A weekend in Basel, Switzerland

When I mentioned on twitter that I was off to Basel and asked for tips, the responses pretty much uniformly mentioned watches, cheese and chocolate! I’m happy to report that I found all three in large doses – but there is an awful lot more to the Swiss city!

Located in northwest Switzerland on the river Rhine, Basel functions as a major industrial centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. It is Switzerland’s third largest city with almost 170,000 inhabitants, who speak a dialect of German – but as its located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, some areas  speak French also ( which I found really confusing!) You also have to come through the French exit at the airport, not the Swiss...and then you take the bus over the border. Confused? I was!

Thanks to a British Airways delay I didn’t arrive at my friend’s apartment until almost midnight – just time for some good old fashioned Swiss hospitality – namely lots of Basler ( ginger biscuits) and a little too much Kirsch to wash them down with!

(Image below is taken in Bern - the weather in Basal made for soggy cameras!)

The next day we were woken by church bells, and set off on a cycle tour of the city. The first thing we realised is that Basel is very much a cycling community – everyone has a bike and people don’t even bother locking up their bikes outside! Wishful thinking in London…. With dedicated cycle lanes on most roads, it’s a safer place to cycle than London and it was a real breathe of fresh air to be cycling in a city where the cars, buses and pedestrians seemed to have a healthy respect for cyclists.

I especially loved the variety of bikes over there – especially these old Swiss army bikes, which still had their old gun holsters on them. They were one speed and with lethal looking brakes - basically fixies, but long before their time!

We took in the river, crossed the border to Germany with a cheery wave at the border patrol, had a coffee there before hopping back over the border to France, and finally back to Switzerland! All in the space of a day!

The next morning we woke up very early and set off on a trip up country to Gruyere, where they make the cheese of the same name. The factory was fascinating – and we watched them mix up the rennet and milk, and then got to sample cheeses  from the mellow young cheese through to the rather stinky mature version - and also the seriously rich Gruyere cream!.

The huge cheese warehouses are manned by robots, cleaning the cheese clean and mould free. Every cheese looked perfect –  but then even the cows were perfect with their bell ringing around their necks.

A short train ride later and we stopped off in the country’s capital Bern to take in the sights and breathtaking sites across the Rhine. The city was clean and welcoming – and it was here we found what we’d been craving all day….fondue!,

So after a cheese infused weekend, I finally arrived back in London late on Sunday, my suitcase bulging with Gruyere, chocolates galore…but no watches this time! 

By Diana M