Basel-Mulhouse Vacations

Basel’s Puppenhausmuseum is the largest dollhouse museum in Europe, with 6000 exhibits arranged in detailed vignettes covering four floors. It claims its teddy bear collection—unique internationally in terms of variety and quality—is also the biggest in the world.

Visitors to the Kunstmuseum Basel are hard-pressed to think of an internationally renowned artist not represented here. Works from Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Warhol, Munch and more hang here. It’s by far the largest and most significant public art collection in Switzerland.

At the Blindekuh Basel, blind or partially sighted waiters serve seasonal Swiss meals completely in the dark. The aim is for diners to use alternative senses to enjoy this unique culinary experience.

Foodies get the full Dreiländereck (three countries’ corner) experience at St. Alban-Eck. Located in a 750-year-old building that still boasts the original oak door, the restaurant has been serving exquisite Swiss, French and German specialties for years.

Travellers lucky enough to be in Basel the Monday after Ash Wednesday are in for a treat. Fasnacht, Switzerland’s biggest carnival, unleashes 18,000 masked and costumed Fasnächtler onto the city for exactly 72 hours of merrymaking. Visitors should prepare to be ankle-deep in confetti—locals insist the tradition of throwing tiny pieces of coloured paper during celebrations started here.

For a glimpse of what Basel might have looked like once upon a time, tourists head to the medieval town of Alstadt. With Gothic spires and narrow streets lined with impeccably maintained, centuries-old houses, much of this area has hardly changed since the 1600s.