Buses Basel

With its 195 000 inhabitants Basel is the third most populous city in Switzerland, right behind Zurich and Geneva. The city is located near the borders of Switzerland, France and Germany in north-western Switzerland on the river Rhine. Because of its position, near German Baden-Württemberg and French Alsace it is a great blend of the three countries and their heritage. The city is known as one of the most important cultural centres of Switzerland with loads of museums and the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation.

Public transport in Basel

In Basel you can use the services of a very well developed public transport system which consists of train, bus and tram lines. One could say that Basel is a tram city since that is the most used public transport means and the whole city and the suburbs are covered with a network of trams and buses. The BVB – “Basler Verkersbetriebe” is in charge of public bus and tram transport in Basel and they offer at the moment 12 tram and 14 bus lines. So, it is easy to reach any part of the city of Basel or the nearby suburb either by bus or tram. On working days there is in general every 7 ½ minutes a bus or tram and during the weekends or in evenings they run every 10-15 minutes. For everyone who likes to party or for people who just come home late, there is a safe way to travel by bus or tram. The timetables for the nightlines, as well as for all other lines and the maps with the particular lines can be found on the website of the BVB.

Public transport tickets

If you are staying in Basel without a car and you wish to use the very well developed system of public transport in the city, you can choose between several ticket types. You can buy a single ticket, a day ticket, a multi – trip ticket and the so called special tickets which are divided in two groups: bicycle ticket and special ticket.

• A single ticket is valid for a one way trip and it can be purchased from one of the ticket machines at the BVB customer Center or at the SBB train station, on overland bus trips you purchase your ticket straight from the bus driver.
• A day ticket can be bought either for one single day or for 2, 3, 4 or even 7 days. It can be bought at the same places as the single ticket plus at kiosks. Pre-sale day ticket needs to be validated at one of the ticket machines before you start the first journey.
• Multi – trip tickets can also be bought at the BVB customer service centre, at the SBB train station or at kiosks. This kind of ticket also needs to be validated at a ticket machine before the start of the first journey.

Special tickets:

• Bicycle tickets – the transport of bikes on BVB buses and trams is allowed but it depends on the available space on the bus or tram. Because of that there is a rule that the BVB transports bicycles outside the rush hours and of course if there is enough space on the bus or tram.
• Special tickets can be purchased by pressing the S button on the ticket machine and they are valid on special occasions in the city like big football games or ice – hockey games. The ticket machine normally shows for which special events S – tickets are valid.

Bus station

The bus station in Basel is located close to the city centre so you can reach it easily by foot within 15 minutes, but if you don’t feel like walking or you have luggage with you, you can reach it also by tram line nr. 16. The bus station is located at the address: Meret Oppenheim – Strasse 80, 4053 Basel. The exact GPS coordinates and the map position can be seen here.

National bus lines

As the train network in Switzerland is extremely well developed it is also very popular. This is why most Swiss people prefer to travel by train when it comes to long distance travelling within Switzerland. This, of course, doesn’t mean that it is impossible to travel by bus within Switzerland. There are also long distance bus lines, but most of them are international bus lines which have stops in several cities in Switzerland.

International bus lines

Basel is very well connected by bus with other European countries and one reason for that is surely its favourable geographical position close to the German and French border. There are also bus connections to other countries which are not neighbouring of Switzerland. If you wish to travel from Basel to Croatia, you can do so year around. On GetByBus you can find bus routes from Basel to Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, Zadar or Split. These lines operate also in the opposite direction. If you wish to travel to another Croatian city, you can always travel first to Zagreb or Split from where you can find plenty of bus connections to other Croatian cities.

If you would like to travel from Basel to Bosnia and Herzegovina, you can find on GetByBus a line to Mostar. Here it’s the same situation like in Croatia; if you wish to travel to an other city in Bosnia and Herzegovina you can continue your travel from Mostar.

Sightseeing in Basel

If you wish to have an organized sightseeing tour in Basel during which you will cross the Rhine multiple times and enjoy the view of the beautiful Old Town, you can find more information about that here. In this tour you also have a short walk to visit a museum and a beautiful viewing platform above the river.

For another perspective of the city you can also enjoy a ride with one of the four ferries of the city which go between the five bridges of the city. In this tour you can cross the river without any motor power, using only the natural power of the river. More information about ferry rides in Basel can be found here.