Planning tip : Lucerne makes an appealing base for exploring the lake, with its Old Town, medieval wooden bridge and promenade strung along the lakeshore. 6. Take the Eiger Express to Jungfraujoch With all the steps wrapped up, here’s something that you need to keep in mind if you’re planning to go swimming in the Rhine: Selina explained that the current is usually faster and water level higher than in this hot summer week, so what I had experienced was tame. I spent the afternoon with Selina both of us just in swimwear, not thinking twice about the fact we were walking around the city clad like this. Along the embankment on the Kleinbasel side of the river there are plenty of places to get into and out of the water. In the sultry, parle Italiano canton of Ticino in southern Switzerland, it’s the lakes that get all the love. But dip into Ticino ’s hidden valleys, and you’ll lose the crowds and find the region’s true pulse. Here glassy, jewel-colored rivers float past chestnut woods and incredibly pretty granite hamlets cresting hilltops (including Switzerland’s smallest, Corippo , with a population of just 15). Something that kept us going during the last one and a half years was our strong willingness to get together with our destination (Basel) and never to disappear from the landscape,” said Switzerland Tourism director Martin Nydegger, adding that hosting Canadian travel agents was a great way to emphasize that resilience and to declare “We’re ready to go” when travel began its first tentative steps towards recovery.

I do feel constrained to point out that some of the photos in the article don’t match the subject. The one labeled the Basel Munster Cathedral is not the Munster Cathedral. The next picture down, the red building with the twin spires, is. Under that photo, the city hall (Rathaus) at Marktplatz is mentioned, but not shown, which is surprising because it’s a spectacular building. Planning tip : If you want to save a few francs, regularly scheduled services plying the same route can be just as enjoyable and significantly less expensive. Break up the journey by using cheaper SBB trains and overnighting along the way. 4. Hike in the Swiss National Park Depending on your entry point, you’d get the prefect downstream flow while the Rhine shows you around the city 😉 You’d enjoy the summer breeze and historic views of Basel while the water current guides you down the stream. If you’d like to experience Swimming in the Rhine with a bunch of other people who’re as excited as you are…here are a few options you could explore. Source: Spike Art magazine 1. Accompanied swimming in the Rhine There is plenty of room, with large red buoys marking the swimming area off from that used by boats. The adventure is just over 2km of downstream floating and I had a stupid grin on my face the whole way. Floating down a fast-flowing city centre river goes against all the “rules” we like to outline to swimmers in the UK: like knowing your exit point, and urban areas being often unclean, unsafe. But this was the perfect way to see the sights. Once inflated with air while closing it, it can be a great pillow for the beach or help you float while swimming.

BachApp: The app for everything to do with the Rhine

Basel boasts the highest density of museums in Europe, with over 40 venues, plus countless galleries, located within its 37 sq.-km footprint. Top of the list, however, is the Kunstmuseum (Fine Arts), consisting of three buildings that house the oldest public art collection in the world, focussing on artists from the Upper Rhine region from 1400 to 1600 and the art of the 19th to 21st centuries. With 4,000 paintings, 300,000 drawings, plus videos and specials exhibits and collections, including names like Rembrandt, van Gogh, Dali, and Warhol, there is something for almost every taste. Basel’s most famous son is tennis great Roger Federer, whose image is never far from sight, including adorning the newly launched “Federer Express” tram. Im still tryin to wrap this round my brain," one user joked. "Why hasn't the world found this out before?"

Basel has a very popular Christmas Market which seems to be on everyone’s “things to do in Basel” list. It also hosts the world’s largest art fair. When we were there in August, an open-air cinema was set up on Münsterhügel (Minster Hill) in front of Basel Minster, a former Catholiccathedral that is now a ReformedProtestantchurch.

The big one everyone is eager to do once (and with good reason) is the Glacier Express, which crosses over the Furka, Oberalp and Bernina passes on the eight-hour ride between Zermatt and St Moritz in Graubünden’s Upper Engadin. Riveting views of meadows, forests, fast-flowing turquoise rivers, canyons, castles, big-shouldered mountains and glaciers keep you glued to the window. The entire journey is a remarkable feat of 1930s engineering, but special mention goes to the Landwasser viaduct – the gravity-defying six-arched bridge that leaps between Tiefencastel and Filisur, and the Oberalp Pass (2033m/6670ft), harnessing the true wilderness of the Swiss Alps. As you can see, Basel Switzerland is an amazing city to visit. Once you dig deeper beyond the cathedral and exploring the old town there are so many things to see and do, you will fall in love with Basel too.

Make sure that you feel really comfortable in water, even at places where you cannot reach the bottom with your feet.

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Basel has much to offer. I’ve lived there a number of years and still haven’t explored all its nooks and crannies. The museums alone would take quite awhile.