Explore Basel

The Middle Bridge crosses the Rhine at the oldest bridge site in Basel, where the first bridge was built around 1225; until 1879 it was the city's only crossing. The present granite bridge with seven arches replaced it in 1903–1905 and links Grossbasel with Kleinbasel. A copy of the old bridge chapel, the Käppelijoch, stands at its centre.

Basel Town Hall stands on the Marktplatz, its red facade covered with painted figures and topped by a tall tower. The central building with three pointed arcades was erected in 1504–1514 to mark Basel's entry into the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The cantonal parliament and government meet here, and the interior is shown on guided tours.

Basel Minster stands on the hill above the Rhine and was the city's cathedral until the Reformation of 1529; today it is a Reformed church. Built in red sandstone between 1019 and 1500, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1356, it has a roof of coloured tiles, two slender Gothic towers, two cloisters and the tomb of Erasmus of Rotterdam.

The Spalentor is one of three gates that survive from Basel's outer city wall, built after the earthquake of 1356. First recorded in 1387 and finished around 1400, it guarded the road to Alsace. A square gate tower with a steep roof of patterned tiles stands between two round crenellated towers, and the outer face carries carved figures and the Basel coat of arms.

The Kunstmuseum Basel goes back to the Amerbach Cabinet, a private collection the city bought in 1661. Its neoclassical main building by Paul Bonatz and Rudolf Christ opened in 1936 and is linked underground to an extension by Christ & Gantenbein from 2016. The galleries show works by the Holbein family, Arnold Böcklin and artists of the 19th to 21st centuries.

Museum Tinguely is devoted to the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925–1991), known for kinetic sculptures built from scrap metal and motors. Mario Botta designed the sandstone building in the Solitude park beside the Rhine, which opened in 1996. The collection runs from early reliefs to large machine sculptures, alongside temporary exhibitions of other artists.

Basel Zoo, called the Zolli by locals, opened in 1874 and is the oldest zoo in Switzerland. It lies along the Birsig stream just outside the city centre and keeps more than 500 animal species on about 11 hectares, among them elephants, western lowland gorillas, okapis, pygmy hippopotamuses and Indian rhinoceroses.

The Fondation Beyeler is an art museum in Riehen, about 6 km from the centre of Basel, founded for the collection of the art dealers Hildy and Ernst Beyeler. Renzo Piano's long building with a glass roof opened in 1997 in the Berower park, and new buildings by Peter Zumthor were added in 2026. It shows classical modern and contemporary art.