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Car hire at Basel Airport - The Best of Switzerland

Basel Airport is an international air transportation hub located near the borders of Switzerland, France and Germany. It serves the three cities of Basel (Switzerland), Mulhouse (France) and Freiburg (Germany). Its unique location allows travellers to visit all three countries at the same time! Although the airport is located entirely within French territory, it is operated jointly by France and Switzerland, with a governing board comprising members from Switzerland, France and Germany.

With over forty museums of every description, Basel is a top cultural destination conveniently situated right in the very heart of Europe. Picturesque and very well preserved, the city's lovely Old Town is bursting with tourist appeal with visitors spoilt for choice when it comes to attractions, such as Basel Minster, the Barfüsserkirche, City Hall, the Museum der Kulturen and Tinguely Fountain. A particular family favourite is the Toy Museum (Spielzeug Welten Museum) with more than 6,000 exhibits, including dolls, stuffed animals and carousels.

With a car hire from Basel Airport, you can visit the city's 16th-century botanical garden before driving out to the 140 square-kilometre Naturpark Thal in the heart of the Solothurn Jura mountain range. Basel also serves as an excellent gateway to the rest of Switzerland, with Berne just over an hour's drive to the south and Zurich around 50 miles south-east of the city. From Basel you can easily reach Lake Lucerne and Mount Titlis in Central Switzerland as well as many other popular alpine retreats.

Founded in 1954, Auto Europe is one of the world’s longest-established car hire companies. We work with all the top vehicle providers (both international and local), including Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Alamo, Dollar, Enterprise, Europca, Sixt, etc. You can book a cheap car rental at Basel Airport in a few clicks of the mouse through Auto Europe's high-tech booking engine or simply by getting in touch with Auto Europe for assistance. Find out what other customers thought of their recent Auto Europe car rental experience in the city by reading the comments they left on our Basel car hire reviews page.

Airport Information

Located 6 km (3.7 miles) north-west of Basel (Switzerland), 22 km (14 miles) south-east of Mulhouse (France) and 70 km (43 miles) south of Freiburg (Germany), Basel Airport is one of Switzerland's main gateways, plus it is one of the very few airports in the world operated jointly by two different countries. Several million passengers pass through it annually, with numbers expected to keep on growing in the coming years. The top ten international destinations to and from Basel Airport are Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, London (Gatwick), London (Heathrow), Pristina, Hamburg, Porto and Frankfurt, plus it also serves as a base for easyJet Switzerland with dozens of weekly flights to popular European city and leisure destinations.

Basel Airport (BSL)
Address: Saint-Louis Cedex, F-68304, France
Telephone: +33 3 89 90 31 11
Airlines operating at Basel Airport: The list of the most important airlines operating at Basel Airport includes Aegean Airlines, Air Albania, Air Algérie, Air Arabia, Air Cairo, Air France Hop, Air Transat, AnadoluJet, Austrian Airlines, British Airways (London–Heathrow), Brussels Airlines, Chair Airlines, Corendon Airlines, easyJet (Bristol, Edinburgh, London–Gatwick and Manchester), Eurowings, FlyEgypt, Helvetic Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Nouvelair, Pegasus Airlines, Ryanair (Dublin), SunExpress, TUI fly, Tunisair, Turkish Airlines, Vueling and Wizz Air..

Where to pick up my car hire at Basel Airport

To pick up your car rental at Basel Airport, just head for the car rental desks on the second level of the terminal (halls 1 and 4), including Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt. They all have their offices on the second floor of the main terminal building in both the Swiss and French sectors.

Car hire operating hours

	Budget at Basel Airport Terminal Building, Basel, Switzerland4030 +41 61 325 2840	Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-11pm and Sat & Sun 8am-11pm
	Enterprise at Basel Airport Terminal Building Basel, Switzerland 4030 +41 848 445 522	Opening Hours: Daily 7am-11pm
	Hertz at Basel Airport Terminal Building Basel, Switzerland 4030 +41 61 325 27 80	Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7.30am-11pm, Sat 8am-11pm and Sun 8.30am-11pm
	Sixt at Basel Airport Terminal Building Basel, Switzerland 4030 +41 848 884 444	Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-11pm, Sat 7.30am-10pm and Sun 8.30am-11pm

Terminals

Basel Airport consists of a single terminal building across four levels and featuring a Y-shaped gate area. The basement (Level 1) provides access to the main car park, the ground floor (Level 2) features the arrivals facilities and Level 3 contains the check-in area divided into halls 1–4 (the departure gates are located on Level 4). The gate area features gates 1–2, 20–46, 60–61 and 78–87, of which gates 22–32 are used for non-Schengen flights. Six of the boarding gates have jet bridges, while the others are used for walking or bus transfers. As with other parts of the airport, the landside areas are uniquely divided into French and Swiss parts.

Airport Facilities

Basel Airport is a busy international located in the heart of Europe, which means that passengers can expect a full quota of on-site facilities and amenities. There are several ATMs (Switzerland is a major financial centre), postal and copying services, plugs for electrical devices (such as iPads and smartphones, etc.) and free Wi-Fi access is available throughout the entire airport. There's a modern business centre located on the premises with ten conference rooms and the EuroAirport Skyview Lounge is located on the Departures level. There are several Duty-free shops in the international departures area which are available to all passengers travelling to non-Schengen destinations. There is also a Duty-free shop in the main arrivals area for international passengers travelling into Switzerland. The Restaurant & Brasserie is the airport's very popular food court (on Level 5), which is in close proximity to La Fourchette Suisse (also on Level 5 at the viewing platform), both of which serve the French and Swiss sectors of the airport. There are several coffee shops and bars on levels 2, 3 and 4 as well as stores selling press, books, tobacco, sweets, etc. There are ramps, adapted toilets and telephones, accessible counters and lifts for passengers with reduced levels of mobility.

How to get to and from Basel Airport

For passengers picking up or dropping off their car hire at Basel Airport, the main entrance/exit can be reached via the A35 motorway from Mulhourse and Basel on route 5 southbound from Freiburg. Local transport company BVB runs a bus service (the number 50) from Basel Airport to Basel Train Station on the Swiss side, with a journey time of around 20 minutes outside the rush hour. Distribus' route number 11 connects the airport with St Louis Train Station (a journey time of 10 minutes) from which regular trains connect with Mulhouse. Flixbus also runs services to Zurich, Freiburg, Colmar and Strasbourg. There's a large and very well-organised taxi rank in front of the main Arrivals Hall that allows travellers to get to the centre of Basel in just 10-15 minutes. Please note that there isn’t a direct connection between Basel Airport and the ity's railway network.

Parking Tips

Over 4,000 spaces are available in several car parks in and around the inner city for people who rent a car at Basel Airport. In addition, paid on-street parking is also allowed in certain parts of the city (do not forget to buy a ticket from the machine and place it on your dashboard to avoid a heft fine). For parking in Basel's blue zone, you will need to buy a parking disc at a post office, set the time of your arrival and place it in the car window, after which you will be able to park for free up to 1.5 hours. A good alternative is park your car hire from Basel Airport at one of the Park & Ride car parks, which are situated conveniently near the city's bus, tram and train stations (day and even monthly passes are available for these). There are several parking areas open 24 hours a day both on the French and the Swiss sides. In front of the terminal, there is a passenger pick-up and drop-off area which is free for 20 minutes and provides charging stations for electric vehicles (maximum stay: 4 hours).

Useful links

Basel Airport