basel train station

I'm not positive I understand the question. But high speed trains leave from the Basel Hauptbahnhof regularly for Frankfurt and Mannheim. You can reach Hannau from either city, although it's easier from Frankfurt.

janet,

It appears that all trains heading for Germany depart from Basel SBB station, so you'll have to take a Taxi (or whatever) from Stücki across the river to the SBB station. I'm assuming that the Stücki you're referring to is the area close to the shopping outlet?

There are a few direct (no changes) departures from Basel to Hanau via IC Express, including one at 10:13, arriving at 13:35 (which is probably the one I'd use). If you'll have your tickets in hand when you arrive at the station, you can proceed directly to your departure platform (Platforms 10 / 11 / 12?). You should be able to buy your tickets at Basel Badisher Bahnhof, which is on the same side of the river as Stücki. When you walk through the front doors of Basel SBB, as I recall you'll need to go up the stairs directly in front of you and then along the corridor until you get to the stairs that lead down to your departure platform (the stairs down are to the left, again as I recall).

Happy travels!

Basel Badischer Bahnhof is a station of the German Bahn. If you use it as the start point of your trip and Hanau as the end point, you can probably find discounted, advance purchase ticket fares. Basel Bad Bahnhof is inside the Swiss city of Basel, only a short tram ride from Basel SBB Bahnhof.

It seems that the "stuecki " refers to a Best Western hotel. But I assume that it is an area?

Also, will we need to include time for any passport checks when we go across the river?

You can take Bus #36 from Basel Stuecki to Basel Bad, according to DB. DB sells advance-discount tickets starting from either Basel Bad station or Basel main station toward Germany, whichever you think will be more convenient for your plan.

There is no passport check at this border, nor at other borders in western/central Europe within the Schengen visa zone.

If I don't find any direct tickets does that mean there aren't any available, or am I missing something?

janet,

If you want to depart from Bad BF rather than Basel SBB, there appears to be at least one direct departure via ICE at 10:23, arriving Hanau Hbf at 13:35 (I used an arbitrary date of 4 June to search). They currently indicate "savings fares" of €59 PP on that route, while regular price is €81 PP.

I found this information on the bahn.de website. Hopefully Lee or one of the others can confirm this.

Trains leaving Germany from Basel Bad Bf for destinations in Germany can have Sparpreis fares (inside Germany) starting at 29€. The same train leaving from the Swiss (SBB) station has a Europe-Spezial Schweiz fare that starts at 39€. 2 miles, 10€. Stücki is closer to Basel Bad Bf.