Fun for 8yo and day trips from Basel
 

I will be staying in Basel with my 8yo for a month in July. Are there any day trips from Basel that I shouldn't miss?

Lucky Sean! Lucky you! In another post you mention that you will be in Basel for the month of July!

As I recall, you were interested in fun things in Basel as well as day trips. It's been a while since I vacationed with an eight year old, but maybe these suggestions will help--


While in Basel, don't miss the paper museum where you'll both have opportunity for hands-on involvement in printing and paper-making. And the cafe is very pleasant for lunch or a snack.

Margarethen Park.

Walks over the bridge and along the Rhine.

Will he have a camera? He could try to create a photo essay of the city's fountains. The Tinguely fountain should be great fun to study! (That fountain hunt might be a good quest in Bern, too.)

How about a day of discovering Roman life at Augusta Raurica, wandering about the baths, theater, temple and all, watching archeologists at work--

Boat ride on the Rhine? Or a ferry trip across the Rhine from/to Kleinbasel?

Tram rides. Learning some routes and how to buy tickets at the ticket machines.

More later...

Thank you, Great ideas! How about some day trips ideas for two sisters who enjoy drinking good wine?

Basel has a wonderful zoo--your kid should love it.

For good wine and lots to see--a very easy day trip will be Strasbourg in France.

No need to go as far as Strasbourg for wine. Colmar and the surrounding towns are a very good wine region, and so is the German part of the Rhine valley north of Basel toward Freiburg.

The wonderfully efficient tram system in Basel will be disrupted this summer...

No trams will be driving across downtown between July 3 and August 13, as comprehensive renewal work will be done to the tracks then. The old tracks in Marktgasse will be replaced. Shuttle buses will run between Barfüsserplatz and Schifflände to transport passengers from Monday to Saturday while the shops are open. Another will operate between Heuwaage and Bahnhof SBB every day of the week.

Some lines will be re-routed. Precise information regarding tramline plans were hung up inside the trams this weekend.

Details appear in the article in Basler Zeitung of June 16, 2006.

http://tinyurl.com/fjc8b

Link to English Corner on their website, then to Baz Articles.

seansmom. is your sister in Basel now? Perhaps she already has this figured out...
How are your plans shaping up? Have you decided on any day trips? or any longer excursions?