The perfect combo in Basel: city trip and e‑bike tour

Every­one is famil­iar with the can­tons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land­schaft, myself includ­ed. But only by name. That’s why I decide to take a trip to the city right on the Rhine. On my own, I book a bed in a dor­mi­to­ry at Basel Youth Hos­tel in the hope of mak­ing some inter­est­ing acquain­tances.

Discovery tour in Basel

After my arrival, I’m off on a tour of dis­cov­ery. With the Basel Card, I can take pub­lic trans­porta­tion free of charge. But the warm weath­er entices me to explore the city on foot. First, I leave the youth hos­tel for the Rhine. With an amaz­ing view, I stroll along the shore and then head to the hurly-burly of the beau­ti­ful city cen­tre. Thanks to the receptionist’s tip, I also vis­it the famous art muse­um and can’t help but be amazed. Here I also meet Daniela, a local who reg­u­lar­ly goes to the muse­um. As a small high­light, she rec­om­mends a fer­ry trip between the banks of the cur­rent­ly quite impres­sive Rhine, for just 2 francs. A short boat ride in the mid­dle of the Rhine – won­der­ful.

Basel Youth Hostel

Exhaust­ed, I return to my accom­mo­da­tion. My stom­ach is growl­ing. So I treat myself to a veg­e­tar­i­an meal on the hostel’s qui­et ter­race. Today it’s a beau­ti­ful­ly sea­soned lentil cur­ry with rice. It’s deli­cious. Nat­u­ral­ly, in youth hos­tel fash­ion with a sal­ad as a starter and a dessert to fin­ish off. Hap­py and con­tent, I head to bed because tomor­row I have an excit­ing day ahead of me!

An e‑bike tour through Basel-Landschaft

After a sump­tu­ous break­fast buf­fet, I take the tram to Basel Cen­tral Sta­tion. Here I rent­ed an e‑bike from Rent a Bike for two days. As a mem­ber of the Swiss Youth Hos­tels, I receive a dis­count of 20 francs. I heard about the tour from anoth­er part­ner of the Swiss Youth Hos­tels: Switzer­land­Mo­bil­i­ty. I already down­loaded the handy app for hik­ing and cycling at home a few months ago. As a mem­ber, you can also get a dis­count on it!

Time for adventure

I’m glad I took a good look at the route out of the city. Dri­ving in a big and unfa­mil­iar city is quite the chal­lenge. But I stay calm and decide to pull over to check the map one more time. Reinach BL is where I find the actu­al e‑bike route num­ber 114. From now on, all I have to do is fol­low the signs and enjoy the scenery!

Highlight of the tour

The ride pass­es through small vil­lages and farms. The first stop is the impres­sive Mari­astein Abbey. The Bene­dic­tine monastery with a very mov­ing his­to­ry has been locat­ed here since 1648. In 1971 the abbey was rebuilt under civ­il law fol­low­ing a can­ton­al ref­er­en­dum, and after a church ren­o­va­tion in 1999/2000, the impres­sive build­ing is once again shin­ing in the midst of nature – all the more love­ly.

I con­tin­ue past the ruins of Land­skron and lat­er am lead back over fields and through woods. I’m glad I have an e‑bike, which makes the inclines very easy to climb.

Arrival at Mariastein Youth Hostel

Since I planned a relaxed trip, I treat myself to a short break includ­ing an overnight stay at this unique youth hos­tel. I’ve nev­er spent the night in such an old cas­tle. It is believed to have been built in the 13th cen­tu­ry. The suits of armour, the metre-thick walls, the tran­quil inner court­yard and the tow­er room, which I am allowed to vis­it, def­i­nite­ly bring the past to life. I spend the after­noon explor­ing the cas­tle, tak­ing a short walk through the near­by woods and relax­ing on the small ter­race with a great view into the dis­tance.

Onward journey and even more highlights

After a rest­ful night at the cas­tle, I enjoy the break­fast buf­fet and then con­tin­ue on my tour. For the next hour, the fra­grance of splen­did­ly blos­som­ing fields and fresh­ly mown mead­ows accom­pa­nies me as I pass. From time to time, I encounter friend­ly hik­ers and oth­er cyclists who greet me. I make a sur­prise stop in Dor­nach. I’ve nev­er seen a build­ing like this before! The Goetheanum serves as the head­quar­ters and con­fer­ence venue of the Gen­er­al Anthro­po­soph­i­cal Soci­ety and the School of Spir­i­tu­al Sci­ence, as well as a per­for­mance hall and the­atre build­ing. WOW!

Return to Basel, overall impression and tips

The last few kilo­me­tres back to Basel are also very pleas­ant, as the trail runs off the main roads. Thanks to the «Basel SBB» signs, it is very easy to find the way back to the bike rental sta­tion and the return process also goes smooth­ly. Back in the hus­tle and bus­tle of the big city, I reflect on the tour over a cup of cof­fee:

• The route is great and could also be done in one day. But for me, the focus was also on relax­ing a bit on this trip.
• The trail is very well sign­post­ed. Still, I felt more com­fort­able hav­ing the Switzer­land­Mo­bil­i­ty app too.
• An e‑bike is cer­tain­ly a more pleas­ant option than a nor­mal bicy­cle, as you should­n’t under­es­ti­mate the con­stant ups and downs.
• To trans­port your lug­gage for a longer tour or for sev­er­al peo­ple, a bike trail­er is advis­able, and can also be rent­ed.
• You can also take your own bike with you. There is a lock­able bicy­cle room at Basel’s main sta­tion, while bikes can be parked in the inner court­yard of the youth hos­tel. It is locked at night.
• Beds at Mari­astein Youth Hos­tel should be reserved in advance.

Excit­ed after this short trip, I am already look­ing for my next tour! What sug­ges­tions do you have?

Even more Basel

The city on the Rhine has some­thing for every­one.

I have to go there!