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My husband and I need to return to Paris to fly home and we will be coming from Lauterbrunnen. We plan on taking the train from Lauterbrunnen to Basel using the Swiss Travel Pass to arrive in Basel around 11:30am. We plan to have lunch in Basel, wander around, etc. then take the TGV Lyria (we have to buy tickets) to Paris, which is about a 3 hour train ride. Once we get to Paris, it will be another hour to our hotel by CDG airport where we will fly home the next day. This will be our last day on a 15 day trip.
What I’m not sure about is timing of the afternoon and evening. There is a 14:34-17:37 train and a 16:34-19:37 train from Basel to Paris. I’m not sure which one would be better to take. The things I’m considering are where and when to have dinner and how much time to spend in Basel/what is there to do in Basel. We are not really into the art museums. We were hoping to use Basel as a short stopover to break up train rides. Is this a good town to do this in?
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It really depends on how early you want to get to Paris and if you like simply exploring a new town.
The earlier train doesn’t give you much time to see the town after a lunch. But it is enough to stroll the old town briefly before returning to the train station. That would be sufficient for me knowing Basel (a few day trips over the past couple years to meet friends).
If you aren’t want to simply stroll and explore (and you don’t want to the museums/galleries there) then I’d move on at 14:34.
Others may disagree. 🙂
Basel is a nice city in my opinion. Well worth a few hours.
The city centre is only a short tram ride or walk from Basel SBB station; head for the market square (Marktplatz), Spalentor city gate River Rhine waterfront, Barfüsserplatz.
Best way is to take a route 8 tram (direction Weil am Rhein) as far as Schifflände. This will pass through the old town and Schifflände is the stop next to the river where you can walk onto the Mittlererbrucke bridge.
I’m most concerned about what to do for dinner. If we eat dinner in Paris (before going to our hotel by CDG), do restaurants allow you to bring your luggage with you? We will each have one piece of luggage and a backpack. Or should we get provisions in Basel to eat on the train? Not sure how much “to go” type food is available.
Basel station has a Migros supermarket in the station – I use it frequently (I have been using Migros for 59 years (since before I was aware it was even a shop…)
Restaurants in Paris are quite used to people travelling with Luggage.
There is a superb ‘Belle Epoque’ restaurant in Gare de Lyon station in Paris (Mr Bean even used it in the film version…)
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