First time in Switzerland - Suggestions

Take plenty of money!

We've just come back from a few days in the Black Forest, we flew into and out of Basel and spent a few hours in the city prior to leaving. We only had time to grab a few sausages as we had taken the kids to a fair in the city centre and they were expensive enough! I'd managed to check out the prices from a few restaurant menus and they were eyewatering, particularly in comparison to what you'd pay just over the 'border' in France or Germany.

The city of Freiburg, Germany is just a short train ride away from Basel. That is in the Black Forest area and well worth a visit. My wife and I stayed in the village of Hinterzarten, just outside of Freiburg for a week back in 2009 and rode the trains around the area. It was easy to visit the area via train and bus. Freiburg is a larger town but very manageable by foot. It has buses and trains to help you get around. We visited Basel from there by train for a day and toured the city there too, eating at a really great restaurant that was decorated with posters from the Old West of the USA. Basel has museums to see and is a great place to use to go to other places in Germany and France.

Have a look at Homeaway, VBRO etc. We rented an apartment in Schuttertal which is 1 1/2 hours drive from Basel (it was actually a converted house, the owners lived upstairs and we had the bottom half which had been converted into a self contained apartment). We were there for five days and took day trips to Freiburg, Strasbourg and took the kids to a local nature park with some steep hiking and the longest tube slide in Europe for the easy way down. Plenty to see in the area and far easier on the wallet than spending five days in Switzerland. There are many apartments and houses to rent in the area and it's a great place to drive, particularly the winding roads through the hills and forests and the driving is far more civilised than what is encountered in the Mediterranean countries!.

I have no experience with rail travel in the area however it does look well served and the services between France, Germany and Switzerland all appeared seamless. We used the park and ride/tram system in Strasbourg and found it an excellent and easy way to travel through the city

We would prefer a mix of items; historical sites, museums, light
hikes, etc.

You can use Basel as a home-base and visit several areas easily using the Swiss rail system. Bern, for example, is only an hour away and great place to spend a day. It has a fine medieval core, a museum dedicated to a patent clerk, and a Paul Klee modern art museum. And high culture offerings in the evening. Interlaken is 2 hours away and Montreux is 2.5 hour away by rail.

Mountain hikes will be limited in April because all the mid- to high-level trails will still be closed due to snow.