Hello,

I don't live in Switzerland but have been puzzling over this question so thought I'd ask for some tips from people who will know what they're talking about!

I live in the UK and am travelling to Germany for the weekend (but will also be entering France and, now it seems, Switzerland). I'm picking up a hire car from the French side of Basel airport and will be driving up to Frankfurt. I'd intended to avoid crossing into Switzerland but now I need to pick up two people at Basel Badischer Bahnhof who I'm giving a lift up to Frankfurt.

I don't however want to spend 40 CHF on a vignette just for half an hour in Switzerland. Years ago (in 1992) I drove a GB-registered car into Switzerland from St Margrethen on a minor road. The Swiss border guards let me off without buying a vignette because I told them that we were just on a day trip from Bavaria and were driving a few miles along Lake Constance. They could see we had no luggage or anything.

I also read on the airport website that the queue on the A35 down to the border can be bad. So a back route into the city might be a good idea from that perspective as well.

So... if I could ask from people on this forum which non-motorway border crossing or route you would advise to go from the French side of the airport to Basel Badischer Bahnhof and then out to Germany to join the A5, without having to buy a vignette (and without any naughty sneaking onto any Swiss motorways). I wouldn't have any customs problems as I'd just be just bringing personal items for a weekend visit and not importing anything. I'd be able to explain to police in German why I was taking back routes etc. if they stopped me, but given the various options for crossing the border I'd be very grateful for any advice. I'd be doing this at about 3pm on a Friday.

Thanks very much!

JD

PS -- My flight lands about four hours before I'm due to pick up the hire car so was going to get the bus into the centre of Basel (from about 11.30am to 3pm), just to have a little walk around and get some lunch then find a nice café to plonk myself down in. Any tips? Thanks!

Simplest route would be to join the A35 towards Basel, then come off at the next junction South (St. Louis) then cross the border at Bourgfelden. Getting through the city without motorways should only take about ten minutes and isn't too difficult to find your way. Here's the route I'd take in that situation. http://g.co/maps/cypqs
Getting out shouldn't be an issue. You could either just use the motorway anyway, on the basis that you won't be checked on leaving, or just use google maps with the 'avoid highways, avoid toll roads' options ticked, which will take you into Weil am Rhein whence you join the German Autobahn to head North.

You enter Switzerland within the Greater Basel area, and no vignettes are required in the metropolitan areas of the cities. So that there is no problem.

Come out of the Swiss exit and take the 50 bus ( the only bus) into the city. Get off at the second to last stop (Brausebad), walk the block back to the last intersection and take tram 6 into the town centre. That will take under 30 minutes in total. You could get off the tram at either Barffusserplatz, Martplatz, or the next stop, which is by the Rhine. (fischlande... sp?) Pesonally, I would suggest getting off at that one. You could then have a look at the river, before wandering back for something to eat anywhere between there and Barfusserplatz ( or check out the little side streets along the way, or even do a walk up the steep little strett by the river intersection, to take in the view by the munster.

Then either return to the airport the same way, or take any tram that goes to the SBB train staion, then swap to the 50 bus from there.

Back at the airport, you can walk through to the French section via the Swiss departure level.

When are you coming? If it is between now and the 13th, the annual Herbesfest is on. IN which case , you may want to visit part of that ( takes place in various parts of the city. - I like St Petersplatz best.)

If you do go back the same way, then note that the bus stop is not that obvious at Brausebad. It's not with the main stops, but about 25 metres further along, by a sunbed place and a PC shop called Yanni.

You can see the bus stop here, by the tree on the left.

If you catch it from SBB then this trhread describes (in some detail) where to catch the airport bus.

Thanks very much for the advice, everyone!

I'm not so sure about this, however:

	Quote:	Wollishofener
	You enter Switzerland within the Greater Basel area, and no vignettes are required in the metropolitan areas of the cities. So that there is no problem.

I've looked on the official Swiss website regarding vignettes and there's no mention of metropolitan areas not requiring a vignette on urban motorways. Looking on Google Streetview, even at the city street border crossings there are massive signs saying "Vignettenpflicht" on motorways and Schnellstrassen. I'd even be paranoid driving on the short one-junction stretch up to and over the German border without a vignette!

On the remote chance the French hire car has a vignette, I'll breathe easy but otherwise I'll bring the TomTom and go via the back roads.

With a Tom Tom, it'll be easy. When you enter the destination, it will say "Toll Charge" and ask if you want to avoid. Just answer yes and it will map a route avoiding the Swiss motorway.

It is the other way round. When leaving metropolitan areas you on the highways will see a "vignette required" sign. If you leave Zurich on the A3, the sign is somewhere between Kilchberg and Thalwil, if you drive towards Winterthur ... St. Gallen, it is near Effretikon. If you leave Luzern towards Zürich you will see it near Ebikon. They may have been removed as a result of the last simplification of street-signs, but the rule stayed the same.

Not sure where this idea came from, but I can state with total confidence that you do indeed need a vignette for the motorways from the French A35 through the Basel area. The border crossing only became an official Swiss autoroute in 2006 (or was it 2008?) when the under-Basel route was finally completed.