"Cycling and recycling in Basel" Top 5 Page for this destination Basel by Nemorino

Basel Travel Guide: 657 reviews and 1,323 photos

Before the old Basel Theater was torn down in 1975, parts of the old stage machinery were salvaged and given to the artist Jean Tinguely, who spent two years recycling this old machinery and making it into an elaborate and very entertaining fountain, the Fasnachtbrunnen or Carnival Fountain, on the site of the old theater and right in front of the new one.

The ten machine sculptures in this fountain are kinetic sculptures, meaning that they have moving parts. Amazingly, these are still in good working order after more than thirty years of operation, so somebody must be responsible for keeping them in good repair. (Thanks, whoever you are.) The machines also squirt water, by the way.

My rental bike across from the Tinguely Museum

For those who want to see more of Tinguely's work, there is an entire museum devoted to his machine sculptures and other artistic creations. The museum is on the other side of the Rhine River, a ways upstream -- not centrally located, but easy to reach by bicycle.

On my most recent visit to Basel I rented a bicycle at the railroad station and spent the afternoon riding around the city and along both sides of the river. It was a beautiful summer day, and lots of other people were out cycling as well.

The Rhine River in Basel

There are bicycle routes along the Rhine River -- often on both sides -- for the entire distance of 1300 to 1400 kilometers from the source of the Rhine in the Swiss Alps all the way down to the place where it flows into the sea in the Netherlands, near Rotterdam.

Once when I was living in Bern (this was in 1962) I took a seven-week bicycle trip that went partly (but not entirely) along the Rhine, stopping among other places in Basel, Breisach, Kehl, Speyer, Oppenheim, Wiesbaden, Limburg, Siegen, Hagen, Lünen, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, den Haag, Chaam, Antwerpen, Brussels, Namur, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Basel again and then back to Bern.

I remember that on the return stretch from Strasbourg to Basel I had a strong tailwind, so I covered the distance in about half the time I had expected.

Last visit to Basel: Jun 2008
Intro Updated Mar 24, 2009
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Reviews (21)

Fan Zone Basel Sports & Outdoors (2)

The European Football Championships were just coming to an end when I was in Basel in the summer of 2008, and the "Fan... more travel advice

1. A man swimming in the Rhine River - Basel

Swimming in the Rhine Sports & Outdoors (2)

Photos: 1. A man swimming in the Rhine River 2. People walking up the river so they can swim back down 3. More people... more travel advice

Twentieth century roads and bridges Transportation (8)

Photos: 1. Ugly bridge near the station 2. Another ugly bridge Though Basel is in general an attractive city, it is... more travel advice

St Alban Ferry Transportation (8)

Photos: 1. The St Alban Ferry 2. European Union flag on the St Alban Ferry This is one of four passenger ferries that... more travel advice

Shopping (1)
Condomeria
Things to Do (9)
See All Museum for Contemporary Art

Off The Beaten Path (1)
Adult Education Center (VHS)
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Comments (31)

lmkluque May 19, 2012 at 8:20 AM Report Abuse

Your Shopping tip raised more questions than gave answers. Still I enjoyed the tour and the humor! Thanks Don!
Mikebb Aug 29, 2011 at 3:52 PM Report Abuse

Hi Don, we were in Basel for 10 minutes during 2010, changing trains for Lauterbrunnen. Don congratulations on your Barfusserplatz tip, the biker photos are superb, a nice way to start my day @ 6:30am.
kris-t Jan 28, 2011 at 4:31 AM Report Abuse

Nice Basel page and interesting tips... I miss Prague, hope to be back one day ...
unaS Jan 1, 2011 at 3:59 AM Report Abuse

I do enjoy your clearly written and detailed tips. They are very helpful for planning a trip. Many thanks.
balhannah Nov 3, 2010 at 4:06 AM Report Abuse

Some 'different' tips on this page! It is quite interesting what they make out of scrap. There is a gallery here that has beaut sculptures made out of scrap metal.
traveldave Oct 26, 2010 at 10:13 AM Report Abuse

I've visted only a tiny corner of Switzerland and don't know a lot about other areas. I've learned a lot about Basel by reading this page.
micas_pt Oct 15, 2010 at 6:55 AM Report Abuse

Nice page Don. Basel is a city that sometimes I think about visiting since Easyjet flys direct from Lisbon.
hopang Jan 5, 2010 at 5:36 AM Report Abuse

Basel is certainly a great city to visit especially with its excellent tourist attractions such as Rathaus, Barfüsserplatz, Theater Basel, several museums and Rhine River. We hope to visit Basel one day. ~ho & pang
Cristian_Uluru Nov 9, 2009 at 12:55 AM Report Abuse

Fantastic page!!! I must visit it the next time I'll be in that area.
Redang Nov 1, 2009 at 7:49 AM Report Abuse

Another lovely city!