From the Platform to Barfüsserplatz
Basel makes it easy. Walk out of the front of Basel SBB, cross to the tram stop on Centralbahnplatz and the green trams of the BVB carry you straight into the Old Town. Tram 8 or tram 11 drops you at Barfüsserplatz, where the market fills the square around the Barfüsserkirche. It's a short ride, and if your bag is light you can walk it in not much longer, downhill past the shops.
For Münsterplatz, take tram 2 from the same stop to Kunstmuseum and stroll down Rittergasse to the cathedral, or simply climb the lanes from Barfüsserplatz. Most people do both squares in one evening on foot, as they're only a few minutes apart.
Arriving with a suitcase? Check in first, or leave it at the luggage lockers in Basel SBB. The Old Town lanes are cobbled and steep, and the stalls on Barfüsserplatz are packed shoulder to shoulder after work.
Where Is Each Basel Christmas Market From the Station?
Basel has a station on each side of the Rhine: Basel SBB on the Swiss side, where trains from Paris, Zurich and Lucerne arrive, and Badischer Bahnhof across the Rhine, run by German railways. Here's which tram gets you to each square.
| Market | Where | Tram stop | From Basel SBB | From Badischer Bahnhof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barfüsserplatz | Round the Barfüsserkirche, Old Town | Barfüsserplatz | Tram 8 or 11 | Tram 6 |
| Münsterplatz and Märliwald | Cathedral square | Kunstmuseum | Tram 2, then walk | Tram 6 to Barfüsserplatz, then walk up |
| Wienachtsdorf | Theaterplatz, by the Elisabethenkirche | Theater | Tram 11 | Walk from Barfüsserplatz |
| Claraplatz | Kleinbasel, across the Rhine | Claraplatz | Tram 8 to Barfüsserplatz, then walk over the Mittlere Brücke | Tram 6 |
Barfüsserplatz is the largest Christmas market in Switzerland, a crowd of wooden market stalls selling Christmas decorations, candles and handmade gifts, with food and drink tucked between them. Look out for raclette, grilled sausages, waffles, mulled wine and Feuerzangenbowle, the rum punch they set alight in front of you! Pick up a tin of Basler Läckerli, the city's spiced honey gingerbread, for the train home. Your drink comes in a mug with a deposit, which you can keep or hand back.
Münsterplatz has a calmer atmosphere, beside the red sandstone Basel Minster. The tall Christmas tree there is hung with baubles by Johann Wanner, Basel's famous Christmas decorations maker. Children head for the Märliwald, a little fairy tale forest with candle making, tin casting, gingerbread decorating and a puppet show.
New this Advent, the Wienachtsdorf on Theaterplatz brings local design and local food, and it stays open past Christmas into the new year. Over the river in Kleinbasel, Claraplatz is a small food and drink corner. On the way, stop at the courtyard of City Hall on Marktplatz to write in the Basel Wish Book. Dates and opening times are in the box at the top of this page and on the canton's official market page.
Tickets, Trams and the BaselCard
If you stay in Basel overnight, you probably won't buy a single tram ticket. Every hotel guest gets a BaselCard, which covers public transport in Basel for your whole stay, including the ride in from the station or the airport on arrival day. Your hotel booking confirmation works as the ticket for that first trip. It's a good reason to book a night or two in December, when the Old Town lights come on and the trams glide past the stalls after dark.
On a day trip, buy a ticket at the machine on the platform before you board. A Swiss Travel Pass covers Basel's trams and buses as well, which suits anyone making Basel one stop on a longer journey. Nobody reserves seats on trams or ordinary SBB trains, so you can stay for one more Glühwein and catch the next one.
Getting to Basel by Train From the UK
Basel is the first Swiss stop for the TGV Lyria from Paris, so it's the easiest of the Swiss Christmas markets to reach by rail. Take the Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord, cross the city to Gare de Lyon, and the TGV Lyria runs direct to Basel SBB, through Burgundy and Alsace, calling at Mulhouse before the border. Seat reservations on TGV Lyria are compulsory and come with the ticket, as SBB's TGV Lyria page explains.
Our guide to the train to Switzerland from London covers the Eurostar connection and the change in Paris, and Paris to Switzerland by train has the TGV Lyria detail. If you'd rather fly, EuroAirport sits just outside Basel and bus 50 runs to Basel SBB.
Three Countries From One Station
Basel sits where Switzerland, France and Germany meet, and the railway map shows it. French regional TER trains to Mulhouse, Colmar and Strasbourg leave from the French platforms at the far end of Basel SBB. German trains to Freiburg and the Black Forest run from Badischer Bahnhof, a short hop from Basel SBB by S-Bahn or ICE. That makes Basel a handy base for a European Christmas market trip without a car: Alsace one day, Freiburg the next, and back to Basel for supper.
- Carry your passport on day trips to France or Germany
- Buy a separate ticket for the French or German leg, as Swiss rail passes stop at the border
- Take some euros for the markets in Colmar, Strasbourg and Freiburg
- Check which station you need: Basel SBB for Alsace, Badischer Bahnhof for Freiburg
- Book the TGV Lyria from Paris early for Advent weekends
- Keep the BaselCard from your hotel for the trams
Heading deeper into Switzerland instead? Direct intercity trains run from Basel SBB to Zurich and Lucerne, so you can pair Basel with the Zurich Christmas market or the Lucerne Christmas market. Montreux on Lake Geneva is further, with a change or two in Bern or Lausanne. Our guide to the Christmas markets in Switzerland compares them all.
Is There an Escorted Tour to Basel?
Not among the holidays we list. If you'd rather someone else handled the flights, transfers and hotel, Newmarket's Swiss Christmas Markets break is the one to look at. It's a short, easy-paced break with half board in an Alpine village at Château-d'Oex and an evening at the Montreux Christmas market by Lake Geneva.
The tour manager handles the transfers, so there's no timetable to read and no luggage to drag over cobbles. The tour card on this page shows the dates and current from price, and you can see the Newmarket break on their site. For every festive rail holiday we cover, see Christmas markets by train, or start from our home page for Switzerland by train.
