yeadonite

Hi my trip plans changed but I can not change my flight. My friend and I will be landing in Basel but Switzerland it out of my budget. I was thinking of establishing a home base in Munich, Lyon, Milan and doing day trips (we will not be renting a car) I am not really a foodie but enjoy walking around and soaking in the culture! I have been to Milan and Munich but not recently! If there are any other places please let me know!

WeisserTee

What would you like to do? For example, from Thanksgiving Day onwards, most Christmas markets will be open. Have you been to Strasbourg or Nancy or Colmar? to Freiburg im Breisgau? Baden-Baden (it's beautiful there around the holidays)?

When you say Switzerland is out of your budget, how much is your budget per night? Or for meals. I live in Basel and there are plenty of moderately priced places to eat if you look in the right direction.

Sassafrass

WeisserTee’s ideas are exactly what I was thinking. Those are all pretty areas and you can reach most, if not all, by train.

Michael

I would choose Munich for the city itself and the possibility of excursions. Germany tends to be less expensive than Switzerland.

https://flic.kr/p/7wGQRA
https://flic.kr/s/aHsjphcKoV

yeadonite

I am doing a river cruise the week before Amsterdam to Basel. My cruise was moved up a week, it was supposed to be a Christmas market cruise.

Loved Strasbourg

Have never been to:

Colmar, France

Nancy, France

Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Baden-Baden, Germany



Since the $ is strong again the €; I was thinking of a country on the €; Your answer has me leaning more towards France or Germany!

Thanks!

yeadonite

That might be what we do!

lavandula

Agree that Germany is cheaper than Switzerland - Freiburg im Breisgau, Lake Constance (Bodensee), Konstanz (which is on the Swiss side of the lake). Konstanz gets Swiss shopping tourists who all come for the cheaper grocery shopping. Also from Freiburg: you have the whole of the Black Forest (Freudenstadt, Gengenbach, Triberg). But Munich, although a bit father away, would fit the bill also.

Lavandula

Melnq8

Another vote for Freiburg im Breisgau. Nice college town and fun at Christmas. Easy to get to Colmar from there, as well as other towns in Germany.

Janeyre

yeadonite: Have you booked your return flight? Departure airport? That may have a bearing on suggestions. We are flying in to Basel to start a Basel-Colmar-Strasbourg trip and flying out of CDG. All the Christmas markets and ho ho ho amidst the churches, museums, and architecture.

WeisserTee: would love a few moderately-priced Basel restaurant suggestions of yours. yeadonite might need a meal as well before heading out!

yeadonite

I booked with points going home from Basel but I am going to try to change it. I would love suggestions on restaurants!

WeisserTee

Many of the better restaurants in Basel offer reasonably priced lunch specials. If you were looking for a good meal on a more moderate budget, have a big lunch and a light dinner (if you're there during Christmas market season, grab something from one of the food stands). Among the restaurants we like with good lunch specials: St. Alban Eck, St. Alban Stube, Zum Goldenen Sternen, Schluesselzunft, Restaurant Brauerei (Grenzacherstrasse) . Even the brasserie at Les Trois Rois has reasonably priced (for them) lunch specials. Some will post their weekly lunch special menus on their websites, others just post them in their windows and you have to go look in person. Here are two examples: Business Lunch ab 7.9.22.pdf (fwiw, 60 francs for a three-course meal at one of Basel's better restaurants is a good deal) and Restaurant-Brauerei-Tagesmenu-20220919.pdf. You could also try Markthalle, the internationally focused food hall near the train station. However, I don't find their stands that much of a bargain, it's very crowded at lunch and the better stands sell out quickly.

Another option is to head to St. Louis or Huningue, French towns right on Basel's doorsteps. However, they cater to a lot of Basel residents so their prices are not much different from the restaurants in Basel, except, of course, you pay in euros.

Avoid: restaurants around the congress center when there is a big event taking place. Those places tend to serve "special" menus with inflated prices targeting hungry but time-pressed attendees. Boo Messeplatz is one of the exceptions; they serve Thai and Asian fusion cuisine if you're in the mood for that.

WeisserTee

Just an FYI regarding trains from Basel to Munich area. I was in Bavaria last week and the German trains were madness. Two cancellations, with re-routings, last-minute track changes and multiple delays on the way there. Minor delays on the way back. However, the late afternoon train from Munich Pasing to Basel Bad was listed as having a restaurant/takeaway bar on the train. After I boarded, the announcement came that there was no restaurant car after all and no takeaway snack stand. You couldn't even get a bottle of water on the five-hour ride. So if you are on a similarly long train ride ... have a few snacks and a bottle of something to drink with you. Just in case.

yeadonite

Thanks for all the advice! we loved Freiburg im Breisgau! Spent three nights but would have been happy to spend more there!
Spent 2 nights in Basel (one day trip to Zurich that cost $75 becuase we didnt prebook)
3 nights in Metz - went to Luxembourg and Nancy (recommend both)
WeisserTee I got caught twice in train slowdowns, trains were cancelled for not reason . did not do as much research on actual train schedule which meant a lot of long days!

Thank you all!!

kerouac

The Luxembourg-Metz-Nancy direct commuter train axis is often overlooked by foreign visitors. I'm glad that you saw all three places.

bilboburgler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving so many places, so many dates

lavandula

Hey yeadonite! Great that you had a good time! Write a trip report (or trip highlights if you don't want to do a whole screed), this is often a fallow period on Fodor's and TRs really help keep momentum! Also - your tips will really help other people!!

Lavandula