@ minnehappylis:

Don't look for a "Bad" (i.e. spa in German) in Basel Bad.
"Bad" in this case is just an abbreviation for Basel "Bad"ischer Bahnhof, meaning that for railway operations this station is treated as if it were not in Switzerland anymore but already in Baden, which is the SW region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

You won't find any water to step in there :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_Badischer_Bahnhof

On the other hand, there are full spa facilities at nearby Rheinfelden.
http://www.kurzentrum.ch/

By the way, check the SBB (train) web site www.sbb.ch for special day trip deals. One of the June specials is for the Voralpen (pre-Alpine) Express, taking you from Luzern to Rapperswil, St. Gallen and Romanshorn. I plan to try it later this week (rain forecast for tomorrow and Tuesday).

This doesn't quite relate to the original question, but I figure that I'll piggyback on this thread because it looks like there are some people familiar with that area here.

Has someone visited Ronchamp (the Corbusier chapel) from Basel -- by public transportation? If so, what is it like and how difficult is it? Thanks!

111op, a colleague recently did that. I think she went from Basel SBB to Belfort (about 1.5 hours, change of train in Mulhouse) and from there to Ronchamp...figure about 2 hours each way. I too would be interested in hearing if there is a faster way via public transportation.

Thanks. I was checking the train schedules and I think you're right. I think it takes a little longer than 2 hours though. Also Ronchamp is a small village so the connections to Ronchamp are more limited.

So I guess some people recommend taxi from Belfort or Lure, but that taxi ride is probably very expensive.

Also the chapel is up a hill, so the hike is supposedly pretty strenuous.

Anyway, I was thinking that this would be what I'd be interested in doing if I find myself in Basel, but I guess I can ask again if it actually happens!

I was in Colmar briefly and it's worth a trip (Unterlinden Museum is a big attraction).