Basel City Guide - Resorts & Excursions

The remains of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine can be found some 12km (7.5 miles) to the east of Basel. Augusta Raurica was established as a Roman town in 44 BC and became a prosperous provincial capital in the first and second centuries before Alemanni tribes destroyed it around 260 AD. Possibly as many as 20,000 people lived in Augusta Raurica before its destruction. Among the ruins archaeologists have managed to excavate a classical theatre, temples, taverns, a forum and much else. The Roman Museum, Glebenacherstrasse 17, Augst (tel: (061) 816 2222; website: www.augusta.raurica.ch) by the site gives all the information you need about Augusta Raurica.

Another place to visit from Basel is the Vitra Design Museum, Charles-Eames-Strasse 1, Weil am Rhein (tel: 00 49 (0)7621 702 3200/90; website: www.design-museum.de) on the German side of the border. It is one of the world's foremost museums for industrial design and architecture and was itself designed by Frank Gehry. Other buildings in the complex were designed by Nicholas Grimshaw, Tadao Ando and Alvaro Siza. The museum produces exhibitions, workshops and publications as well as maintaining an extensive collection, an archive, and a research library.