Is Basel a good base for 4 days in August?
A traveler is planning a 4-night stay in Basel and is wondering if it's a good base for day trips to places like Luzern and Zurich, as well as to Mt. Pilatus. They want to know if they can fit both Mt. Pilatus and Luzern in one day, considering they will leave Basel around 7-8 am.
- Consider staying in Luzern for 4 nights as it's closer to the Alps and many attractions.
- You can do either Mt. Rigi or Mt. Pilatus in a day, but not both, so choose based on your preference.
- The Swiss Travel Pass is a great way to maximize your trips; consider using it for day trips like Luzern to Schilthorn.
AI-generated summary-
I orginally planned to stay in Luzern for 2 nights and then move to Zuerich for another 2 nights. But I found Basel to be quite accessible to cities like Bern, Luzern, Schaffhausen, Zuerich, Interlaken Ost within 1.5hrs by train. After Basel i will take a 7.14am train to Bayreuth hbf on 5 Aug
All these trips will be day trips.
Is mt pilatus + luzern doable within a day, assuming I leave at around 7-8am from Basel?
I chose Basel because of the various museums and I‘m pretty sure I can‘t cover Basel within a day if I stay in Luzern/Zuerich
Back to my question: is Basel a good base for 4 nights? Or should I stay in Luzern / Zuerich?
thank you
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Pilatus is certainly doable in a day from Basel but then so too is Basel doable in a day from Luzern.
I would much prefer 4 nights in Luzern to 4 nights in Basel I think. Also given the proximity of the locations I think 4 nights in one place is better than 2 nights on one place and two in another.
You may have completely different priorities.
why is 4 nights in Luzern better for you?
It is a beautiful city and is within easy reach of many Swiss attractions. I love the lake.
or should i do 2 days luzern and 2 days basel? Question here now is whether I can do mt rigi + mt pilatus + luzern in a day from basel?
Trying to squeeze as much out of STP as possible
“or should i do 2 days luzern and 2 days basel?”
Only you can make that decision.
”Question here now is whether I can do mt rigi + mt pilatus + luzern in a day from basel?”
If you mean and return to Basel after that then that would be a long day.
If you want to maximise the value of the STP then you might to consider a day trip from a Luzern to Schilthorn via the Golden Pass route (http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass) to Interlaken. It is hard to imagine a visit to Switzerland which does not include the Jungfrau Region where Schilthorn is located.
You have a very limited time so you are going to need to be selective based on your particular priorities.
Hi cc123,
I’m not sure if you’ve seen our city pages yet, they might be helpful. You’ll find activity tips and hotel suggestions there:
- http://www.myswissalps.com/ba sel
- http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne
- http://www.myswissalps.com/zu rich
- http://www.myswissalps.com/be rn
For 4 nights I’d prefer Lucerne too. Unlike Basel, it’s near the Alps, and it’s only about an hour by train to the other cities if you want to go sightseeing there.
I disagree with the implication that Luzern is ‘the’ better place to stay than Basel.
Indeed, Basel is only 1 hour by fast train from Luzern anyway, so it hardly makes any difference to day trips.
Basel is a major transport hub so fast trains go very frequently to the rest of Switzerland
Basel is a fine city with many of its own attractions – steep narrow city centre street, riverside views along the Rhine and on the bridges, comprehensive tram network serving the whole city centre as well as suburbs
<<“Basel is a fine city with many of its own attractions – steep narrow city centre street, riverside views along the Rhine and on the bridges, comprehensive tram network serving the whole city centre as well as suburbs “>>
A fine city, indeed. Luzern is on a beautiful lake, its old town is more interesting, and has more to see, and has nice surrounding mountains.
So, I’d choose Luzern. Hands down.
If art museums and a zoo entered the judgement factors, Basel would move up a lot on the preference list. Not that Luzern is free of very good museums.
Slowpoke
<<“There is really no need to ‘do’ both Rigi and Pilatus – choose one. You
will have a rewarding day whichever one you choose. Both give good views
across the Luzern region and the lake.”>>
All true. However, those mountains are very different from one another.
Rather than offering a firm judgment about which one to see, I’d look at these links:
http://www.myswissalps.com/pi latus
http://www.myswissalps.com/ri gi
Slowpoke
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