Basel is a cheerful and museum-packed city. The old town is elegant and grand, with excellent architecture. It makes for an excellent weekend break, especially in the summer. Generally expensive (even in Swiss terms). Stay on the North side of the river – the South side is in the shade most of the day.

Activities

• Basel is well known for ‘the float’ – it’s a delightful way to spend a hot summer day. The water is clean, the river moves swiftly, and the entrance/exit areas are well marked.
• **Museum Tinguely is elegantly designed, a playful spot with a large collection of Tinguely works. They feature rotating special exhibitions, generally of the pop culture variety. 
• **Museum of Natural History Basel: well funded, a nice mix of educational modern exhibits with the traditional “stuffed animal” collections. Not the best in Switzerland, but decent.
• **Fondation Beyeler: quite elegant. Very worthwhile if you’re in the area, or a detour if you really love the current exhibition. 25 CHF/person.

Food and Lodging

• *Art House Basel: very corporate. Very nice staff and fine rooms. I wouldn’t stay here on holiday, but for a business trip it’s an okay option. No real communal space. Satisfactory breakfast.
• ***Hotel Krafft Basel is an excellent hotel choice. Great location, spacious rooms, comfortable beds. Fairly noisy – wouldn’t be the best choice for light sleepers. Restaurant is good, spendy.
• **Spale Bar: a nice wine-bar. Art deco, nice atmosphere, French wines, nice mix of wealthy older and middle-aged Swiss.
• **Volkshaus Basel has a beautiful patio dining area, under a canopy of trees. Food is high end – really good frites.
• **Ramazzotti: good enough Italian, near the main historic center. It’s not stand out, but nothing really to complain about.
• *Roots: high execution, with a Swiss forward wine collection. Concept is vegetable first, meat as garnish. Dishes were well executed, with the exception of their 32 vegetable dish, which tasted like grass.
• **Villa12: a team building and event space. Galen had a film-making class and make your own BBQ dinner, and enjoyed it.