Basel

Basel is the third most populous city in northwestern Switzerland with about 166,000 inhabitants. It borders France and Germany and gives rise to the large international Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport. My visit to the city was short. First, I visited Geneva and then went by train to Basel. At first, the trains in Switzerland seemed expensive to me because I paid about 80 euros (in 2007) to travel 250 km, but after having travelled around Finland, I think they are normally priced. The city seemed lovely. I stayed, like in Geneva, in a HI HOSTELS chain in town. The major attractions of the city are the cathedral, the town hall, the Rhine, and the Spalentor.