numismatic bathroom, figurative works coming from the area of the High Rhine, examples of painting on glass late-Gothic and Renaissance, sacred art and furniture. The Historisches Museum Basel: Musikmuseum (Museum of the Music) it entertains the most important collection of musical tools of Switzerland. The Museum der Kulturen Basel entertains one of the most greater collections in Europe on the life in the European and extraeuropean cultures, with important harvests devoted to the South Seas, to pre-Columbian America, to Tibet, etc. The Pharmazie-Historisches Museum der Universität Basel is one of the most greater collections to world level on the history of the pharmacy, it exposes ceramics and furniture from pharmacy, laboratory of alchemist, mortars, itinerant pharmacies, books. A very particular museum, probably only in his kind it is the Puppenhausmuseum, it is the principal museum in Europe of bears of plush, over 6000 pieces are exposed on four floors, the museum also entertains dolls, shops toy, houses of the doll and miniatures. The Skulpturhalle entertains one of the most greater collections of mould of ancient sculptures, unique in the world is the complete collection of the sculptures of the Parthenon. The Museum Tinguely is devoted to the life and the works of Jean Tinguely, the imposing building has been realized by the famous Swiss architect Mario Botta. Interesting and ultra modern it is the Vitra Design Museum, in Weil am Rhein, a few kilometres over the border in Germany, that is found in a building planned by the Californian architect Frank Gehry and it is one of the most important museums of architecture and industrial design of the world. Not too far from Basel (10 km to the east) lies the archaeological area of Augusta Raurica, the greatest archaeological park in Switzerland.

 

Airports and Flights: The airport of Basel (EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg), it is found to 3 kms from the urban area of the city, in French territory. The airport, that is the only airport bi-national in the world, has served from numerous international connections. There is a service of public bus between the EuroAirport and the center of Basilea and the Badischer Bahnhof (German railway station of Basilea), through the Swiss central railway station (Bahnhof SBB).

Public transportation in Basel: Basel is served from a vast net of public transport that connects the city to the surrounding suburbs. The net of trams and buses is managed by the BVB (Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe) and from the BLT (Baselland Transport). The trams are electric and the buses are electric or with fuel.  

Basel climate: Basel enjoys some warmest and less misty and rainy climate in Switzerland. The total annual middle of rain wanders around the 780 mms a year, the months with smaller precipitations are those between September and April. The minimum temperatures are normally under zero between the months of December and February.

Basel	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rain (mm)	51	49	51	64	84	87	79	87	62	51	59	54
Min Temp (°C)	-2	-1	2	4	8	11	13	12	10	6	2	-1
Max Temp (°C)	3	6	10	14	18	22	24	23	20	15	8	4