This may highlight our nerdiness (and Andrew’s love for spreadsheets) but we keep a spreadsheet of all the fun events, spots we find interesting, and cool things to do within Switzerland handy in case we find ourselves with a free weekend! With access to a pretty awesome rail network the possibilities are plenty. Basel is maybe one of the less popular cities to visit but that made us even more curious as to what it was all about. It’s on the border of France and Germany so we said why not! Basel is a city of art and it’s no secret while you’re there! Random street art dots the corners, boho cafés, galleries full of interesting pieces in its windows, and food truck locales all eluded to its artistic side.

The Rhine river runs through Basel and gives the locals a popular pastime, floating! We stood on the bridge over the river watching many people float along with nothing but their dry bag. It a funny sight as its right through the center of the city! There are also some nice chocolatiers so we had to stop and share a couple chocolates before exploring old town.

From Basel we decided to make the short train to Colmar, France and spend a few days. If you want to walk through a fairy tale you NEED to visit. It’s popular for its Christmas market but I think the flowers and greenery accentuate the fairy taleness just as much! The entire city has the vibe, not just one square. The area around Colmar is full of small towns that are just as noteworthy. It’s also on the Alsace Route du Vin which many people bike, stopping at the abundant number of wineries along the way.

We snagged some bikes ourselves and went to the nearby village of Eguisheim. It was voted by the French as the most beautiful village in France back in 2013 and I doubt much has changed since then because it was stunning! It was difficult to take a bad photo. It doesn’t take long to see the whole town and exceeded any expectations we had! There were so many day trips from Colmar that we had to go on another one before leaving. With so many wineries available we picked Cattin to visit, set high on the hill overlooking the area. Needing to work off all the delicious meats and sweets of the trip we chose to run/walk there. This was a pretty bold choice as it was 13 miles round trip but hey, we had time. Plus, the route there took us through acres of vineyards which isn’t a shabby view for a run. We strategically only tasted 4 wines but they were very nice!

Our fall so far has been pretty hectic! We have some news that we will explain in our next post. Spoiler alert… we are looking at new apartments… and they aren’t in Switzerland! We also just returned from one of the best trips to date: Italy. Chat soon!