short time in Basel
 

We have about 24 hours in Basel before a Rhine cruise and are staying in the old center of town. I would love a recommendation for someplace special for dinner, maybe with a nice view of the Mittlerbrucke or similar. I know the entire town center is packed with museums, but since my companions have limited patience for such, any thoughts on just one or two that really stand out, perhaps not typical art or history?

I was only there one day and didn't eat in any special place, so can't recommend a restaurant. Most of the museums are art or history related, of course (if you include ethnography in history). I guess I'd recommend the history of pharmacy museum in the university near the river. It has a lot of old instruments, history of various drugs, etc. I would not recommend the Music History museum as I just didn't think it was that good. I've been to maybe a half dozen of those throughout Europe and US, as I am very interested in classical music and instruments, and I didn't think Basel's was very engaging nor very big. They also have some kind of cartoon and doll museum, but I don't know much about them.

Zum Isaak doesn’t have a view of the river or any bridges, instead overlooking the Münster (which I thought well worth a visit), but I really enjoyed my meal there, and it still gets decent reviews. I was disappointed with the service at Restaurant zum Goldenen Stemen, which is by the river, but many people like it and my food was quite good.

For museums in Basel itself, you might consider the Paper Mill museum -- it's small, but I thought very interesting and informative, and it's in an section of town that I found charming. Even though it's a "typical" art museum, you might check to see whether the Art History Museum has any special exhibits of interest. I also enjoyed Basel’s History Museum, but I think one would consider it a relatively "typical" museum -- except that it's housed in what was once a church.

If you have time to go to nearby Riehen (easy to reach by public transportation) the Toy Museum has an impressive collection and you might want to see whether the Fondational Beyeler is hosting any exhibits when you are there.

Hope that helps!

There's a museum of old musical instruments in the old prison, with recorded musical examples. It's located on the hill above the Barfusserplatz. There is also a restaurant on the grounds of the museum.

See the fountain by Jean Tinguely in Barfüßerplatz - the one with the funny squeaking, rattling, water-splashing machines. If you and your companions enjoy this, then visit Museum Tinguely: https://www.tinguely.ch/en.html A whole museum full of similar strange, pointless but entertaining machinery (step onto the red buttons to set them in motion).

Before visiting Basel, I had seen numerous works by Tinguely, but none appealed to me, and I nearly skipped his fountain in Barfüßerplatz. But I was near there.... I'm so glad I stopped! It was that fountain -- I think its called the Fontaine du Carnaval -- that finally helped me understand at least a bit of his vision, and I've looked at his work with interest and humor ever since. So a definite second to quokka's recommendation! :)

The museum that Michael is recommending is exactly the one I didn't think was very good. It was very small and limited compared to such museums in Paris, Brussels, Vienna, etc. At least that's my opinion.

go figure

That Tingley museum sounds interesting

Small may be the ticket for those with limited patience for such venues.

There are all kinds of museums and exhibitions. May be you have a look at the officia list and make a choice
Museums A to Z
museen basel
Within 24 hrs, you can also visit other places of Switzerland, like Lucerne, Bern, Solothurn, Lake Biel/Bienne vineyards, Jura mountains, Schaffhausen/Rhine Falls, castles of Bottmingen, Wildegg, Hallwil, Lenzburg...All these places are less than 1 hr by train from Basel.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/home.html