Sustainable Basel tips
Sustainable travel
Basel is a city that is convenient to reach using environmentally friendly means of transport such as trains. Everything is right close by in the city centre, making it easy for you to explore Basel on foot or by bike.
Getting there the climate-friendly way
If you take the train, you can quickly and easily travel to Basel from many European cities and be directly in the city centre within minutes of your arrival.
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BaselCard, the sustainable card for visitors
The BaselCard lets you travel free of charge on all public transport – starting with the trip to your hotel to check in after you arrive in the city. And for just CHF 20 a day, you can use an e-bike to get around.
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Bike city Basel
Compared with all other Swiss cities, Basel has the highest share of trips taken by bicycle. With a dense network of cycling routes, paths and other infrastructure, Basel is seeking to become the country’s most bicycle-friendly city.
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Car-free city centre
The City Park & Ride combo ticket allows you to park your car in a multi-storey car park and benefit from an hour of free parking while you inexpensively continue your journey on the tram or bus.
Find out moreSustainable accommodations
You can sleep with a clear conscience here by staying in a hotel, hostel or B&B that is committed to environmental, economic and/or social sustainability. The BaselCard is also free with every booking.
Gaia Hotel
This four-star hotel pursues a strategy of zero waste and uses organic products exclusively.
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DASBREITEHOTEL on the Rhine
This “integration hotel” puts its focus on sustainability from a social welfare and environmental standpoint, employing people with disabilities and offering guests the opportunity to rent bicycles as well as use charging stations.
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Basel Youth Hostel
In the Hotel Rating 2021, this architecturally charming hostel in Basel was named one of five most beautiful buildings of its type when compared with Switzerland’s other sustainable youth hostels.
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Hotel der Teufelhof
With its own production facilities, a non-profit association for labour integration and its cultural engagement, Teufelhof Basel is committed to supporting the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainability.
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SET Hotel.Residence
Its own manufacturing facilities that use regional products to make products for the region, a non-profit association for labour integration backed by substantial resources and an active engagement with culture are just three examples of how sustainability is brought to life at SET Hotel. Residence.
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Basel Marriott Hotel
In 2023, the Basel Marriott Hotel became the first hotel in Switzerland to receive the Operations and Maintenance (O+M) platinum certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and thus meets numerous standards for environmentally friendly, resource-conserving and sustainable construction.
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Hotel Odelya
Hotel Odelya is certified under “ibex fairstay gold” – a leading Swiss sustainability accreditation. In addition, the hotel is involved in the “OK:GO” and “Too Good To Go” initiatives.
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Novotel Basel City
To showcase its commitment, Novotel Basel City has taken the necessary steps to obtain Green Key certification. The Green Key certificate is the leading standard for outstanding accomplishments in environmental responsibility and sustainable operations across the tourism industry.
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Mövenpick Hotel Basel
The sustainable approach of Mövenpick Hotel is based on a holistic concept which encompasses the protection of the environment as well as the well-being of employees and local communities. The methodology is based on three key components: environment, employers and social sustainability.
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ibis Styles Basel City
As part of its efforts towards sustainability, ibis Styles Basel City relies on 100% renewable energy and invests at least 10% of profits into sustainability/community projects.
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ibis budget Basel City
As part of its efforts towards sustainability, ibis budget Basel City relies on 100% renewable energy and invests at least 10% of profits into sustainability/community projects.
Find out moreWining and dining sustainably
A growing number of restaurants in Basel are primarily offering cuisine made with organic ingredients from the region and also helping to prevent food waste.
Zum goldenen Fass
All the dishes on this restaurant’s concise menu are carefully chosen to include natural and sustainable products – without long transport routes, as the ingredients all come from Basel and the surrounding region.
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Tibits
Everything served in this cosy buffet eatery is vegan or vegetarian and nearly everything on offer is organic. Sustainability is a key component of the restaurant’s philosophy.
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Cantina Don Camillo
A vegan four-course meal, natural wines and a cordial atmosphere are a matter of course at this restaurant.
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Unternehmen Mitte
With the sworn credo of making the best out of the simplest of ingredients, the largest coffee house in Basel operates an organic restaurant as well as a mobile coffee bar on the Rhine.
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Nooch
Together with its long-standing partner Too Good To Go, the restaurant chain has already saved more than 185,000 meals from being thrown away.
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Brasserie au violon
The brasserie au violon not only stands out for its resource-conserving philosophy, but also for the ambiance of a traditional French brasserie, combined with sophisticated and refined cuisine.
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Restaurant Bel Etage im Teufelhof
The Bel Etage restaurant at the Teufelhof offers product-oriented and unpretentious gourmet cuisine prepared to the highest standards, while placing great importance on seasonality.
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Negishi Steinen
Negishi works with suppliers who ensure socially and ecologically sustainable production and delivery conditions.
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Buvette7 – Flora am Rhy
Buvette7 opened in spring 2023 as Basel’s first buvette with a Net Zero strategy.
Find out moreOther restaurants and cafés with sustainable concepts:
Zero-waste takeaway
Have you got your own lunch box with you? Over 60 restaurants and cafés offer takeaway food and drink in reusable containers. These establishments can be identified via the “Basel isst abfallfrei” (“Basel eats out with zero waste”) sticker at the entrance, or they can be found online on this map:
abfallfrei.chShopping sustainably
Fair fashion, flea markets, zero-waste shops and second-hand shops promote conscientious consumption, a trend that is certainly here to stay.
Fashion and lifestyle | |
| Second-hand fashion | |
| Sustainable shops |
Food | |
| Zero-waste shops | |
| Organic shops | |
| Sustainable indulgence |
Markets | |
| Various markets |
Living and household maintenance | |
| Upcycling and repair | |
| Tools and material | |
| Second-hand shops |
Discover Basel sustainably
Decelerate your visit on a sustainable basis by taking climate-friendly means of transport that cause no harm to humans, animals or the environment we all share. Workshops and special guided tours will enable you to gain even more insight into the sustainable projects in Basel.
Tour the city with Basel by Bike
You will be able to quickly explore the most beautiful and unmissable places in Basel as you are taken on a guided bike tour that ranges far beyond the core of the city centre.
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The Rhine ferries
The four ferries are each attached to a long wire cable and are driven by the flow of the Rhine itself.
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Take a guided tour in Erlenmatt
In northern Basel, a former freight depot has been transformed into a vibrant new quarter. The new area sets the standard for sustainable development in the city and offers a glimpse of Basel’s future.
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Take a guided tour with StadtHonig
Learn more about biodiversity in the city as you accompany a beekeeper on a visit to a bee colony in the middle of Basel.
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Basel is a “green” city
Basel’s parks and gardens are designed and maintained in a manner that is particularly sustainable, and the conferral of the Green City Switzerland award is an acknowledgement of this environmental effort.
Find out moreOther activities:
- Workshops by Urbanroots, including Urban Gardening
- Sustainable city tours conducted by Green City Basel
- Workshops by Offcut, including Creative Upcycling
- Workshops by MacherSchaft, including Repairing Bikes
