Basel

My understanding is that RS just doesn't have room to cover every city in a country--the guidebooks would get too big. He provides a lot of detail on fewer cities. Other guidebooks, like Eyewitness travel, cover most cities with very little detail.

We spent a couple days in Basel. We had a nice time and its a very picturesque city on the Rhine. I feel the only "downside" is that you do not see mountains from there. It has a lovely city center with a market and a gorgeous rathuis. The cathedral and the views from there are nice. We crossed the bridge to the other side of the Rhine for lovely views. There is a large art museum that seems to be well respected. We did not have the time to go.

I was just in Basel. It was fine, I enjoyed it, but I think it doesn't have the 'wow' factor that other places have. I appreciated the museums, the walkability and public transport, the old part of the city, the manageable size. Unfortunately the view across the Rhine to Kleinbasel is marred by a couple of really ugly buildings.
I read the 'wikivoyage' page for Basel before I went and found it helpful.

I think the short answer is Rick prefers Bern, if one is going to spend time in a Swiss city instead of the mountains. He loves the swim in the river—-but Basel has one to0; actually a bit easier than Bern’s.

But we prefer Bern ourselves. The Oldtown area’s Main Street is lined with covered sidewalks (arcades or porticos) and the restaurants all have table out in the street (only used by the streetcars, not traffic). We were there on a Friday night and it was like a block party, very friendly and welcoming.

Basel does have a number of good hotels right close to the train station,but it is a bit of a walk from there to the Oldtown area and the river. And we had trouble finding a restaurant we liked. I am sure they exist, but we did not see anything that appealed to us. We have spent a lot of ice in Switzerland, and while I am happy with a good Schnitzel, my husband is done with traditional Swiss food, much preferring Italian or, failing that, French.

But if is museums that attract your interest, Basel would be an excellent choice.

We were in Basel as it was the end point of our cruise. We enjoyed it as an overnight. As others have said,it has a nice old city. I don't think I would make it a stop if there was nothing I specifically wanted to see.