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Where Do Viking River Cruise Ships Dock in Basel, Switzerland?

Basel, Switzerland, a captivating city nestled on the banks of the Rhine River, serves as a picturesque gateway to explore the enchanting wonders of Europe. Among the myriad of cruise options, Viking River Cruises stands tall as one of the most esteemed and sought-after cruise lines in the industry. Whether you seek to uncover the secrets of Basel's old town, delve into it’s rich history, or simply immerse in the breathtaking landscapes, understanding where Viking River Cruise ships dock in Basel will undoubtedly enhance your overall cruise experience and help you make the most of your time in this captivating Swiss city.

Does Basel Have a Port?

Does Basel have a port? The answer is yes. The Basel Port is Switzerlands most important river port, strategically located on the Rhine River. It plays a crucial role in the countrys river shipping industry and is a gateway for trade and transportation. The port is divided into three zones or sub-ports, each serving different purposes and catering to various types of cargo.

The first sub-port is the port of Kleinhüningen, which is situated in the northern part of Basel. This area handles mainly container traffic and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate large vessels. It’s an important hub for international shipping and contributes significantly to the regions economy.

Moving downstream, we come across the second sub-port, Port Birsfelden. This area is known for it’s passenger terminal, making it a popular docking site for river cruise ships. It offers easy access to Basels city center and provides a starting point for many explorations of the city and surrounding areas. Viking River Cruise ships, among others, often dock at Port Birsfelden, allowing their passengers to embark and disembark conveniently.

Lastly, we’ve Port Muttenz-Au, the third sub-port. This area mainly focuses on handling bulk cargo, such as petroleum products, chemicals, and grain. It’s strategic location and excellent transport connections make it an ideal choice for industries that rely on efficient logistics.

History of the Basel Port: This Topic Could Discuss the Development and Evolution of the Basel Port Over Time, Including Any Significant Events or Milestones.

• Basel Port construction began in the 14th century.
• First documented mention of the Basel Port in 1330.
• Significant expansion in the 19th century due to industrialization.
• Basel became an important transportation hub in the region.
• Introduction of container shipping in the late 20th century.
• Growth in trade volume and increased handling capacity.
• Modernization efforts and infrastructure upgrades.
• Basel Port plays a vital role in international trade.
• Continued development and adaptation to changing needs.
• Integration with other transportation modes, such as rail and road.

Basel, Switzerland serves as a perfect launching point for exploring the stunning sights of Europe. When it comes to Avalon Waterways river cruises, most ships dock at the convenient and well-connected Klybeckdock along Uferstrasse. This prime location ensures easy access to all that Basel has to offer, allowing travelers to seamlessly embark on an unforgettable journey. Plus, with the possibility of finding great deals on both the cruise and accommodation, Basel becomes an even more desirable starting point for your European adventure.

Where Do Avalon River Cruise Ships Dock in Basel Switzerland?

Basel, Switzerland is a popular destination for river cruises, including those offered by Avalon Waterways. When it comes to docking locations, most Avalon river cruise ships can be found at the Klybeckdock along Uferstrasse. This strategic location allows passengers to easily explore the many wonders of Basel and it’s surroundings.

The docking location at Klybeckdock also offers a great starting point for day trips to other nearby cities. You could venture out to the picturesque towns of Strasbourg, Colmar, or Freiburg, all within easy reach from Basel. Alternatively, if youd prefer to stay closer to the river, you can embark on a scenic cruise along the Rhine, taking in the stunning landscapes and charming villages along the way.

What Are the Main Attractions and Activities in Basel, Switzerland?

Basel, Switzerland’s third-largest city, boasts a vibrant cultural scene and a rich history. As for attractions, the Basel Minster, a magnificent Gothic cathedral, stands tall and offers a panoramic view of the city from it’s towers. The Kunstmuseum houses an extensive collection of art, ranging from medieval to contemporary works. Another notable site is the Tinguely Museum, dedicated to the kinetic art of Jean Tinguely.

For those interested in history, the Basel Historical Museum provides insights into the city’s past through it’s exhibitions. Strolling along the Rhine River promenade, viewing the picturesque Old Town with it’s colorful buildings, and crossing the Middle Bridge are delightful experiences.

Basel also hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, such as Art Basel, one of the world’s leading art fairs, and the Basel Carnival, known as Fasnacht, which showcases vibrant parades and masked participants.

Additionally, the city offers numerous opportunities for shopping, with iconic department stores and charming boutiques. Food enthusiasts can savor Swiss delicacies in traditional restaurants or explore the lively gastronomic scene.

Overall, Basel is a treasure trove of attractions blending art, history, and vibrant cultural experiences, ensuring visitors an enriching and memorable stay.

When planning a river cruise in Basel, Switzerland, it’s essential to know the docking times of the various cruise ships. With a multitude of options available, one popular choice is the Viking Rolf, which typically docks in Basel at 01:00 and departs at 21:00. Another renowned ship is the MS George Eliot, arriving at 06:00 and leaving at 18:00. Additionally, the AmaMora and MS Alena are scheduled to arrive in Basel at 06:00 and 07:00, respectively. Lastly, the MS Rhein Melodie is expected to dock at 07:00 and depart at 17:00. These precise timing details allow travelers to plan their itineraries effectively and make the most of their cruise experience in Basel.

What Time Does Viking Dock in Basel?

Viking River Cruise ships typically dock in Basel, Switzerland during specific times throughout the day. However, the exact docking time may vary depending on the specific ship and it’s itinerary. It’s important to check the Basel cruise ship schedule or contact Viking directly for the most up-to-date information.

One of the Viking ships, the Viking Rolf, has a docking time in Basel at 01:00 in the morning and departs at 21:00 in the evening. This schedule allows passengers to explore the city during the day and enjoy the onboard amenities and entertainment in the evening.

The MS Alena, another Viking ship, docks in Basel at 06:00 in the morning and sets sail at 18:00 in the evening. This allows passengers to make the most of their time in Basel and visit the citys many attractions and landmarks.

Similarly, the MS Rhein Melodie docks in Basel at 07:00 in the morning and departs at 17:00 in the evening. This schedule gives passengers the opportunity to explore Basel and enjoy the ships amenities before continuing their journey.

The Basel Rhine Port, conveniently situated on the Rhine River, ensures a seamless embarkation and disembarkation process for passengers. From this central location, travelers can explore the city's rich history, picturesque architecture, and cultural heritage.

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A delightful blend of old and new, Basel is Switzerland’s best-kept secret. During the holiday season, the medieval Old Town is transformed into a magical yuletide affair. Cobblestone streets are lined with wooden chalet-style huts selling all manner of festive treats and gifts. Visitors to the Christmas market can enjoy a warming cup of aromatic glühwein in a decorated boot-shaped mug. Hand-carved tree decorations, cheerfully painted ceramics and delicious food are sold from stalls throughout the city.

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More days means more to discover, with extension packages you can add before or after your Viking cruise or cruisetour. Enjoy additional days to explore your embarkation or disembarkation city, or see a new destination altogether with a choice of exciting cities. Pre & Post Cruise Extensions vary by itinerary and are subject to change.

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A delightful blend of old and new, Basel is Switzerland’s best-kept secret. During the holiday season, the medieval Old Town is transformed into a magical yuletide affair. Cobblestone streets are lined with wooden chalet-style huts selling all manner of festive treats and gifts. Visitors to the Christmas market can enjoy a warming cup of aromatic glühwein in a decorated boot-shaped mug. Hand-carved tree decorations, cheerfully painted ceramics and delicious food are sold from stalls throughout the city.

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The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Viking cruise ship

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Fast-growing Viking has one of the most diverse arrays of itineraries of any cruise line.

Not only does the California-based company offer ocean cruises in almost every corner of the world, it also offers river cruises on many of the world’s major rivers.

That’s notably different from most cruise lines. Typically, cruise lines operate either ocean cruises or river cruises but not both. That gives them a smaller range of itineraries.

For more cruise guides, tips and news, sign up for TPG’s cruise newsletter .

Viking has a particularly large footprint when it comes to European river itineraries, with a wide range of sailings on nearly every European river of any note, from the Douro in Portugal to (until recently) the Volga in Russia.

The company also operates river trips on the Nile in Egypt and the Mekong in Southeast Asia, and it just began river trips on the Mississippi River .

There are 80 river ships in Viking’s fleet — an astounding number. None of its main competitors among river lines catering to North Americans, which include Avalon Waterways, Uniworld and AmaWaterways , have anywhere near that number of vessels.

Related: First look at Viking’s stylish new Nile River ship

Among ocean cruise destinations, Viking has a major presence in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, which it considers its home turf. (The company was founded by a Norwegian family.) However, you’ll find Viking’s nine traditional ocean ships everywhere from North America to Asia and Australia.

Last year, the line began cruising to Antarctica with its first expedition ship — a type of vessel built specifically for travel to remote, hard-to-reach places. Viking now has two such vessels.

Among the line’s voyages, there’s everything from eight-day cruises in the Mediterranean to 138-day around-the-world voyages.

Overwhelmed with choices? Here are the five best Viking cruise destinations where the line can truly offer you a memorable vacation.

Scandinavia and Northern Europe

Some of Viking’s most interesting itineraries are around Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, with many beginning or ending in Norway — the homeland of the company’s founder and chairman, Torstein Hagen.

As Hagen once told me, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea are what the company considers “Viking country” — a region where it wants to dominate.

During summers, in particular, Viking devotes an unusually large number of its ships to itineraries around Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea and other Northern Europe destinations such as Iceland. Many, notably, use the relatively small but famously scenic Norwegian city of Bergen (population 286,000) as a gateway, something no other line is doing. That allows for unusual variations on the typical Baltic Sea or Norwegian fjords cruise.

The line’s most popular route in the region, “Viking Homelands,” is a two-week-long, one-way trip between Bergen and Stockholm that combines several days of exploring the fjord region of Norway’s west coast with more-typical Baltic cruise destinations such as St. Petersburg, Russia, and Helsinki.

Related: The ultimate guide to Viking ships and itineraries

Note that, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Viking has pulled the St. Petersburg stop, as well as stops in Finland and Estonia from the Viking Homelands itinerary; the trips instead feature extra stops in Norway and Denmark. It’s unlikely St. Petersburg will return to the itinerary until the war in Ukraine is resolved.

Viking also offers a 14-night itinerary that includes several stops in the northernmost part of the country above the Arctic Circle. Dubbed “Into the Midnight Sun,” the one-way route between Bergen and London is unique because it combines calls in far-north Honningsvag and Tromso, Norway, with visits to Scotland’s remote Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands. Though part of the United Kingdom, these archipelagos have ties to Norwegian and Viking history.

Itineraries that will take you from Bergen to Iceland or even as far away as France, Portugal and Spain also are available.

Viking’s Scandinavia and Northern Europe trips range widely in length from just seven nights to a whopping 28 nights.

Among the longest sailings that Viking offers that include calls in Northern Europe are one-way, 28-night voyages between Bergen and New York City. The trips include stops in Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Canada.

In Northern Europe, Viking ships mostly sail out of Bergen, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen and London as well as Reykjavik.

The Mediterranean

Viking has grown into a major player in Mediterranean sailings, with more than 30 distinct itineraries that include stops in the region.

The trips include voyages focused specifically on the Western Mediterranean or Eastern Mediterranean and some that include stops across both areas.

Typical of the latter is the line’s 14-night “Mediterranean Antiquities” routing, a one-way trip between Athens and Barcelona that stops in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Monaco, France and Spain.

More-focused Mediterranean itineraries include the line’s nine-night “Empires of the Mediterranean” voyages between Venice and Athens, which mostly concentrate on stops along the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea in Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro.

In the Mediterranean, the line’s main hubs are Barcelona; Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) and Venice, Italy; Piraeus (the port for Athens), Greece; and Istanbul.

Related: The complete guide to Viking cabins and suites  

Europe riverways

Viking is, quite simply, the giant of river cruising in Europe — at least among lines that cater to English speakers. The company operates around 70 river ships on a broad swath of the continent’s rivers — far more than any other river line catering to North Americans.

In all, the line accounts for about half of all river cruises taken by North Americans in the region. The next biggest player in Europe river cruises for North Americans, AmaWaterways, is less than half the size.

Among the rivers in Europe where Viking has a major presence are the Rhine, Main and Danube in Central Europe; the Seine, Rhone, Dordogne, Garonne and Gironde in France; the Douro in Portugal; and the Moselle and Elbe in Germany. Until recently, Viking also offered cruises on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. The voyages have been suspended since Russia invaded the country in early 2022.

On nearly all of the rivers, the line offers multiple itineraries with lengths ranging from seven nights to as many as 22 nights.

Among 10 different itineraries on the Rhine River alone, offerings range from a seven-night “Rhine Getaway” from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, to a 22-night “European Sojourn” from Amsterdam to Bucharest, Romania. The latter adds travel on the Main and Danube rivers to days on the Rhine.

Viking offers some of the most intimate and elegant cruises on the Nile, with three ships including the recently unveiled, 82-passenger Viking Osiris — one of our favorite vessels on the river.

All three of Viking’s Nile ships operate the same seven-night Nile cruise itinerary that Viking pairs with a four-night stay at a hotel in Cairo (three nights before the cruise and one night after) to create an 11-night “Pharaohs and Pyramids” tour of Egypt.

Related: The ultimate guide to Viking’s loyalty program

The cruise portion of the tour includes visits to the historic temples of Luxor, Karnak, Esna, Dendera and Abu Simbel as well as a visit to the iconic Valley of the Kings. The stay in Cairo brings a visit to the pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian Museum and other sites.

Viking Osiris is the first of four sister ships that Viking plans to launch on the Nile by 2025 as it doubles its footprint in Egypt. The vessels offer a clean-lined, Scandinavian-influenced design that mimics the look of Viking’s Europe-based vessels.

Notably, the ship features an entire deck of sprawling suites that rival anything else found on the Nile for luxury and comfort. Each comes with two full-size rooms — a large living room with a residential feel and an adjacent bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom. Each suite also has an outdoor balcony with seating for two — something you don’t always see on Nile ships.

Viking is a newcomer to cruises to Antarctica, but the destination is a big growth area for the line. Viking recently added two new, 378-passenger expedition cruise vessels specifically built to travel to the White Continent.

Dubbed Viking Octantis, the first of these vessels began sailings to Antarctica in February 2022. The second ship in the series, Viking Polaris, has just joined its sister in Antarctica this year. Together, the two ships are already making waves in the market for Antarctica cruises, in part because they have several new and unusual features.

Most notable is The Hangar, an enclosed marina that allows passengers to transfer to two of each ship’s exploratory vessels while still in the protected interior of the ship. A first for an expedition ship, it’s something that is significantly improving the experience for passengers heading out on Antarctica exploration.

Related: The 3 types of Viking ships, explained

In another first for polar expedition cruise vessels, every cabin on both Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris has floor-to-ceiling glass walls that slide partially open from the top to create a balcony-like feel.

Viking offers several Antarctic itineraries, with the typical trip starting with a night at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before a flight to Ushuaia, Argentina, to board one of the two expedition ships for an 11-night cruise to Antarctica and back. A longer version of the trip features 13 nights on board one of the ships and extra days in Antarctica.

Viking also offers Antarctica sailings that combine a visit to the White Continent with stops in the Falkland Islands, Uruguay and Brazil.

Viking Octantis, notably, also operated Viking’s first sailings around the Great Lakes this year. In 2023, both Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris will spend their summers in the Great Lakes.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

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• The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship
• A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
• 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly
• 15 ways cruisers waste money
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• What to pack for your first cruise

SPONSORED:  With states reopening, enjoying a meal from a restaurant no longer just means curbside pickup.

And when you do spend on dining, you should use a credit card that will maximize your rewards and potentially even score special discounts. Thanks to temporary card bonuses and changes due to coronavirus, you may even be able to score a meal at your favorite restaurant for free. 

These are the best credit cards for dining out, taking out, and ordering in to maximize every meal purchase.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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