Bern's leap into the Reformation was followed soon after by Basel, but Protestant theology was no new idea in this city. The wealthiest and most literary city in Switzerland in the early 16th century, Basel was home to a highly-regarded university and some of the most important humanist thinkers of its day. Key among those was Erasmus, Father of Renaissance Humanism, whose 1516 edition of the Greek New Testament made the Protestant Reformation possible. Oecolampadius was also from Basel, an expert debater, scholar and consensus-builder, and Froben Printers, the printing house which published the writings of its local scholars. Basel's humanist influence had a profound impact on the thinking of Luther, Zwingli, Thomas More, the Anabaptists and many others.

Highlights of a visit to Basel include stops at the Historical Museum, housed inside the former Franciscan Barfüsserkirche (Church of the Shoeless Friars), with its collection medieval and Renaissance religious and secular items; the 13th-century Mittlere Rheinbrücke (Middle Rhine Bridge); and the 13th-century Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church), adjacent to a lovely park and the University of Basel. Don't miss the Münster (cathedral), which began as a 9th-century Carolingian church, and received subsequent additions in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. The façade of the north transept (the Galluspforte) dates from the 12th century and is the oldest surviving carved portal in German-speaking Europe; inside Erasmus is buried in a simple grave.