Basel, Switzerland City Guide | Viking River Cruises Rhine Getaway 2019

Basel, Switzerland with Viking River Cruises

We had the opportunity to sail on the Viking River Cruises Rhine Getaway over Thanksgiving. The cruise took us from Basel, Switzerland and down the Rhine to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We’ll be doing posts on each port, so you’ll get to experience them with us!

Since we had never been to Switzerland, we decided to do the pre-extension for the Rhine Getaway. So instead of being transferred from the airport straight to the Viking Alruna longship we were taken to the Hyperion Hotel where we would stay for two nights.

While in Basel we had a dedicated Viking rep, AnnMarie, within the hotel that was there to answer all of our questions, make dinner reservations, etc. She also served as the guide for our included tour, which we had on our first full day in Basel. AnnMarie was such a sweetheart and was willing to do anything to make sure our stay was as extraordinary as possible.

It was beyond our wildest dreams.

The Hyperion Hotel is the most gorgeous and luxurious hotel we’ve ever stayed in. If we could’ve lived in that hotel room, we would have. No doubt.

If you want to see a more visual and vlog-style representation of our trip, you can watch our days one and two vlogs.

Basel, Switzerland Fast Facts

What language do they speak?

There are four primary languages in Basel: German (aka Swiss German), French, Italian, and Romansh. However, most everyone you meet on the street or in shops and restaurants will speak English. The most common language we heard was Swiss German, which is a very specific and confusing dialect of German. Good luck learning that one!

What currency do they use?

In Basel they still use the Swiss Franc, which converts almost exactly to the US dollar (1 SF to 1.03 USD). Most of the shops and restaurants (unless they are super tiny) take credit and debit cards. The only place you’d really need cash would be the Christmas markets or other street markets.

How do you get around?

The public transport in Basel is amazing! The trams run constantly, and the pick-up/drop-off spots are clearly marked and easy to learn (especially if the city center is your main destination). Since we stayed at the Hyperion Hotel, we received the Basel Card. This gave us unlimited access to the public transport system for free.

What are the people like?

We would compare the Swiss people to the people you may meet in New York City. They keep to themselves mostly, because they have things to do and places to be. However, everyone we interacted with was extremely friendly and helpful.

Important Tidbits

If you need to use the restroom, you don’t have to worry about digging around for change. Just like in the US, you can go into a coffeeshop, store, or even a restaurant and they will allow you to use their restroom at no charge.

Everything in Basel (and Switzerland in general) is very expensive. Our meals were pricier than anywhere we’ve ever been. If you watch our day two vlog you’ll see Jenni’s $27 burger. YIKES!

Hyperion Hotel Basel

When you book a pre-extension with Viking, they take care of all of your hotel arrangements. So we didn’t choose the Hyperion Hotel on our own. If you want to learn more about the pre-extension process you can read our last post all about the Viking River Cruises experience.

Our first impression of the Hyperion was… WOW!

It’s the tallest and most modern building in Basel. Completely covered in windows. It’s about 3-4 stops from the city center, and there is a train pick-up right in front of the hotel.

As we mentioned earlier, when you stay at the Hyperion (or most hotels in Basel) you get a Basel Card. That gives you discounts at restaurants and stores around the city, but it also gives you free access to the metro. That makes everything so convenient!

There is a restaurant in the Hyperion that’s open for lunch and dinner. The included breakfast buffet also takes place in the restaurant. This breakfast doesn’t feel like your typical hotel continental fare. Every morning we were excited to eat some eggs, potatoes, and other fun goodies. And we’re not breakfast people, so you know it was good!

The room was the perfect size. When you walk in there’s a partial bathroom with the toilet and small sink. Walk a little further and BAM there’s an entire wall of windows with a beautiful view of the city. The bed faces the window (and the TV in front of the window). It’s the classic two twin beds put together situation, but they were super comfortable!

The room also has a desk, amazing shower (with two shower heads!) and the perfect vanity to use when you get ready in the morning.

But the real gem of the room is the mini bar. The mini bar that’s included and restocked daily. WHAT?!

Oh, and don’t forget the Toblerone minis that you get on your pillow when you check in. That was pretty sweet too.

All in all, the Hyperion was just a glorious hotel. We felt like complete queens while we were staying there with the gorgeous accommodations and lovely people. It was an amazing experience.

Things to do in Basel

Since we went to Basel during the Christmas season, we got to experience the Christmas market, which is located right in the city center. There’s food, drinks, and lots of fun Christmas goodies to purchase.

If you’re not into the Christmas market thing or you happen to go at a non-Christmasy time, then you’ll find lots of shops (high-end and more affordable) to explore. You can get to them just by hopping off the train at the city center and exploring the side streets.

That’s how we came across Orell Füssli, a super cute bookstore with a coffeeshop on the second floor. We stopped in for some Christmas cards and a latte. This was the only real shopping we did while in Basel, but there was plenty to be done!

With our Viking tour we had the chance to go inside the famous Basel church (Basler Münster), which is absolutely stunning! There are several handmade stainless windows to ooh and aww over as well as some famous historical graves. Most notably the tomb of Erasmus, which has the most elaborate gravestone we’ve ever seen! You can schedule a tour of the crypt if you’re feeling spooky, but that wasn’t part of the Viking experience.

If you’re looking for the best views of the city for photos or sightseeing there are two great options. First is the Middle Bridge. This is the bridge you’ll cross to get into the city center (the metro drives right across it). On both sides the bridge you can get a beautiful view of the city! We took a lot of photos here. Just beware that the sun is harsh here, so pick either earlier morning or evening to take those perfect shots.

The seconds spot for pictures and the best in our opinion, is just outside of Basler Münster. If you walk out of the church backdoor (by the pulpit area of the church), you’ll walk through a grave-filled courtyard and out onto what looks like a really big balcony. Here you’ll get some gorgeous panoramas of the city. This is where we took our favorite shots.

If you’re looking for some fun walls to pose by, the Basel City Hall in the city center has intricate designs on some very orange walls. At Christmas time they also have the most glorious tree1

Places to Eat in Basel

We ate at three restaurants in Basel all of which were different and tasty in their own way.

On our first day, aka tour day, we had lunch at Tapas Del Mar. We wound our way through the many streets that come off of the city center. Nothing was really hitting that ‘yum yum’ button, so we finally stumbled into Tapas Del Mar. It wasn’t authentic Swiss or German, we’re not sure it was authentic anything. But it was pretty tasty.

We ended up ordering some ham and cheese croquettes and some roasted potatoes with spicy sauce. Just like all of the food in Basel, it was pricy. Very, very pricy for the size of the dishes (tapas aka appetizers). This is the norm. The roasted potatoes with the sauce were on the strange side, but still pretty good. The croquettes were to die for and honestly we could’ve gone for another order of those!

That night for dinner we wanted authentic Swiss cordon bleu. The main restaurant in Basel that serves up a ridiculous variety of the dish (Gifthüttli) was completely booked for the night. AnnMarie had been calling around all over Basel to find reservations for fondue (the other Swiss speciality), but was still nice enough to call around for our cordon bleu. She ended up making us reservations for this tiny local place about halfway between our hotel and the city center. It was a 5-7 minute walk, which was beautiful at night! You could take the metro one stop from the Hyperion to get there as well.

Restaurant Walliserhof was, once again, pricy. But the food was absolutely delicious! Both of us had the cordon bleu (made with pork) and it came with fries and some assorted veggies. Highly, highly recommend!

On our second day in Basel, the day we boarded our ship, we only ate lunch in the city. We stopped (very last minute) at the ever so popular Brasserie Zum Braunen Mutz AKA the brown bear restaurant. We’d heard lots of hype about this behemoth (it’s the giant brown building right in the middle of the city center) so we knew we had to try it. Joanie B. got a pretzel with sausage. That turned into a whole scene in our day two vlog (so watch it). Jenni had a $27 burger that was very sub-par (unfortunately). We ended the meal with some chocolate moose that tasted amazing, but looked absolutely horrible. Overall, the brown bear was the most average place we ate at and possibly the most expensive. It was a great spot to people watch and some people brought in their dogs, which made Jenni’s day.

We also enjoyed some delicious street pretzels!

If you want to book your own Viking cruise, just click this link and find the perfect one for you. Don’t forget to tell them that Joanie and Jenni B. sent you!

A very special thank you to Viking for allowing us to adventure with you!

If you’d like to know more of the best places to visit in Switzerland then this post from My Faulty Compass is a great read!

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