Your Basel Badischer to Strasbourg train travel starts here

Strasbourg (UK: , US: , French: [stʁazbuʁ, stʁasbuʁ]; Bas Rhin Alsatian: Strossburi [ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁi], Haut Rhin Alsatian: Strossburig [ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁiɡ̊]; German: Straßburg [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊʁk]) is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European ParliamentLocated at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin department In 2017, the city proper had 280,966 inhabitants and both the Eurométropole de Strasbourg (Greater Strasbourg) and the Arrondissement of Strasbourg had 494,089 inhabitantsStrasbourg's metropolitan area had a population of 785,839 in 2016 (not counting the section across the border in Germany), making it the ninth-largest metro area in France and home to 13% of the Grand Est region's inhabitantsThe transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 958,421 inhabitants.Strasbourg is one of the de facto three main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels and Luxembourg), as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Eurocorps and the European Ombudsman of the European Union.

An organization separate from the European Union, the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines most commonly known in French as "Pharmacopée Européenne" its European Audiovisual Observatory) is also located in the city Together with Basel (Bank for International Settlements), Geneva (United Nations headquarters in Europe) and New York City (United Nations world headquarters), Strasbourg is among the few cities in the world not being a state capital and hosting international organisations of the first orderThe city is the seat of many non-European international institutions such as the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human RightsIt is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris. Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centreStrasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second-largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.

Basel ( BAH-zəl, German: [ˈbaːzl̩]) or Basle ( BAHL; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈleːa]) is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river RhineBasel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zürich and Geneva) with about 180,000 inhabitants.Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and GermanyAs of 2016, the Swiss Basel agglomeration was the third-largest in Switzerland, with a population of 541,000 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland (municipal count as of 2018)The initiative Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB) of 62 suburban communes including municipalities in neighboring countries, counted 829,000 inhabitants in 2007Basel is the most densely populated city in Switzerland. The official language of Basel is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local Basel German dialect. The city is known for its many internationally renowned museums, ranging from the Kunstmuseum, the first collection of art accessible to the public in Europe (1661) and the largest museum of art in the whole of Switzerland, to the Fondation Beyeler (located in Riehen).

The University of Basel, Switzerland's oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism, have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe for such notable people as Erasmus of Rotterdam, the Holbein family, Friedrich Nietzsche, and in the 20th century also Hermann Hesse and Karl Jaspers. The city of Basel is Switzerland's second-largest economic centre after the city of Zürich and has the highest GDP per capita in the country, ahead of the cantons of Zug and GenevaIn terms of value, over 94% of Basel City's goods exports are in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectorsWith production facilities located in the neighboring Schweizerhalle, Basel accounts for 20% of Swiss exports and generates one third of the national product.Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, and joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1501The city has been a commercial hub and an important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the 20th centuryIn 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl as the location for the first World Zionist Congress, and altogether the congress has been held there ten times over a time span of 50 years, more than in any other location.