Basel ahead of Eurovision - the calm before the storm

Basel is taking centre stage in Europe, hosting Eurovision 2025 this Saturday. The city is located at the crossroads of Switzerland, France and Germany, where the unique three-country EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg was established.

With a population of around 200,000, it is the third most populous city in Switzerland. Basel is known for its chemical and pharmaceutical industries, but from this year the city will make history as the venue for a pop music extravaganza.

Every day, inhabitants gather on the banks of the Rhine, and in warm weather.... also for a swim with the Wickelfisch. This colourful fish-shaped waterproof bag was invented in Basel to keep clothes dry while swimming in the river. Enjoying the river is also possible on a typical ferry. On the banks of the Rhine delicious snacks and refreshments are served in a friendly manner. The so-called ‘buvettes’ create a carefree holiday atmosphere, similar to the Costa del Sol. Incidentally, open-air concerts and film screenings take place by the Rhine in summer evenings.

The Rhine divides the city into Big Basel (Grossbasel) and Small Basel (Kleinbasel). Each bank is connected by a series of bridges, the most majestic of which is the Mittlere Brücke. Metaphorical bridges link the city with its German and French neighbours. From the towers of the cathedral you can look north, past emerald green farms and vineyards, and see both the French Vosges mountains and the German Black Forest.

There is very little information about Basel even in Swiss guidebooks where the city is often considered the country’s art and culture capital due to the highest density of museums and countless galleries easily found among picturesque alleyways and over 200 fountains.

Modern architecture is another of Basel's aesthetic passions. In and around the city, you can see buildings that are quite simple at first glance, but belong to the creations of no fewer than 12 Pritzker Architecture Prize winners including local star architects Herzog & de Meuron who designed Messe Basel and The Roche Towers.

Arriving in Basel just a week before the start of one of the greatest parties in the world, there was not a single hint (not even a poster) of the approaching Eurovision event in the city centre. Only in the window of a local boutique was a magazine devoted to the song contest.

The city itself seemed to be living its routine quiet life, with the occasional complete silence, which was momentarily broken by the frequent trams. Very few people could be seen in the centre. As SUR in English was told, gatherings on the streets happen in the city once a year - in March, for Fasnacht. The Basel Carnival, inscribed on Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage, is a peculiar mix of discipline and drunken revelry.

Comparing how ebulliently Sweden's Malmö last year created the Eurovision 2024 spirit in the weeks leading up to the event, Basel looked as if it had forgotten that the festival was coming up and that crowds would flock to the city for the fun. Incidentally the last time Switzerland hosted Eurovision was 36 years ago, after Céline Dion won the contest with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi in 1988.

That was the calm before the storm in Basel, because the start of Eurovision Week took place last Saturday, with concerts in the Eurovision Village, on the Eurovision Square and on several stages. On Sunday a big parade passed from Marktplatz to Messeplatz with the longest turquoise carpet in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. It seems that everything changed in seconds and Basel was plunged into a festive atmosphere in an instant.

In Basel they speak Swiss German, which is a very special dialect and is unlikely to be understood even by those who are fluent in German.

If you come from Spain to Switzerland by car, get a special digital vignette that allows you to drive on the country's motorways. It is valid for one year.

The demand for accommodation during the Eurovision Song Contest has caused prices to rise.

Try staying in neighbouring France, which offers a chain of hotels with good service and very convenient prices. It will take you about half an hour to get to the Eurovision venue.

It is important to remember that roaming is generally not free in Switzerland as a non-EU country.