Day trip from Eguishiem to Basel

by I didn't say who I am
(I didn't say where I'm from)

Four of us are staying in Eguishiem and will have a car. Would it be best to drive or take the train to Basel for a day trip?

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Visiting Basel
by: Suzele

It's not that you can't drive to Basel (because you can and they have parking garages like every other big city).

But it's expensive if you're going to stay there all day...

And it's a pain in the butt dealing with all those little one way streets (or parking really far away and then walking)...

You're much better off driving to a nearby train station (because there is no train station in Eguisheim).

You can try the Rouffach train station if you don't want to deal with the traffic in Colmar.

You'll arrive right in the middle of town with all the trams (or most of them anyway) right in front of the train station.

Or you can walk 15-20 minutes to the historic old town of Basel.

But before you do any of that, go to the tourist office in the train station so you'll know where you are going.

And while you're in Basel, you might notice (if you understand German) that almost no one is speaking German.

They are speaking a Germanic dialect spoken only in Basel and (unlike in Alsace where not so many people speak it on a regular basis) the local people of Basel speak their dialect all the time.

Baseldeutsch (as it's called) is a distinct dialect that is different from the many different Alsatian dialects, but Alsatians and Baslers can understand each other.

So if you don't get the chance to hear Alsatian while you're in Alsace, you can go to Basel to hear its distant cousin Baseldeutsch.

And if you visit any part of the German speaking cantons of Switzerland, you'll hear a somewhat different Germanic dialect.

Enjoy your trip,
Suzele

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