Basel Switzerland- anyone been ? Or better to stay nearby?

[lisalisa]

We are flying into Basel for a 4 day break in the summer hols. Me , dh and ds11 and dd6. Is there anything family friendly to do there or is it better to stay elsewhere ( within one hour of the airport )
Many thanks

Great water park here

en.aquabasilea.ch

Sorry can't help with anything else as we use it as a stop over!

We stayed there last summer before heading off to the mountains. It was hellishly expensive but you should get a free transport ticket with your hotel booking. There are decent museums, river trips, cathedral and old town. A little to the south is a Roman site and the Rhinefalls. Zurich is less than an hour away and Lucerne which might be a good place to stay to experience lakes and mountains as there are several easily accessible peaks on the doorstep, by cable car, gondola or steam train, with kids playgrounds and walks.

Went for work so no advice on family friendly stuff but agree it's stupidly expensive!!

But it's a lovely City. My favourite ever I think. Have fun!

Thank you . Sounds lovely . Anything else to do there ?

Well, I lived there years ago, for a few years, and my dc were younger.

If you do zoos, Basel zoo is nice. It isn't too big, so you can walk around it comfortably without being exhausted. I personally don't like zoo. Munich zoo is bloody huge, and takes ages to walk from 1 animal to another, leaving you feeling totally knackered and only having seen half a dozen animals. I also dislike zoos totally, and wouldn't go to one now if I can avoid it, but Basel zoo has nice big areas for the animals, so it at least feels like they have a comfortable environment. The cafe there is nice too.

The ferry across the river is cool.

There is a huge open air old world farm/museum/village which our dc used to love visiting, but over the border in Alsace. About an hour away. Also about an hour away is Europapark if you're into Theme Parks.

A lovely wander around the town :)