Five Roads Tracing Basel's Old Town

Original teks by Mohamad Final Daeng, executive summary by Darmansjah

Enthusiasm expand when flipping through the stack of tourist brochures Basel, Switzerland, which I get when arriving in the city last August. One was immediately attracted by the title "Experiencing Basel: Five Walks Across the Old Town of Basel".

Wherever the old city is always fun to explore. There was an aura that can not be obtained from the modern city landscape with sophisticated building anything. Therefore, the opportunity to explore the old town on the border node Switzerland, France, and Germany was not to be missed.

That opportunity came after covering the International Biotechnology Leadership Camp 2013 held Novartis, the pharmaceutical companies are also based in Basel.

Five walk through the old town of Basel designed by Basel Tourism, a sort of local tourism bodies, allows travelers to explore the various sides of the old city of Basel. The whole street or the tourist route can be traveled on foot.

Route it is Erasmus, Jacob Burekhardt, Thomas Platter, Paracelsus, and Hans Holbein. The name was taken from the historic and prominent figures from Basel.

Normal travel time of each route varies, ranging from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. Of course it's estimated travel time will be very flexible if the context is the streets.

The fifth route begins and ends at the Marktplatz or Market Square, located right in the center of the old town. Not hard to achieve Marktplatz from various areas of the city because of the location it visited seven tram lines and three bus lines.

For the record, every visitor who stays at the hotel in Basel will receive one ticket to use public transport for free during the time of the visit. Basel public transport route maps can be obtained at the hotel or tourist information center.

Of Markplatz, travelers just choose which route you want traced. No need to worry about getting lost because there is always a special board directions marked with a different color for each of the spots in the road.

I tried two routes, namely Erasmus and Jacob Burckhardt. Erasmus these instructions marked red and blue Jacob Burckhardt. The second route was chosen because it can reach a variety of important objects the old town with the shortest travel time.

Rathaus

The search began the day under the cool temperatures Basel , Marktplatz crowded with lots of street vendors selling food , drinks , flowers , and fruits . The square is surrounded by old buildings terawatt is used as a store or restaurant .

One of the historic buildings that can be seen is the Rathaus or town hall Basel . Red building was built in the 14th century and has experienced several renovations . Travelers can go and see the inside of the buildings still serves as the town hall .

Moving on from there , these turn into a narrow alley with the contour uphill . On both sides there half wooden three-story house with lots of windows . Some houses also functioned as an office or small shop..

Continue down the narrow hilly road, on the left looks rhein river that divides the city of Basel and the old. One of the important landmarks in the location it is a bridge Mittlere Rheinbrucke or meaning "middle bridge Rhein", the bridge was first built in 1225 with wood construction and rebuilt in stone, like its current form, in 1905.

In the afternoon , many residents enjoy recreation in the vicinity of the bridge while eating , talking , drinking coffee , reading a book , or just sit on the banks of the pervading atmosphere . There is also a fun sport boat , paddle a kayak , to swim .

Munster

The journey continues to reach Munsterplatz or cathedral square as well as the highest plateau in the old town . This location to witness the long and important history in Basel . Before the cathedral stands circa 1019-1500 , that location is said to be the center of the Celtic and Roman settlements since BC.

In addition to the cathedral there is a platform in which we observe the view of the city bus and the Rhine river freely from a height . Inside the cathedral there is also a tomb of Erasmus of Rotterdam , a great humanist of the Renaissance . From the cathedral , begun to turn to the starting point the marktplatz  through Freie Strasse. The way it is the largest shopping district in Basel with a row of dozens of stores of famous brands .

Done at the Erasmus , the search switches to route Jacob Burckhardt . These take a direction to the west and south side of the old town . From the Marktplatz , a trip back down the Freie Strasse and turn right onto Church Barfusser who also became Basel Historical Museum .

From there, the route leads us to a shady little park near the Theater Basel and the Tinguely fountain . Fountain pumps driven by artistic spray water from the pond with a variety of patterns so it looks like dancing .

Trip finally arrived at the square Barfusser or Barfusserplatz , before heading back to the Marktplatz . This place is one point in the old town of Basel termai packed restaurants , cafes , and museums . One is the Worlds Toy Museum Basel that holds various collections of toys .

For lovers of Teddy Bears, the museum was fun because it has a collection of teddy bears in the world , which is more than 2,500 pieces .