Basel takes Advent seriously. From late November, wooden stalls and strings of lights fill the old town squares, and around Dec 6 Santiglaus turns up with a sack of nuts, mandarins and gingerbread for kids who recite a short verse. Here's what we checked, from the Märchenwald kids' village on Münsterplatz to the Christmas tram and the fairy-tale shows that keep going into the holidays.
Basel's Christmas market fills the city center with stalls of tree ornaments, gifts and food, around the Barfüsserkirche and in front of the Münster, where the trees are hung with glowing snow globes.
For kids, the main draw is the Märchenwald on Münsterplatz: a forest of fir trees run by the Robi-Spiel-Aktionen association, full of hands-on crafts and with its own puppet theater.
A Christmas village for kids, decorated with fir trees, set up by the Robi-Spiel-Aktionen inside the Basel Christmas market on Münsterplatz. Kids go from house to house to dip candles, decorate gingerbread, make Christmas presents, try tin pouring or blacksmithing, and ride the kids' train. A marionette theater performs a Christmas story.
Kids warm up with hot chocolate in the fire room while adults get mulled wine at the bar.
Basel's newest Christmas market, a village of huts at Theaterplatz that spreads into the nearby squares. Around 40 huts sell local design and crafts, plus food from the region and around the world.
Kids get their own areas, and the program promises stilt walkers in costume, fairy-tale storytelling, craft afternoons and a carousel. It suits families who want browsing, snacks and Christmas lights in one outing.
Niggi-Näggi is Basel's name for Samichlaus, the Swiss St. Nicholas, and the Zolli is what locals call Zoo Basel. For this afternoon event, he comes to the zoo.
It suits preschool and primary-age kids who know the Samichlaus tradition. The event is outdoors, so dress for the weather.
The Wiehnachts-Drämmli is a Christmas tram run by BVB, Basel's public transport company. It does rounds through the inner city, and Santiglaus comes along with it.
The ride is made mainly for children, so it suits families with young kids, and it is an easy pick for any child who loves trams.
Every year, Harley-Davidson riders turn their motorbikes into Christmas vehicles and ride through Basel's illuminated city center dressed as Nikolaus, Santiglaus, Santa Claus or angels. It is one of the highlights of Basel's Christmas season.
Kids watch from the street as the decorated bikes roll past. It suits families with young children who love Santa, and anyone who likes motorbikes.
Santiglaus (St. Nicholas) drops in at Haus zum Kirschgarten with his helper Schmutzli. Kids who dare can step up and recite a little poem in front of him.
The rest of the family watches from the garden with warm drinks. It suits kids who can say a short rhyme in German, and younger siblings who just want to see him.
Kids stamp, print, write and draw their own advent calendar at the Basler Papiermühle, a hands-on museum of paper, writing and printing inside a medieval mill: 24 doors, 24 surprises.
It's an open workshop, so families drop in and work at their own pace. Teens and adults make one too, and the museum's other stations, from scooping paper to old printing presses, come with the same ticket.
Kipling's story of Mowgli, the boy raised in the jungle, and his animal friends, in a new stage version Kamil Krejci wrote and directs for the Fauteuil-Märchenbühne. He plays it for laughs and for suspense, with original music by Alexius Tschallener and choreographed scenes.
The theater's own ensemble of eight actors performs it in the Fauteuil hall on Spalenberg, a two-minute walk from Marktplatz in the Old Town.
Europa-Park in Rust stays open through the winter season, and Rulantica opens too. Families can spend a day at each and sleep in one of the park's themed hotels, which all stay open along with the restaurants.
It suits families happy to turn a winter day trip into a short break. New Year's has its own packages built around dinner shows and parties, and several are already booked out.
Basel's oldest cellar theater, founded in 1943, plays in the vaulted Zehntenkeller beside Basel Minster. Its family program turns children's books and fairy tales into shows with marionettes and table puppets, from a young Scottish ghost learning to scare to The Wizard of Oz with flying monkeys.
A separate evening program of plays and talks is aimed at adults.
Four floors and more than 1,000 square meters of historical toys: over 2,500 teddy bears (the most comprehensive collection in the world, many by Steiff), dolls, old dolls' houses, grocery shops and 1:12 miniatures. Many scenes start moving at the push of a button.
On an animated tablet tour, virtual figures move through the displays, and a kids' track sends zeppelins flying and music notes dancing out of a gramophone.
Kunsteisbahn Margarethen is a public outdoor ice rink run by the canton in Margarethenpark. It has two fields: a 4,200 m² open rink and a 1,800 m² rink under a roof, both lit for evening skating.
Skates, kids' helmets, sticks and double-runner beginner skates are for hire, and there is a restaurant. The rink is step-free, with a ramp onto the ice and wheelchair ice gliders free to use.
Basel takes Advent seriously. From late November, wooden stalls and strings of lights fill the old town squares, and around Dec 6 Santiglaus turns up with a sack of nuts, mandarins and gingerbread for kids who recite a short verse. Here's what we checked, from the Märchenwald kids' village on Münsterplatz to the Christmas tram and the fairy-tale shows that keep going into the holidays.
Basel's Christmas market fills the city center with stalls of tree ornaments, gifts and food, around the Barfüsserkirche and in front of the Münster, where the trees are hung with glowing snow globes.
For kids, the main draw is the Märchenwald on Münsterplatz: a forest of fir trees run by the Robi-Spiel-Aktionen association, full of hands-on crafts and with its own puppet theater.
A Christmas village for kids, decorated with fir trees, set up by the Robi-Spiel-Aktionen inside the Basel Christmas market on Münsterplatz. Kids go from house to house to dip candles, decorate gingerbread, make Christmas presents, try tin pouring or blacksmithing, and ride the kids' train. A marionette theater performs a Christmas story.
Kids warm up with hot chocolate in the fire room while adults get mulled wine at the bar.
Basel's newest Christmas market, a village of huts at Theaterplatz that spreads into the nearby squares. Around 40 huts sell local design and crafts, plus food from the region and around the world.
Kids get their own areas, and the program promises stilt walkers in costume, fairy-tale storytelling, craft afternoons and a carousel. It suits families who want browsing, snacks and Christmas lights in one outing.
Niggi-Näggi is Basel's name for Samichlaus, the Swiss St. Nicholas, and the Zolli is what locals call Zoo Basel. For this afternoon event, he comes to the zoo.
It suits preschool and primary-age kids who know the Samichlaus tradition. The event is outdoors, so dress for the weather.
The Wiehnachts-Drämmli is a Christmas tram run by BVB, Basel's public transport company. It does rounds through the inner city, and Santiglaus comes along with it.
The ride is made mainly for children, so it suits families with young kids, and it is an easy pick for any child who loves trams.
Every year, Harley-Davidson riders turn their motorbikes into Christmas vehicles and ride through Basel's illuminated city center dressed as Nikolaus, Santiglaus, Santa Claus or angels. It is one of the highlights of Basel's Christmas season.
Kids watch from the street as the decorated bikes roll past. It suits families with young children who love Santa, and anyone who likes motorbikes.
Santiglaus (St. Nicholas) drops in at Haus zum Kirschgarten with his helper Schmutzli. Kids who dare can step up and recite a little poem in front of him.
The rest of the family watches from the garden with warm drinks. It suits kids who can say a short rhyme in German, and younger siblings who just want to see him.
Kids stamp, print, write and draw their own advent calendar at the Basler Papiermühle, a hands-on museum of paper, writing and printing inside a medieval mill: 24 doors, 24 surprises.
It's an open workshop, so families drop in and work at their own pace. Teens and adults make one too, and the museum's other stations, from scooping paper to old printing presses, come with the same ticket.
Kipling's story of Mowgli, the boy raised in the jungle, and his animal friends, in a new stage version Kamil Krejci wrote and directs for the Fauteuil-Märchenbühne. He plays it for laughs and for suspense, with original music by Alexius Tschallener and choreographed scenes.
The theater's own ensemble of eight actors performs it in the Fauteuil hall on Spalenberg, a two-minute walk from Marktplatz in the Old Town.
Europa-Park in Rust stays open through the winter season, and Rulantica opens too. Families can spend a day at each and sleep in one of the park's themed hotels, which all stay open along with the restaurants.
It suits families happy to turn a winter day trip into a short break. New Year's has its own packages built around dinner shows and parties, and several are already booked out.
Basel's oldest cellar theater, founded in 1943, plays in the vaulted Zehntenkeller beside Basel Minster. Its family program turns children's books and fairy tales into shows with marionettes and table puppets, from a young Scottish ghost learning to scare to The Wizard of Oz with flying monkeys.
A separate evening program of plays and talks is aimed at adults.
Four floors and more than 1,000 square meters of historical toys: over 2,500 teddy bears (the most comprehensive collection in the world, many by Steiff), dolls, old dolls' houses, grocery shops and 1:12 miniatures. Many scenes start moving at the push of a button.
On an animated tablet tour, virtual figures move through the displays, and a kids' track sends zeppelins flying and music notes dancing out of a gramophone.
Kunsteisbahn Margarethen is a public outdoor ice rink run by the canton in Margarethenpark. It has two fields: a 4,200 m² open rink and a 1,800 m² rink under a roof, both lit for evening skating.
Skates, kids' helmets, sticks and double-runner beginner skates are for hire, and there is a restaurant. The rink is step-free, with a ramp onto the ice and wheelchair ice gliders free to use.
