We are joining a river cruise in Basel on March 25, 2017 and would like 2 nights hotel pre-cruise. It looks like there is a very big event there at that time and all hotels are completely sold out. Does anyone have advice or suggestions? Thank you.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
Bern , Zurich, and Luzern are about an hour away by direct train with multiple departures an hour. I would go with Luzern.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
That's Basel World, it's only the largest watch and jewellery trade fair in the world: http://www.baselworld.com/ 23-30 March 2017.
And trade buyers for Swiss luxury watches do not travel on the cheap. There is some serious money (and serious bling) in Basel that week, most of it from the Far East. All hotels double their prices (or more) and still get booked out a year in advance. Most of the Rhine cruise boats (yours must be an exception) tie up in Basel as floating hotels.
You will not get a hotel nearer than Zürich or Freiburg im Breisgau, and many of those will be booked up with people commuting in daily to Basel.
I would also try Luzern, but try fast, as they may be booking up already for that week.
Posted by
Bern, Switzerland
1043 posts
As Chris has said, you've definitely picked the worst time to visit Basel!
You might try this hotel: http://www.sonne-sissach.ch, it is located in a town close to Basel by train. I've never been there, but the fact that the site is in German and it is not connected to many of the booking sites, might mean it has rooms. Given them a call or send an email, I'm sure someone there will speak English.
Other than that you might try one of these towns as the all have good links by train to Basel: Muttenz, Liestal or Olten.
Good luck with your search.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Try Airbnb or VRBO...even if you can find a hotel room the prices will be very inflated.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you all for your comments. We've found a solution.