5 Best Sights in Basel, Switzerland

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 a city known for its museums, the Kunstmuseum is Basel's heirloom jewel. It was built in 1936 to house one of the world's oldest public art collections, owned by the city since 1661. The imposing facade of the main building, called the Hauptbau, gives way to an inner courtyard studded with statues. Inside is the world's largest assemblage of paintings by members of the Holbein family, an exceptional group of works by Konrad Witz, and, in fact, such a thorough gathering of the works of their contemporaries that the development of painting in the Upper Rhine is strikingly documented. Other Swiss artists are well represented, from Basel's own Arnold Böcklin to Gustav Klimt–like Ferdinand Hodler. A newer second building across the street, called the Neubau, houses both temporary exhibits and other items from the Kunstmuseum's permanent modernist collection (art from after 1950); it's accessible from the original museum by a tunnel. A third building, the Gegenwart, contains contemporary art and is about a five-minute walk away.

As you circle the innovative and quirky installations at Museum Tinguely, you may have a few questions. How do they work? What do they mean? And where did the artist find this stuff? Born in Fribourg, 20th-century master Jean Tinguely is best known for his whimsical métamécaniques (mechanical sculptures), which transform machinery, appliances, and items straight from the junk heap into ironic and often macabre statements. For instance, Le Ballet des Pauvres, from 1961, suspends a hinged leg with a moth-eaten sock, a horse tail and a fox pelt, a cafeteria tray, and a blood-soaked nightgown, all of which dangle and dance on command. The wing of the museum projecting over the Rhine has a splendid river view of Basel. Many of the sculptures are activated at preset times, typically every 5 to 15 minutes, and it pays to wait and see them in action. Admission to temporary exhibitions is included in the entrance fee. Information sheets are available in English.

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.

Bringing the city's art collections up to the present, this museum focuses on works from the 1960s onward. The fittingly modern building looks as though it has shouldered its way in between the street's half-timber houses. The language of the exhibition materials typically corresponds to the nationality of the artists.