Kandern SW Germany to Wilderswil Switzerland

Saturday 19th November 2022
Today we are heading to Switzerland. We will make a short stop in the city of Basel for an exploration walk and then head to our new home for the next three nights at Wilderswil near Interlaken, Switzerland.

As we start the drive, we head to the shops for our supplies before we leave Germany as Switzerland is a lot more expensive for everything. That done, we realise we have a few more challenges along the way today as Switzerland is not part of the EU. This means – no internet, a new currency and no phones. Oops, we should have done some more planning last night. After a stop to do some more research on the side of the road, we head to the border. No stopping here for border control. A new set of road rules, signals and challenges. Every new country has new rules, signs, lane guidance and is a really interesting experience each time. David loves the challenges. We head to Basel to a paid parking which I reserved a spot online before we lost our service. Luckily when we arrived at the door, it just opened and we drove in, found a spot and everything was going well until we couldn’t get out. We were lucky, the girls who tail gated us in had made contact with the company to get an app to open the door. So out we go, we will deal with how we get back in later.

We walked around the town, enjoying the sights of the beautiful churches, the colourful and amazing buildings. As we were still internal-less we called in to Macca’s to use their free wifi and paid 9 CHF for a hot chocolate and small thick shake which is about 13.50AUD. A little expensive. After about 30 mins mucking around David is now up and running. Yay! It is amazing how much we rely on our modern day communication tools. We continued our walk down to the bridge over the Rhine River, watched the regatta race and then headed back to the car. We were still looking for somewhere to buy the Autobahn Vignette so we can use the autobahns to get to Wilerswil. We were not having much luck so we decided to get on our way. With DBs internet we were able to get back in to the parking garage, pay for our parking and exit the building. Thank goodness for that.

The first service station we stopped at for the vignette had sold out and only had 2023 ones as they start on 1st December. We were then worried we may not be able to buy one. Without it our drive was going to take over 3 hours instead of under 2. We managed to buy the vignette which costs 40 Swiss francs for a year, no discount or weekly ticket. Oh well, not much choice, so pay we did. The autobahns were wide and smooth, a very pleasant drive. We unfortunately drove half the way to the mountains in the dark, missing the beautiful snow-capped peaks. Oh well, we will get to see them tomorrow. Our little apartment is lovely and I think I managed to secure the cheapest room in the area – only $400 for 3 nights, some accommodation was $4000. A little out of our price range.

Well we have managed to work through each of our new country challenges, are happily fed and enjoying the warmth of our new home. We look forward to hopefully doing some walks tomorrow. As always the closed season will present some other problems.

: The entrance to our parking at Basel – always a challenge in a new city and country..

: ..lucky I had booked the doors just opened for us and we found a parking spot..

: First stop on our city walk was th Fine Arts Museum and known as the..

: ..The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland..

: ..sculptures in the entry square..

: ..outside the museum, loved the sculpture in between the bare trees with the beautiful building facade to the right….

: ..the Antiken Museum is one of the many museums in the city of Basel, Switzerland and a heritage site of national significance. In 1961 the city of Basel decided to establish the museum to assemble the several antiquities in one place.

: ..the modern trams amongst the old and new buildings in Basel. We are amazed we survived the drive in amongst the trams..

: The Elisabethenkirche, or Offene Kirche Elisabethen, is a 19th-century church building in the centre of Basel, next to the Theater Basel, in Switzerland. It is a well detailed example of Swiss Gothic Revival style churches. It has a 72 metres tall bell tower and spire. The tower has internal stairs.

: ..some interesting buildings along the city walk..

: The Tinguely Brunnen was built in 1977, Swiss artist Jean Tinguely’s Carnival Fountain merges sculptural machines with water.

: Bicycles, Macca’s and some lovely old buildings amongst the tram wires..

: ..a colourful street..

: ..a sand sculptor at work..

: ..I hope they don’t start this practice in Australia – the WC code is on the docket when you purchase something..

: Basel Minster is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel, originally a Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church. The original cathedral was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Gothic styles.

: ..inside the stained glass windows are magnificent..

: ..as is its external door..

: The Rhine River where a rowing regatta is taking place today..

: ..some ornate bought iron..

: ..and an amazing door to the Museum of Natural History..

: ..another lovely street..

: The Rhine River with coxed 8 skulls racing in the Rowing Regatta races today. I heard them calling Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – so we think there were some Aussie crews here. It isa 6.4km race..

: ..the beautiful buildings along the river

: ..the crowds watching the regatta from the bridge..

: Les Trois Rois, a Luxury Hotel in Basel, one of the oldest and the most admired hotels in Basel’s City Centre..

: ..with its ornate doors..

: ..another lovely building..

: ..and again, love the colours..

: The Basel Town Hall is a 500-year-old building dominating the Marktplatz in Basel, Switzerland.

: ..Inside this dramatic red brick building with its imposing tower is one of Basel’s most attractive landmarks.

: The market square..

: ..the Christmas lights are up everywhere – wish we could stay and walk through the city at night..

: ..after a big 7km walk we head out of the carpark…

: ..into the late afternoon traffic, with new signs, lights and its set of challenges..

: as it gets dark and we get closer to Interlaken you can see the snow capped mountains in the distance.

: ..today’s travels 171km from Kandern SW Germany to Wilerswil Switzerland via Basel.