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The 6 Best Bars in Basel

Basel's bar scene is growing, and its bartenders reach for regional produce, fruit brandies and gin distilled in the city. The best bars in Basel line both banks of the Rhine, from the Old Town and St. Johanns-Vorstadt to Kleinbasel and Gundeldingen. On Clarastrasse in Kleinbasel, Herz looks through a window onto the copper still of the city distillery in the same building, takes its gin from it and won Bar of the Year Switzerland at the Mixology Bar Awards in 2024 and 2025. Its founders came from Werk 8, which fills hall 8 of a former machine factory in Gundeldingen around a giant counter and was named Bar of the Year Switzerland in 2019. On the Rhine, Bar Les Trois Rois mixes locals and hotel guests under crystal chandeliers in a hotel that dates its inn to 1681. Barfly keeps more than 338 gins on St. Johanns-Vorstadt, and Renée on Klingental pairs drinks with live music and post-punk DJ nights. Renée adds a franc to its prices on event nights. These are the six we would start with.

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  1. Herz
    Cocktail Bar

    Herz

    A modern cocktail bar on Clarastrasse that is also a neighborhood room, somewhere to end a day or start a night. From the counter you can see the copper still through the window, which tells you what the house cares about.

    Clarastrasse 11, 4058 BaselTue-Sat 18-01
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  2. Bar Les Trois Rois
    Hotel Bar

    Bar Les Trois Rois

    The bar of the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois, on the Rhine at Blumenrain, in a house that has taken guests since the eighteenth century. Panelled and formal, with a terrace over the river and a classics list served to the standard the room implies.

    Blumenrain 8, 4001 Basel
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  3. Barfly
    Cocktail Bar

    Barfly

    Barfly describes itself as Basel's hidden gem, a gin bar that opened in February 2015 and has grown its collection past 338 gins, which it calls the largest selection in town. Guests who cannot choose are steered to a gin tasting board, four gins and a tonic, and there are single malts, beers and premium soft drinks for anyone not in the mood for a mixed drink. Open Tuesday to Saturday from five, in the St. Johann quarter.

    St. Johanns-Vorstadt 11, 4056 BaselTue-Thu 17:00-23:00, Fri-Sat 17:00-01:00
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  4. Das Werk 8
    Cocktail Bar

    Das Werk 8

    A bar and kitchen in the Gundeldingen quarter, in a converted works building on Dornacherstrasse. It runs themed evenings and set menus alongside the drinks, so the room works as a restaurant and a bar on the same night.

    Dornacherstrasse 192, 4053 Basel
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  5. Renée Bar
    Cocktail Bar

    Renée Bar

    Renée calls itself a bar and live venue, and lists what it is for in five words: champagne, music, drinks, wine, food. It sits on Klingental behind the barracks in Kleinbasel and runs a Culture Club program of DJ nights, seventies art rock and soul one night, synth the next, with the bar open until three on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and until midnight the rest of the week.

    Klingental 18, 4058 BaselSun-Wed 17:00-00:00, Thu-Sat 17:00-03:00
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  1. Baltazar
    Temporarily closed
    Cocktail Bar

    Baltazar

    A cocktail bar on Steinenbachgaesslein, in the lanes behind the Steinenvorstadt. Closed since 1 June 2026 while the building is renovated and the bar takes the chance to refit; the house says it expects to reopen.

    Steinenbachgaesslein 34, 4051 Basel
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These 6 are the starting point. The full BarMagazine directory covers every listed bar in Basel, with a map, filters by bar type, and new openings as we verify them.

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