I went to vitra. Basil swizerland is the town that vitra is closest to...so yeah there is tones of stuff to see. The Baylor Museum in Basel, Herzog de Merouns (sp) switching stations plus lots of other buildings, Bota buildings, the list goes on...they have a good HI hostel in Basel as well. Havent been to K-town. It is not too much further to Rounchaump if you are in Basel, so if you are driving, I am guessing its less than an hour, which by US standards is like going home from work....

i went back in 2001.

i highly suggest it...
first of all, go to basel first. you can just catch a quick train to weil-am-rhein. I picked up a great book published by birkhauser at the info center. it's an architectural guide to basel, along with great public transit maps.

anyway. the vitra design museum is fun. when i was there, i was 20, a chica, and alone, so i was freaking out excited just to see so many great buildings and chairs. plus, the xhair exhibit is cool, rold fehlbaum is interesting to read about.

if the german woman with dark hair is still working the recpetion she will totall let you photograph the interiors and the chairs.

i lived in freiburg for a year and can recommend a lot.
basel has a ton to see. it's one of the best cities i have ever visited, and the town follow's local architects successes like a sports team. it's wicked. the two botta buildings in basel are kinda crappy, but there is enough to warrant spending a few nights. strasbourg is ok. hadid has a bus station, which i rather liked as her other work leaves a lot to desire. vitra is ok, i think it's like $20 to take the tour and see the hadid feurhaus, gehry museum, and ando konferenz pavilion. the ando one is the better of the 3 by far. however, i found the grimshaw building there to be the best (it's the factory with the metal-clad exterior)

there is also a herzog + de meuron building on the other side of the tracks in weil. hadid has a second building in weil, the LFOne, which is a let down as well. i would recommend spending a day or two in freiburg, but that's probably because i lived there. it's a small town (250,000) with a pretty dense innenstadt. it has a great night life as well, and i know a good irish pub owned be an american friend of mine. i can recommend a lot for you here if you want to know more, feel free to write. however, i would purchase the "Architectural Guide Basel 1980-2000" which has info on the vitra buildings, as well as regions around basel (baselland)
zumthor has an apt. complex outside of basel that no one ever realizes. i really liked it, mose people don't. it's not in the basel guide, but i know how to get there. fly me over, and i'll be your guide.

basen-baden has a nice casino, as well as some sweet thermal baths (baden) where you can bathe with hot nekkid women. some old flabby ones too. Uelm is quite a ride from freiburg, i think it's not too far from KS, though. max bill's school is there. i would also recommend seeing a 1.fc kaiserslautern game. they're playing werder bremen in september, tickets are available now, and are really cheap. the standing room seats (stehplatz) ar elike 10 euros. can't beat that, and it's where the true fans sit. good luck.

Yes - I would agree with the above. Go to Basel and then Vitra as a side-trip. Take an architecture tour at Vitra, I believe they are free, and, though usually in German, if you don't catch it all you can always ask questions in English, and importantly, you get inside all the buildings.

I highly recommend visiting Schaulager in Basel. They had a fantastic H&deM exhibit when I visited, which is probably gone now, but nevertheless it is a great space.

meliasonvt: how funny that you should post re: the 1.fck game. i was pricing tickets just the other day. i think i'll pay for the 34 euro ones though since it's my first ever "real" i.e. non-u.s. football match and i might like to watch from nice seats.

thanks a LOT for the other suggestions y'all. i will have to digest this all and come back with more questions. then time to change the itinerary again... btw: i'm spending the following 6 days after germany going to finland and looking at a lot of aalto stuff. who here's done that trip?

i'm going to vitra in august!

tman: then you're on point. and will have to report yr findings back to me, eh?

noooooo, really, get the cheap standing area tix. it's only 2 hours. sitting sucks, and you won't experience the true fans, which are what make the game fun anway. they'll show up with their bullhorns and scarves and have a wicked fun time. unlike most american fans, they get the idiosyncrasies and strategies that make football so amazing.

the schaulager (just down from h+ dm's stellwerk-the copper switching station) has a new show, the h+dm expo ended in september, but was great to see.
when i was at vitra, the museum had a breuer expo. now it is gaetano pesce. look here for times and prices @ vitra.
oh, 16 august is the basler rheinschwimmen. the city takes over the rhine for a massive swim fest.

and so it goes