My Husband & I are taking the Tauck River Cruise from Basel to Amsterdam in October. There isn't a direct flight to Basel so we were hoping to fly direct to another city 2 days before our cruise and taking a train to Basel. Any ideas on the best pre cruise destination. We were thinking Lake Como but really have no preference. Don't want to have to travel too far the day of the cruise. We have to check in at 4 in the afternoon.
BTurners
Posted by
Charleston, SC, USA
922 posts
If you don't want to travel too far on the day of the cruise, then I would suggest Lucern. It's a short train ride from Basel and enjoying the outdoor the scenery would be a good way to beat jet lag. Lake Como will be a 4+ hour train ride top Basel, depending on where you are on the lake.
Posted by
Green Bay
20144 posts
Where are you coming from? Paris comes to mind with plenty of direct flights from North America. Only 3 hours by train to Basel with a direct TGV every 2 hours.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
There are direct flights to Basel from some airports. You didn't say from where you are coming.
From Chicago, lots of options for pre-cruise destination. From Podunk, Iowa, not so many. There are a lot of direct trains from Frankfurt to Basel and direct flights to Frankfurt from a lot of US airports. Zürich would not be too far. Or Paris. Lake Como would be a long trip, and I don't think there are many direct flights to Como Int'l airport.
Posted by
NorthCarolina
936 posts
We are taking our 2nd Tauck River Cruise in December . . . Christmas Markets on the Rhine . . . we were able to fly into Basel, not direct, but not much more expensive either . . . we have a short layover in Paris. You'll have a wonderful time.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7324 posts
It would be helpful to know if this is your first trip to Europe. If you care, Switzerland is a very expensive country. There are less expensive countries very close to Basel, like Germany and Luxembourg. (I don't know if Luxembourg Air is still a "hippie" choice ... !!) Frankfurt is perhaps just as easy to get to as Paris. It depends on what you'd like to do for the two nights (day and a half.)
You also don't say if you are willing to rent a car, to see the Black Forest or Besancon, France, or something like that. My guess is that the Italian lakes aren't as "close" as they seem. And the lake islands start to close down in October. Rail websites are very good at giving you an idea about ticket routings and prices. Note that three months out is best for discounted rail tickets (which are increasingly price-managed like air tickets.) But they lock you into a specific train departure.
Basel has plenty to do for two nights. You could well discover that a two-segment flight doesn't cost much more than a direct flight. (Are you planning to buy an open-jaw flight, home from Amsterdam? That would make sense.) Check Lufthansa and Swiss airlines especially. If you can spare the time off from work, a few days in Paris would be wonderful.