Basel Bad Bf (Basel / Bâle)

Ride a sleek German ICE train on a journey from north-west Switzerland to Amsterdam via Arnhem and Utrect.

When taking a rail journey from Basel to Berlin, travellers can choose between making the journey by day on a sleek ICE train, or travelling through the night on a smart Nightjet service.

There are three options available when taking a direct train from Basel to Cologne/Köln:

1. Taking the scenic option of travelling through the gorgeous Rhine Gorge on an EC train.
2. The fastest option of travelling during the day on an ICE train, which rushes along Germany's fastest railway during its journey.
3. Taking an ICE train through the night (there are no conventional night trains with sleeping cabins etc, available on this route).

Departing from Basel:

All three services depart from Basel SBB station, the main station in the city, and then call at Basel Bad ff.
Though if you'll be commencing an end-to-end journey in Basel city center, the quickest option is to join these trains at Basel Bad bf.
It will be cheaper too as the German national operator classifies the journey from Basel Bad bf as a national journey, but the trip from Basel SBB is classified as international route.

Though join the trains at Basel SBB station if you will be connecting from other destinations in Switzerland.
Rail pass users are also more like to find unoccupied seats on these trains, on which reservations are optional, when boarding at Basel SBB.

When taking a rail journey from Basel to Hamburg, travellers can choose between making the journey by day on a sleek ICE train, or travelling through the night on a smart Nightjet service.

There is a choice of two train services when travelling from Basel to Freiburg im Breisgau:

1. The faster, but typically more expensive option, is to take an ICE or EC train.
2. The slower Regio trains are cheaper if you will be booking tickets last minute at the station.

A few years ago the Swiss national rail timetable was restructured and the direct trains from Basel to both Geneve and Lausanne were removed.
So the trains now travel no further than Biel/Bienne, but at that station the connections on to Geneve and Lausanne are as simple as can be, with the trains on to Genve typically leaving less than 5 mins after the arrival from Basel.
And making the connection usually involves simply stepping across the platform from one train to the other.

There is a daily direct train from Amsterdam to Basel, but if its timings or ticket prices don't suit it can be worth considering a journey which involves a connection in Paris.
Though if you will be travelling with Eurail or InterRail passes taking the direct train will save a lot of money.

There are direct day and night trains to choose from when travelling between Berlin and Basel.
By day you will be travelling on ultra-smart ICE trains, but if you opt to travel overnight you won't miss out on seeing fabulous scenery; it's a pleasant but not spectacular journey,

Beds in sleeping cabins and bunks in couchettes are available on the overnight train.

There are three options for a taking a direct train from Cologne/Köln to Basel:

1. The fastest and most frequent option for a daytime journey are the swish ICE trains.
2. For those who favor a scenic journey over a train ride with a wow factor, there are the EC trains which take the beautiful route through the Rhine Valley.
3. Or if you need to be in Basel in time for breakfast, there is also an overnight train (but it isn't a sleeper train).

All of these trains call at two stations in Basel, the first stop is the Basel Bad Bf, which is managed by DB, the German national rail operator, which therefore creates the illusion that you won't have left Germany.
The trains then continue on to Basel SBB station where connections are available to a swathe of Swiss destinations without direct trains from Cologne/Köln, including Luzern, Lugano, Locarno, Brig and Biel (for Lausanne and Geneva)

What matters about this is that the tickets to Basel Bad Bf will be cheaper as DB classifies this is a national journey, but the journey on to Basel SBB becomes an international journey.
So if you will be heading to Basel city centre, book tickets to Basel Bad Bf.

There are two options for making a journey by train from London to Basel:

1. The quickest option is to travel via Paris, but this involves having to make a transfer between stations across the city centre.
   Though the trains/connections from Paris arrive at the main station, Basel SBB where connections are available to a swathe of other Swiss destinations including Bern, Biel, Luzern and Interlaken.

2. The easier, but slower option is to travel via the main stations in Bruxelles and Frankfurt (Main).
   You won't have to leave the stations in order to make the connections, but they are tightly timed (though tickets/reservations can be transferred to subsequent departures in the event of train delays, if you are NOT relying on the final connections of the day).
   These trains will arrive at Basel Bad bf, the trains will continue on to Basel SBB station, but that ups the price when travelling on this route.