Hello,
My wife & I'll be in Basel for a week and have 4 days (friday to monday late afternoon) to spend in & around Basel. Is it better to rent a car and drive around places or simply get on train and explore. We like outdoors and of course mountains.
Coming from California and never been to Basel. Any help is much appreciated.
Visiting end of June.
cheers,
Rao
First I must ask, why Basel? Is it for work, therefore leaving you only Friday-Monday on your own time?
No car needed. the trains in Switzerland are legendary. In 2.5 hours from Basel you can be in the fantastic Lauterbrunnen Valley, the most scenic part of Switzerland we've seen to date after 5 trips there. Mountains, hiking, cogwheel trains, and lifts galore. Spend 3 nights in Muerren. See the Rick Steves Switzerland guidebook for lots of info including specific hikes.
Thanks for prompt response.
Visiting Basel 2 weeks for work and conference. In between, have friday/sat/sun/monday off. Conf starts on monday late evening w/ welcome reception. So, am trying to make use of my free time.
Thought rental car gives me flexibility. I'm little nervous in driving in Europe to be honest with you.
Rao
You don't need a rental car in Switzerland. Anywhere you could possibly want to go as a tourist the train can get you there easily and much more friendly than a car - especially a first time driver in Europe.
No reason to be nervous about driving in Switzerland - just study your international signage and don't speed. We drove from Basel to Lauterbrunnen on past trips and the trip goes along excellent, well marked roads populated with excellent drivers.
But as already mentioned it isn't really necessary to use a car to easily travel to Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen, and once you get into the mountains the car becomes less useful. If you were to stay in one of the small towns above the valley (magnificent views) you would end up leaving the car on the valley floor anyway.
A long weekend is a perfect length of time - it takes most of a day to get to the Jungfraujoch, spend enough time up there to make it make sense and then get back - and there are other interesting stops along the train ride up. The Trummelbach falls are a big chunk of a morning or an afternoon and a trip up to the Schilthorn along with walking down from Muerren to Gimmelwald and a lunch at some point is all of a morning or an afternoon. Makes me want to go back just talking about it.
Check Mr. Steves website for a description of the sights, maybe buy a book - or get it from your library to check out the details of the trains/cable cars.
Have fun!
Seeing Basel - one of my favourite Swiss cities in summer - is lovely from the level of the city. Use the incredible web of trams and electric buses which are free if you are staying at a hotel within the city (I don't think the same is true if staying other than at a hotel) and has some really cool art installations and museums - something to keep you busy in the evenings of the conference if they aren't wining and dining you.
Seeing Basel from the autobahn on the other hand is really not pleasant, with all the industry around the motorway, the twists and turns of the highway at a very controlled speed, keeping up with those all around including trucks yet not speeding or setting off one of the automatic cameras. You have to slow down for every tunnel and they are almost all protected with automatic cameras, and you must put your lights on for the tunnels and off for daylight driving elsewhere.
I'm in Switzerland most years and take the train whenever I can, even though usually Switzerland is part of a longer road trip (from my home in England) to Italy. It takes plenty of experience to become familiar enough with the roads to enjoy them worry free.
