Coach Hire Across Switzerland

Cruise Transfers: Rhine Ships at Basel and the Lake Piers

Rhine river cruises start and end in Basel, and the lake boats in Luzern and Geneva turn up in many group programmes. Each time, the first job is the same: find out exactly which landing stage or pier.

Basel has three landing stages

A Rhine ship may tie up at St. Johann, on the Grossbasel side, or across the water at Klybeckquai or Dreiländereck in Kleinbasel. The two banks are not interchangeable, so read the stage from the cruise documents, not from the ship's name. St. Johann is about ten minutes on foot from the city centre.

Nothing official says where a coach may stand at the ships. Basel's coach places cost nothing but cannot be booked, so the operator fixes the waiting spot before the ship docks. By road, EuroAirport is roughly 10 km from the river, Zurich Airport roughly 92 km.

Setra high-capacity coach, exterior
Setra high-capacity coach, exterior

Luzern and Geneva

In Luzern the lake steamers sail from the Bahnhofquai, straight across from the station, using six numbered piers. The nearest coach stop is the Inseliquai beside the KKL: set-down and pick-up, no parking, no voucher. The coach then waits at a coach park.

Geneva has four boat piers on the city shore, Mont-Blanc, Pâquis, Jardin Anglais and Eaux-Vives, and none of them has an official coach stop. The operator settles a place nearby. Genève-Cornavin station is about 1 km from Mont-Blanc.

Rules worth knowing before you book

  • Basel's Rhine cruise ships use three locations: the St. Johann terminal (Grossbasel bank, about ten minutes on foot from the city centre) and Klybeckquai and Dreiländereck (Kleinbasel bank), so check the landing stage on the cruise documents
  • The Lake Lucerne boats leave from piers 1 to 6 at the Luzern Bahnhofquai, opposite Luzern station; the nearest coach stopping place is the Inseliquai next to the KKL, where coaches may set down and pick up but not park

Ship groups and foreign coaches

A cruise group sometimes arrives with a coach from home. That coach may bring the group into Switzerland and take it out again. What it may not do, if its operator is based in the EU, is run a trip that starts and ends inside Switzerland, such as an excursion from the ship in Basel to Luzern and back. Those legs need a Swiss-based vehicle.

What organisers ask us

When should the coach be at the landing stage?

The ship gives a disembarkation time. Book the coach for it, give the driver the ship's name and the stage, and allow time to load the cases into the holds.

Can the coach go from the ship straight to an airport?

Yes. Zurich Airport is about 92 km from the Basel stages. EuroAirport is closer but lies in France: groups flying from there use its Swiss sector.

Are the Basel landing stages step-free?

Yes. All are barrier-free, and the St. Johann terminal has a lift and an escalator.

Destinations

Vehicles, each with a driver