A day in Basel with a focus on museums and culture

Basel seems to be well-disposed towards us. After a fantastic autumn weekend in October 2015, we went back home raving and this time we were no different. How could it be when the Rhine city greets you with this spectacle of colours?

Before Museum Hopping – Sunrise

In the last 1.5 years, a lot has happened in Basel and the surrounding area. It’s high time to take a look around the city, discover new things and return to your favourite places. During our visit in mid-February, Basel’s museums were the focus of our short city trip. Museum hopping was the order of the day. And I was particularly looking forward to two new figureheads of Basel’s museum scene (at least from an architectural point of view): the new building of the Kunstmuseum, which we had admired in the shell last time, and the Schaudepot on the Vitra Campus.

And that you find Basel just as sympathetic as I do. This was evident in my flash survey on Facebook, where you gave me the best restaurant, café, shop and nightlife tips within a very short time. Jesses I was overwhelmed. I would have loved to try every single one of your great tips right away, but that would have taken at least a whole week of vacation in Basel.

We have picked out two of your tips for the start of our Basel Museum-Hopping Day. Directly after the wonderful sunrise, which we admired from the Middle Bridge, we strolled to the idyllic Andreasplatz and stopped at the wood-fired bakery Bio Andreas. With Lenten tart and amaretti (the best far and wide) you can start the day well. Your many tips were reason enough for a second breakfast stop. For this we walked over to Kleinbasel, made a detour over the Matthäusmarkt and then headed for Café Huckebein (Feldbergstrasse 72). The waitress wasn’t really awake that Saturday, but the fried egg was absolutely great! And afterwards we were fortified in tip-top condition for a museum tour through Basel.

#1 Kunstmuseum Basel – New Building and Present

We started this with the new building of the art museum, prominently placed on the corner of Rittergasse and St. Alban-Graben. The building of Christ & Gantenbein seems monumental through and through. The new building is connected to the main building underground. The visit is also only worthwhile to admire the precisely placed alignments in the stairwell of the new building. The supervisor was surprised at our lack of interest in the hanging artworks and asked if we were architecture students.

In addition to the main building and the new building, the art museum also includes the “Gegenwart” building. The name – as simple as that – derives from the art exhibited there. My question as to why the main building and the new building are not named after the art exhibited there was not answered to my complete satisfaction (admittedly, the question is perfidious). If you like contemporary art and have a soft spot for abstract installations, you should take a look at the “present”.

#2 Kunsthalle Basel

A great new discovery for me is the Kunsthalle Basel. The building from the second half of the 19th century skilfully stages the works of art with natural light. The young director Elena Filipovic has already made a name for herself in Basel and shows a good instinct for selecting up-and-coming, exciting artists. The S AM Swiss Architecture Museum is integrated into the Kunsthalle Basel. The current exhibition portrays contemporary buildings in the sense of a visual atlas in collaboration with 162 Swiss architectural firms.

#3 Museum Tinguely

If you like noise and like to press buttons, the Museum Tinguely is the right place for you. Here, touching many objects is welcome and is therefore one of the popular rainy weather programs with children. But even we grown-ups cannot escape the fascination of the obscure structures that Tinguely built.

#4 Fondation Beyeler

The Fondation Beyeler, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, also offers interactive access to art. For example, by means of a 30-minute meditation in front of Monet’s water lily paintings. With “Monet in the Morning”, visitors can enjoy an exclusive start at the Fondation Beyeler between 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. The event will be rounded off with breakfast in the museum restaurant Berower Park. I liked the Monet exhibition very much – especially because I was able to draw a link to Monet’s origins in Le Havre.

#5 Vitra Campus

I dedicated one of the first blog posts here on the blog to the Vitra Campus and three years later I reported on the opening of the Rehberger Trail from the campus to the Fondation Beyeler. Every time you visit, something new is added and in the meantime you can easily spend a whole day on campus. We took a look at the current exhibition “Hello, Robot” at the Vitra Museum and finally got to see the Schaudepot “live”. I think the building is sensational and it complements Zaha Hadid’s fire station perfectly. The Depot Deli right next to the Schaudepot is also casual. The only catch: I didn’t get rid of my Swiss coin there (how could I forget that we are on the border…).

After Museums-Hopping

Back in Basel, I used the time before dark for window shopping through Spalenberg. I’m a big fan of the many small shops that can be discovered in the side streets. Anyone who likes Scandinavian design should take a look at the interior boutique – if you haven’t weakened at Vitra, you can spend your money here.

Last but not least, it was time to explore Basel’s bar scene. We started at the stylish Nomad and ended the tour at Hinz & Kunz in the Markthalle Basel. Once again, thumbs up for Basel. Culture, architecture and good food. There is nothing to complain about.

By the way, you can find more foodie tips for Basel at the nice ladies of Stadt Land Genuss and at Globesession.

Note: This trip was made possible by Basel Tourism and Art & Design Museums Basel. All impressions and opinions are, as always, ours.