We took a day trip from Colmar to Basel, Switzerland to check out the city and the Christmas markets – this was also my first time in Switzerland. It was only about 45 minutes by train from Colmar. Once we got there, we found convenient maps telling us where the sights and markets were.
The first one we came across from the train station was the one at Barfüsserplatz, so we stopped and had some bratwurst and glüwein and enjoyed the talking moose.
Then we headed over to the Münsterplatz to see the Basler Münster (Basel Cathedral) and the market around it. The Münster was built between 1019 and 1500 (it was destroyed by the 1356 Basel earthquake and then rebuilt – it used to have 5 towers but only the 2 on the front facade were rebuilt). (https://www.basel.com/en/attractions/basler-muenster-bc9d869a33) The cathedral is made of red sandstone, giving it a unique red color. It sits up above the Rhine and provides some pretty awesome views of the river below and the mountains in the distance.
After we left the Münster, we walked along the river to the Mittlere Brücke (Middle Bridge) and crossed there. There was originally a bridge built here in the 13th century but this one was built in the early 20th century to accommodate electric trams.(https://veloland.ch/en/place-of-interest-515-mittlere-brücke-and-schifflände) It is called Middle Bridge because there were 3 bridges crossing the Rhine and yep you guessed it – this one was in the middle! The bridge itself was pretty neat and it also offered some great views along the river.
We walked along the other side of the river a bit and took one of the ferries back across. These ferries are really cool – they are powered purely by the current of the river! They are attached by a wire to guide them across. (https://www.basel.com/en/activities-excursions/ferries)
We looped our way back toward the train station and ended up on the opposite end of the Barfüsserplatz market. This market is the one with the Christmas pyramid, so we hung out by that for a while and had a drink (then got one more bratwurst too!)
When you arrive in Basel, there are a whole bunch of trams right in front of the station. We saw them all over town but didn’t end up taking any – it was very walkable. I managed to catch a video of 2 trams crossing the bridge in the distance.
After a fun-filled day, we hopped back on the train to Colmar.
