What is going on in Basel end of August?

You might try Freiburg (Breisgau), about an hour short of Basel. Hotels look to be in the 160 to 180 EUR range, which still seems high, but a big event in Basel that jacks up hotel prices there will also jack up hotel prices in the surrounding area.

The 27th is the last night of a big music festival. Maybe this is what is driving up rates.
https://www.basel.com/en/events/floss

Thank you both. The festival (or the weekend) appears to be the problem. Prices drop dramatically on Sunday. I will rearrange our trip so we spend our first night in Frankfurt instead of trying to proceed further toward Italy. The hotel prices there ( in Frankfurt) are about 1/3 what they are in Basel or nearby. We enjoyed our last stay in Basel, where my husband loved his swim in the river, but that probably is not a great idea after the long-haul flight from the US anyway.

Advantage is that you can buy a Super Sparpreis ticket for Frankfurt to Basel. 75.80 EUR for 2 departing at 8:50 am.

If you haven’t already made a reservation in Frankfurt, Freiburg is such a great place. The area near the church and city gates would be a great place to wander after a long flight. And if you arrive early in the day, the market would still be open and you could try the famous long red sausage. We are still talking about that sausage almost a year later.

https://muenstermarkt.freiburg.de/

I remember seeing numerous hotels near the train station. And the train station is not far from the church and market.

Thanks! I will check out Freiburg. If there are direct trains from the Frankfurt airport, that should work out well. Our plane from Seattle should arrive shortly after noon, so we would have some afternoon time for walking around.

If you have a copy of RS Germany, Freiburg is covered in there. Motel One is one of the recommended hotels—short walk from the train station and old town. And I remember we walked by a Marriott that was not too far from the train station. There’s a nice park in the area too. We were only there for part of a day, but we really enjoyed our time there and want to go back. It felt very non touristy, but there was plenty of things for a tourist to see. I think it will make a great pit stop if it works out with the trains.

The Marriott is indeed very close to the train station, and we can get a free night there. And Freiburg does look like a nice town for walking after a long flight. And I thought my husband might enjoy a swim in the lake, until I read that it is a known source of swimmers’ itch. So we stick with walking.

We will skip the long red sausages though; I shunned sausage of all kinds when I was a student in Germany years ago, and I am not about to change my attitude. But I could look forward to a nice Schnitzel.

This will make it easier to get to Spiez the next day, on our way to Italy. The change in planes is due to British Airways canceling our flight from Heathrow to Milan—-one of many thousands they have canceled for July and August. I was able to find a Condor flight with my Alaska miles, so we can skip Heathrow entirely and fly directly to the Continent.

Carrie, didn’t you have trouble with your BA flight to Switzerland this summer? Or am I thinking of someone else?

I think that was poor Pat with all the BA flight trouble. I’ve been pretty lucky with Swiss Air, although I did have a short delay last month on my return to Chicago. I’m super lucky to have that nonstop flight as an option. Pat and others have scared me off of BA. I’m trying to figure out what airline to use to get to Scotland next May and I’m not thrilled with any of my options.

It’s crazy how much we loved that long red sausage. And I rarely eat meat. 😊 Here’s the history behind it:

https://visit.freiburg.de/en/feel-freiburg/freiburg-food-drink/the-lange-rote-long-red-sausage-freiburg-s-crispiest-emblem

If you like desserts, we had a delicious lemon chocolate cake from the train station bakery. We did not get a chance to try the black forest cake which the area is known for.

I do have to say that our BA flights this past April May were pretty good. Our outgoing flight was delayed, because the pilot tested positive for COVID. I'm not sure I can blame any airline for that. And our return flights ran on time to the minute.
And- the crazy Sept 2021 trip with seven changes/ cancelations , which included an unscheduled night in Chicago, did conclude with a complimentary return home upgrade to First Class- on time!
I think the summer travel has been worse than shoulder season travel.
Safe travels to all!

OK, so it was Pat I was thinking of. 😀

I actually got through to BA after only 30 minutes of waiting, but canceling my Seattle to London flight is complicated because it is on a 2-4-1 voucher. And I could barely understand the agent, she was talking so fast. She was saying something about the Avios and the voucher when we were cut off. I might have heard her say something like they would call me back but I’m not sure. SomI’ll wait a few days and try again if they haven’t called.

But I haven’t given up on BA entirely—-we have too many miles with them to do that!We have a trip to Italy booked with them in February-March next year, and I am planning on booking a trip to Switzerland for mid-July—-this one will be with our son’s family ( twin boys will be 11 next summer). I am hoping the staffing issues are resolved by then.

Now to finish booking our travel from Freiburg to the Dolomites. We meet our hiking group in Bressanone a week after we land in Frankfurt. I know we could go via Austria and the Brenner Pass, but my husband would like to get in some “real Italy” time so we will go via Milan.