Basel Travel Forum

Hi
Getting married on 13th December and want to travel to somewhere snowy on 14th december for 2 or 3 nights. Is there lakes, mountains, woods near Basel? How near? will there definatley be snow? Fancy the idea of cross country skiing, tobogon, hot drinks, cakes and awesome views as well as Christmas markets....am I living in a fantasy land?? If not Basel, where do you suggest I go?
thanks
Kirk

Probably no snow, but how about a castle in Germany? Particularly the Tower Room. I stayed here this year and it is definitely a great place - but the activities would be hiking and maybe biking along the Rhine.
http://www.hotel-schoenburg.com/castle-hotel-room-rates/rhine-hotel-images-photographs.html

Since Basel sits along the Rhine, and is not really at a high elevation, there probably wouldn't be snow at that time of year. If you are not restricted to Switzerland, I would suggest Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Germany. Even if there is not snow in the town itself, there should be snow in the surrounding mountains. The US military has had a recreation area there for around 60 years, so there shouldn't be much of a language problem. They do have carriage rides during the holiday season. If they don't have Christmas markets locally, there are almost hourly trains to Munich. You could visit the Christmas Market there. Gary

If you want a snow guarantee you have to go to the glaciers in the Alps, like the Stubai glacier near Innsbruck (Austria) or the Swiss glaciers further south.

A nice area not far away from Basel where you good do very good cross country skiing - if they have snow ;-) - are the Vosges. There are lakes and woods. The highest mountain is the Ballon d'Alsace, and there are even ski lifts, for example in Le Marktstein. The south of the Vosges (so just a short way north-west of Basel) has the highest elevations. The cross-country skiing areas are along the summit road (Route des Crêtes), a good base camp would be Le Bonhomme. On the western side of the Vosges you could stay in Gérardmer, and get up to the Col de la Schlucht. Cross country skiing also around the lakes, like Lac Vert. They sometimes even hold the national championships there. You could also get accommodation, cakes, and cheese at the Fermes-Auberges. But as said before, no snow guarantee.

Christmas market would be in Colmar, and most probably also in Mulhouse and Basel, and even Strasbourg would not be too far away for a visit.

Try going to Saas Fee which is closer to Zermatt.They are supposed to have skiing even in peak summer.It is a very picturisque town,surrounded by mountains.Has a beautiful church.No polluting vehicles.
Try writing to Hotel Imseng in Saas fee,imseng@rooms.ch
You could also write to him about the area and whether there would be snow at that time.
Have a good time,
Vpas

Lucerne is just 80 or 90 minutes away from Basel, by train. The town is picturesque and attractive, and close to the Mount Pilatus, which is over 2000 metres high, so you are likely to find snow there.

Hey
thanks manara
I will have a look for VT pages to find out more about the mountain and area
Hope you have a great day and thank you again
k

Hi Guys
these are all a great help. Will have a chat with my boyfriend and maybe come back and ask some more stuff.
thank you very much
Kirsty

Congratulations on your engagement. Gary

thanks gary !!

I take it you are looking around Basel due to cheap Easy jet flights or such like.

As mentioned by others, reliable snow around Basel is not likely, however there are guaranteed options nearby (everything is nearby in Switzerland, it is so small).

I highly recommend taking a train to Gstaad (via Bern). Here, for a fantastic romantic time you shouldn't go past the Hotel Gstaaderhof. It is reasonably priced and is Swiss 3 star (more like British 4 star). The breakfasts are very good too.
For a really nice dinner experience walk through the car-free streets of Gstaad to the Hotel Bernerhof. Here they have a few restaurants, but the really sweet traditional Swiss restaurant 'Stafel' is the one you want. I have stayed at and eaten in these hotels on many occasions. I give my personal recommendation on both.

Gstaad itself is high enough to have snow (very likely) and there are many lifts from here into the mountains, including to a glacier skiing area (skiing year round). I don't know if there are many Cross Country options nearby, but certainly more likely to have snow than Basel if there are.
Gstaad is a character filled village full of beautiful wooden chalets, cute bars and cafes, a car free main street, and is just perfect for a honeymoon.

Wow thanks for that suggestion about Switzerland...really appeals. so where would we fly to?
Is an easyjet flight there cheapest?
What is the best way for transfers or do you suggest getting the train on straight away?
thank you so much. I have never been to Switzerland and will enjoy checking out the pages about it on VT.
So now we have to decide between eastern european options or switzerland - will talk with my partner.
many thanks

Sorry it has taken me so long to come back to you, I had a lot on.

My expectation is that Easy Jet to Basel is a good option if not the best. We are flying them to the UK soon and pay half the price from the next cheapest option from Switzerland.

If you are planning on going somewhere like Gstaad and just for a few days then definitely go with the train. It is well-priced and a lot easier than finding parking etc. Also, trains and buses run everywhere in Switzerland, and always on time, so you won't have any trouble getting around.

You will have a very nice time in such a place. We should have honeymooned in Switzerland instead of the UK, but too late to realise that now.

Congratulations on your wedding. Hope you have good time here.

Oh, and Basel in normally the cheapest airport to fly to, so it is ideal. Otherwise, Geneva and Zürich are both still within a manageable distance from Gstaad by train.

Thanks so much for all your help.
Happy travels
k