Basel, Switzerland — Activities
Basel Culture
The music hall in the Basel City Casino (Staadtcasino Basel), Steinenberg 14, Barfüsserplatz (tel: (061) 225 9393; www.casinobasel.ch) is the musical heart of the city. This is where the Basel Symphony Orchestra (tel: (061) 366 9166; www.sinfonieorchesterbasel.ch) performs. The hall can seat over 1,500 people, and the acoustics are among the best in the world. There are three more halls available in the casino for chamber music concerts, presentations, exhibitions, conferences and traditional company events.
Theater Basel (tel: (061) 295 1133; www.theater-basel.ch) is Switzerland's biggest theater company to stage productions in the three genres opera, theater and ballet. Kaserne Basel (tel: (061) 666 6000; www.kaserne-basel.ch) is an exciting cultural center for independent theater, dance and music located in the middle of Kleinbasel north of the Rhine.
Pathé Küchlin, Steinenvorstadt 55 (tel: 0900 004 040; www.kinobasel.ch) is Basel's biggest cinema, a multiplex with eight screens located in the city center. The kult.kino group (tel: (061) 272 8781; www.kultkino.ch) shows a variety of art films at various venues. Open-air cinema is popular in summer months, with one of the world's largest screens at Münsterplatz during August.
Basel Tours
Basel Tourismus (tel: (061) 268 6868; www.basel.com) offers a number of scheduled tours, including guided walking tours; a one-hour tour on board a vintage tram; guided rickshaw, bike or segway tours; and a guided tour of the Roman town of August Raurica some 10km (6 miles) away. There is also a guided tour (for a maximum of four people) devised specifically for visually-impaired visitors.
Alternatively, hire an iGuide at the tourist office, and follow in the footsteps of such well-known historical figures as Hans Holbein and Paracelsus. There are five tours to choose from, and the iGuide provides a valuable audiovisual accompaniment through the historical Old Town of Basel.
Basler Rhy-Taxi (tel: (061) 273 1414; www.rhytaxi-basel.ch) offers boat tours of the Old Town and port with spoken commentary.
