Basel

Basel has no beach, but it has the Rhine, and on a warm summer afternoon half the city seems to be in it. Locals stuff their clothes into waterproof swim bags, walk upstream along the Kleinbasel bank and float back down past the old town on the current. In August the water is often above 20°C. Steps, ladders and old wooden bathing huts line the river, and the gravelly banks fill with people sunbathing.

It is a lovely thing to do, but it is river swimming in a strong current, best for confident swimmers and only from about June to early September. Anyone who wants sand and open water has to travel for it.

Food in Basel is careful and well made, but it is a city where you eat well rather than one you travel to for eating. Local specialities are few: Läckerli spice biscuits, the browned-flour soup eaten during Fasnacht, and Rhine-side sausages in summer. The restaurant scene leans on its neighbours, with Alsatian tarte flambée and choucroute, Baden wines and Swiss-German comfort food side by side. A small but very good fine-dining tier sits above everyday options that can feel expensive for what they are.

The Markthalle food hall and the weekly market on Marktplatz are the best casual stops. Many locals cross the border for cheaper meals in the wine villages of Alsace and southern Baden.

Basel is a museum city out of all proportion to its size. The Kunstmuseum holds one of the oldest public art collections in the world, with Holbein, the Old Masters and strong modern rooms. The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen shows Impressionist and modern art in a Renzo Piano building set in a park. There is also the Museum Tinguely by the river, the Antikenmuseum, and the Vitra Design Museum just over the German border with its campus of buildings by famous architects.

The old town is compact and well kept. The red sandstone Münster stands above the Rhine, the painted Rathaus fronts Marktplatz, and lanes of guild houses climb the Spalenberg to the medieval Spalentor gate. Contemporary buildings by Herzog & de Meuron and others are part of the character too. Three or four days covers it comfortably.

Going out in Basel is low-key. In summer the best of it happens outdoors, at the riverside kiosks and buvettes along the Kleinbasel bank, where people drink on the steps until late. Through the year, the area around the Kaserne and the streets off the Rheingasse have most of the bars. A handful of clubs, some in old industrial spaces and harbour buildings, keep electronic music going at weekends.

It is a pleasant, safe scene but a modest one, and drinks cost Swiss prices. The great exception is Fasnacht, the carnival in late winter. Starting at four in the morning, the city gives itself over to piccolos, drums and lantern processions for three days and nights.

Basel sits where three landscapes meet, and all of them are close. The wooded ridges of the Jura start just south of the city. The Black Forest rises within an hour to the north-east, with summits like the Feldberg and the Belchen above 1,400m. The Vosges hills of Alsace lie to the west. All three have good marked hiking trails and winter walks, and the Black Forest has some light skiing.

Closer in, the flat Rhine paths make easy cycling routes into Germany and France, and the Lange Erlen riverside park is good for running. The city itself is not dramatic, and the real Alps take a couple of hours, so this suits walkers and cyclists more than mountaineers.

Day trips are one of Basel's great strengths. Because it sits on the borders of France and Germany, it opens on to three countries. Colmar and the half-timbered wine villages of the Alsace wine route are about an hour away, and Strasbourg with its cathedral a little further. Freiburg's old town and minster are under an hour by train into Germany, and the small towns of the southern Black Forest are close behind.

Within Switzerland, Lucerne, the arcaded UNESCO old town of Bern and Zurich are each about an hour by train. Closer still, about a quarter of an hour away, are the Roman town of Augusta Raurica and the old town of Rheinfelden. The Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen take about an hour and a half. You could fill a week of day trips without repeating yourself, and fast trains make most of them easy.

Basel is easy with children, though there is not a great deal made for them. It is small, clean and safe, and the trams take prams without fuss. The highlight is the Zoo Basel, which locals call the Zolli, a short walk from the station and one of the best zoos in Europe. The Natural History Museum and the toy museum fill a rainy morning, and the little Rhine ferries, pulled across by the current, are a treat for younger children. The free animal park in the Lange Erlen makes an easy afternoon.

Beyond that the list runs out quickly. The Rhine is too strong for small children to swim in, so summer means paddling at the edges and picnics in the parks. The big outing is Europa-Park in Rust, one of Europe's largest theme parks, about an hour away by car in Germany. Swiss restaurant prices and quiet Sundays are the things to plan around.

Getting around Basel is effortless. The old town and both banks of the Rhine are walkable. A dense network of green trams covers the rest of the city, and some lines cross into Germany and France. Hotel guests are given a card for free local transport, which makes the network even simpler to use. The four small river ferries are a pleasant way to cross.

The main station has direct trains across Switzerland, into Germany and to France, so day trips need no car. The airport is shared with France and linked to the centre by bus.

Shopping in Basel is tidy and limited. Freie Strasse and Gerbergasse form the main retail spine, with Swiss watch and jewellery shops, chocolatiers and the usual international chains. The lanes of Spalenberg and the streets around Klybeck and St Johann have small design, craft and interior shops. Läckerli and chocolate make the obvious edible souvenirs.

The Christmas market around the Münster and Barfüsserplatz is one of the prettier ones in Switzerland. Otherwise few visitors come here to shop, and many locals cross into Germany for cheaper high-street prices.

Basel is a very expensive city. Hotel rooms, restaurant meals, drinks and museum entry all cost what you would expect in Switzerland. During major trade fairs such as Art Basel, rooms become scarce and costly. Two things soften the bill: hotel guests get free local transport, and cheaper meals and shopping are a short tram ride away in Germany and France. Many visitors also choose to stay across the border.

For its size, Basel has a serious classical and stage scene. Theater Basel stages opera, ballet and drama under one roof and has a reputation well beyond Switzerland for bold productions. The Stadtcasino, a concert hall with fine acoustics, is home to the Sinfonieorchester Basel and hosts the Kammerorchester Basel and visiting ensembles. The city's long tradition of early-music performance adds historical concerts to the calendar.

The Musical Theater hosts touring productions, and the city's jazz school feeds small clubs and concerts. The season runs from autumn to early summer, and it is quieter in July and August, when the river takes over.

Basel itself has no bathing tradition beyond the summer river and hotel spas, but its pace is calm. Sundays are quiet, the riverside is made for doing nothing, and the city rarely feels hurried. For proper bathing, the saline thermal baths at Rheinfelden are about twenty minutes away. Just over the German border, the spa towns of southern Baden, such as Bad Bellingen, Badenweiler and Bad Krozingen, have warm mineral pools and saunas in the German style. Baden-Baden is within reach for a longer day. It suits visitors who want an easy rhythm with a spa day added, rather than a wellness vacation in the city itself.