Day 10b Switzerland-Biel and Basel

Biel is located on the French and German language boundary and is Switzerland's only officially bilingual town. The official name is Biel/Bienne (German/French). The city lies at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains area. While Biel is outwardly modern, there is a well preserved mediaeval core between the modern city on the plain and the villas on the slopes of the Jura, with lovely old houses, cobbled streets and squares. The outward appearance of the houses in the old town is still largely the same as it was in the 18th and early 19th centuries, with traces of older construction and the outlines of late mediaeval foundations visible everywhere. The various fountains are the focal points of the old town. View Larger Map 1 & 2. Fontaine de la Justice on Burgplatz.

3. Fontaine du Banneret.

4. Fontaine de l'Ange.

5. A church along Rosinsstrasse.

From Biel, it is another 1hr (90km) drive to Basel, the third largest city of Switzerland. Located in north-west Switzerland on the river Rhine, she is a major industrial centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. She is culturely German, so the old town is very much like those Germany cities we have visited earlier (Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Ulm etc) as well as later (Freiburg, Stuttgart).

We just took a short walk from the train station to the old town. The tourism office has designed five thematic walk named after famous people who are born or have lived in Basel. They are the Erasmus walk (The historical heart), Jakob Burkhardt walk (Past and present in harmony), Thomas Platter walk (Craftsmen and academics), Paracelsus walk (narrow lanes and lots of steps) and Hans Holbein walk (On both sides of the Rhine). Worth trying if you have more time.

View Larger Map

1. St Elisabethen, a neo-Gothic Church we saw on our way to the old town center.

2 to 4. The Rathus was built from 1508-1514 and has precious furnishing. All the walls in the courtyard are covered with paintings. There is also a statue of the city's founder Munatius Plancus.

5. Markplatz just outside Rathaus.