3 Best Sights in Basel Environs, Basel

For decades, the world's most prestigious art collectors would journey to Basel to worship at the feet of one of modern art's greatest gallery owners, Ernst Beyeler, the founder of Art Basel, who died in 2010. At the end of his phenomenal career, he left his incomparable collection to the public and commissioned the noted architect Renzo Piano to build a museum in the town of Riehen, on the outskirts of Basel. The Fondation Beyeler presents an astonishingly well-rounded collection of modern art, and Piano's simple lines direct attention to more than 200 great works. The collection's catalog reads like a who's who of modern artists—Cézanne, Matisse, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg.

In this bright and open setting, Giacometti's wiry sculptures stretch toward the ceiling and Monet's water lilies seem to spill from the canvas into an outdoor reflecting pool. Indigenous carved figures from New Guinea and Nigeria stare into the faces on canvases by Klee and Dubuffet. A stellar selection of Picassos is juxtaposed with views of blue skies. Besides the permanent collection, several prestigious art exhibits every year attract art lovers from around the globe. To accommodate even more space for art, as well as for events, an extension designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor began construction in late 2021. The tram trip from Schifflände takes about 20 minutes.

In the German town of Weil am Rhein, this renowned design museum's main building is a startling white geometric jumble designed by famed architect Frank Gehry that hosts large-scale temporary exhibits that put architecture, art, and everyday design on display. The neighboring Vitra Schaudepot, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, displays more than 400 objects from the museum's permanent collection, as well as smaller temporary exhibitions. There's also the striking Vitra Slide Tower by German artist Carston Höller—a viewing point, art piece, and slide all in one. During guided tours, buildings by architectural masters, including the exquisitely angular Fire Station by Zaha Hadid and the curved symmetry of the Conference Pavilion by Tadao Ando, can be visited. To get here by car, take A5/E35 north from Basel toward Karlsruhe; turn right onto Route 532, then turn left after exiting at Weil am Rhein. The museum is 1½ km (about 1 mile) ahead on the right. From the Badischer Bahnhof train station in Basel, take Bus 55 toward Kandern to the Vitra stop (20 minutes); from Basel SBB rail station, Barfüsserplatz, Claraplatz, or Kleinhüningen, take Tram 8 to the Weil am Rhein stop, from which the museum is a 10-minute walk. Architecture tours are held in English Friday to Sunday at 2 pm.

In the German-speaking countryside south of Basel, known as the Baselbiet, you'll find a handful of stately little villages with sturdy old guesthouses and a range of historic sites—from medieval to Roman—to explore. Take the winding forest road (A12) west of the freeway between Liestal and Oensingen, watching for Balsthal, Holderbank, Oberer Hauenstein, and Langenbruck; the industrial stretch just south of Liestal is less attractive. By train these towns take a matter of minutes to reach. Trains leave regularly from the Bahnhof SBB.