Sights and landmarks in Basel

Sights and landmarks in Basel

1. See

   Antikenmuseum Basel

   Museum of Ancient Art and Ludwig Collection

   Huge collection of antiquities: some Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, but mostly Greek art.

   Tue Wed & Sat Sun 11:00-17:00, Thu Fri 11:00-22:00·Fr. 10

2. See

   Basel Zoo

   Oldest and largest zoo in Switzerland. Have lunch watching the elephants and see the monkeys solving problems for food in the Monkey House.

   Daily 08:00-17:30·Fr. 21

3. See

   Basler Münster

   Basel Minster

   Now a Reformed Protestant cathedral, it was built from 1019, badly damaged in an earthquake of 1356, and completed in 1500 in Romanesque & Gothic style. The Galluspforte (Gallus portal) on the western façade is a magnificent sculptural work. Figures carved on the main (south) façade include St. George slaying the Dragon. Inside, there's a sandstone lectern, and a crypt with tombs of early bishops of Basel; also buried here is Jacob Bernoulli, who discovered the mathematical constant e. You can climb either or both towers: St. Martin's is 62 m and St. George's is 65 m.

   Nov-Mar: Mon-Sat 11:00-16:00, Sun 11:30-16:00; Apr-Oct: 10:00-17:00, Sat 10:00-16:00, Sun 11:30-17:00·Free; Fr. 6 to climb towers

4. See

   Elisabethenkirche

   Protestant church completed in 1864 in neo-Gothic Revival style. Note the stone pulpit with wooden canopy.

   Mon-Sat 09:00-19:00, Sun 12:00-19:00

5. See

   Fernet Branca Musée d'Art Contemporain

   Changing contemporary art exhibitions, see website for schedule.

   Wed-Sun 13:00-18:00·€8

6. See

   Fondation Beyeler

   Elegant museum designed by Renzo Piano, housing the fabulous collection of art dealer Ernst Beyeler. Highlights of the permanent collection include works by Mark Rothko and a vast nymphéas (water lily) painting by Claude Monet. There's usually also temporary exhibitions, and see also Art Basel under "Events".

   Daily 10:00-18:00, Wed until 20:00·Adults Fr. 28

7. See

   Kunsthalle Basel

   No permanent collection, this is Basel's main non-commercial art space for changing contemporary art shows. Throughout the year, the Kunsthalle shows cutting edge international artists in meticulously curated shows.

   Tue Wed Fri 11:00-18:00, Thu 11:00–20:30, Sat Sun 11:00–17:00

8. See

   Kunsthaus Baselland

   Changing exhibitions of contemporary art, particularly the Regionale, an annual platform for young artists from the "Three Countries' Corner". It also houses the BEWE Collection (donated by collectors Bruno and Elisabeth Weiss), which focuses on the oeuvre of two renowned Basel based modernist artist groups: Rot-Blau and Gruppe 33.

   Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00·Fr 12

9. See

   Kunstmuseum Basel

   Fine Arts Museum

   Huge permanent collection of 19th and 20th century works, including a whole room of Picasso, and medieval and renaissance paintings from Holbein, Grien and others. Housed in two buildings: Hauptbau & Neubau. On the same ticket but in the separate Gegenwart building at St. Alban-Rheinweg 60 (10-minute walk from the main facility) is the Museum of Contemporary Art, open Tu-Su 11:00-18:00.

   Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00·Fr. 16 for all 3 buildings

10. See

    Laurenz-Stiftung Schaulager

    Schaulager means "display-warehouse" and the building is a hybrid between a storage space, art history research centre, and museum, with changing temporary exhibitions. The core of it is the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation's modern and contemporary art collection. The Foundation was created by heirs to the fortune of the pharmaceutical multinational Hoffmann-La Roche.

    Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu to 20:00·Fr. 22

11. See

    Museum Jean Tinguely

    Enjoy the wacky animated mechanical artwork of Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), and other "kinetic" modern artists. The building was designed by Mario Botta, whose other museum buildings include the San Francisco MOMA. Another of his machine sculptures, the Fasnachtsbrunnen ("Carnival Fountain") can be seen on the plaza in front of Restaurant Kunsthalle on Steinenberg. There's more of his work in Fribourg, where he was born.

    Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00·Fr 18

12. See

    Museum der Kulturen

    Museum of Cultures

    Ethnographic museum featuring exhibits from South America, Africa, East Asia and Oceania. The exhibits from the South Seas, Ancient America, Tibet and Bali are world-famous, as are its textiles.

    Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00

13. See

    Spielzeug Welten Museum

    Toy World Museum

    Colossal collection of teddy bears, dolls houses, puppets and other toys.

    Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00·Fr. 7; accompanied children to 16 free

14. See

    Vitra Design Museum

    Museum of furniture and lighting in three buildings. The main building (by Frank Gehry) hosts large exhibitions, and the Gallery smaller ones. The Schaudepot, opened in 2017, makes it possible to see the permanent collection. Other remarkable buildings on the Vitra campus (guided tour Tu-Su at 12:00 and 14:00, 2 hours, call ahead) are by Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Nicholas Grimshaw and Alvaro Siza. And yes, you exit through the gift shop: VitraHaus allows you to sample, order and purchase.

    Daily 10:00-18:00·€11, with Schaudepot €17

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Basel (CC BY-SA 4.0).