St. Johann sits on the Rhine in the city's northwest, right up against the French border. Lots of young families live here, so the things kids want are close together: parks and adventure playgrounds for dry afternoons, and libraries, climbing walls and other indoor picks for when it rains. Here's what we checked for an afternoon close to home.
Opened in 1992 and redesigned in 2011, St. Johanns-Park has a playground, ground-level water jets, a football pitch with goals and a big lawn. Kids climb two sculptures shaped like a pig and a goose, a nod to the animals that once grazed outside the St. Johanns-Tor.
Spilruum St. Johann, an open meeting point for kids, is here too, along with the kleiner Wassermann park café.
Kannenfeldpark is the city's largest public green space, laid out as a cemetery and turned into a park after 1952, with a wide collection of tree species.
Five play islands line the southwest cross path, each with its own theme: climbing, swings, slides, a sandpit with a water tap, and a paddling pool. There is also a toddler playground, table tennis, chess by the rose garden and a garden theater.
Room Escape Basel runs six themed escape rooms at Voltaplatz, where a team has 60 minutes to crack the puzzles and get out. Two have a Kids Escape version with puzzles pitched at children: Hildegards Geheimnis, where kids follow the clues in a mysterious diary, and Das verschwundene Koboldgold, a hunt for goblin treasure inside the Escape Bar across the street.
JUKIBU is the library of many languages. Children and teens find books, audiobooks and films in more than 50 languages, from Afrikaans to Vietnamese, while the adult shelves hold German and English titles.
It runs storytimes and workshops for kids in different languages, plus readings from many cultures. There are PC workstations, Wi-Fi, a copier and step-free access.
Robi Volta is a staffed adventure playground where kids come on their own, without a parent. Alongside an adventurous outdoor play yard, it has well-equipped workshops and indoor rooms for play and hanging out.
Youth workers help with games and crafts, listen, and step in for emergencies, but they don't supervise, and kids can leave whenever they like. With Robi Horburg, it was Switzerland's first Robi playground.
ELYS Boulderloft is a bouldering gym with over 2,000 m² of climbing surface and new problems set every week. Kids under 13 boulder in the New Hall with a parent who climbs too, and can earn a bouldering license that opens the Big Hall.
Younger kids have the movement landscape, a play-and-run area with its own family bistro.
St. Johann sits on the Rhine in the city's northwest, right up against the French border. Lots of young families live here, so the things kids want are close together: parks and adventure playgrounds for dry afternoons, and libraries, climbing walls and other indoor picks for when it rains. Here's what we checked for an afternoon close to home.
Opened in 1992 and redesigned in 2011, St. Johanns-Park has a playground, ground-level water jets, a football pitch with goals and a big lawn. Kids climb two sculptures shaped like a pig and a goose, a nod to the animals that once grazed outside the St. Johanns-Tor.
Spilruum St. Johann, an open meeting point for kids, is here too, along with the kleiner Wassermann park café.
Kannenfeldpark is the city's largest public green space, laid out as a cemetery and turned into a park after 1952, with a wide collection of tree species.
Five play islands line the southwest cross path, each with its own theme: climbing, swings, slides, a sandpit with a water tap, and a paddling pool. There is also a toddler playground, table tennis, chess by the rose garden and a garden theater.
Room Escape Basel runs six themed escape rooms at Voltaplatz, where a team has 60 minutes to crack the puzzles and get out. Two have a Kids Escape version with puzzles pitched at children: Hildegards Geheimnis, where kids follow the clues in a mysterious diary, and Das verschwundene Koboldgold, a hunt for goblin treasure inside the Escape Bar across the street.
JUKIBU is the library of many languages. Children and teens find books, audiobooks and films in more than 50 languages, from Afrikaans to Vietnamese, while the adult shelves hold German and English titles.
It runs storytimes and workshops for kids in different languages, plus readings from many cultures. There are PC workstations, Wi-Fi, a copier and step-free access.
Robi Volta is a staffed adventure playground where kids come on their own, without a parent. Alongside an adventurous outdoor play yard, it has well-equipped workshops and indoor rooms for play and hanging out.
Youth workers help with games and crafts, listen, and step in for emergencies, but they don't supervise, and kids can leave whenever they like. With Robi Horburg, it was Switzerland's first Robi playground.
ELYS Boulderloft is a bouldering gym with over 2,000 m² of climbing surface and new problems set every week. Kids under 13 boulder in the New Hall with a parent who climbs too, and can earn a bouldering license that opens the Big Hall.
Younger kids have the movement landscape, a play-and-run area with its own family bistro.
