Cheapest€47.34
- European Air Transport EA666306:2758m07:25Köln CGNBasel BSL
Door to door 4h 8mCO2 95.7 kgChanges 0Fixed, no changes
Travelling from Cologne to Basel costs €47.34 at the cheapest and takes 3h 20m door to door at the fastest, across 2 modes and 2 operators. The route covers 382 km. Cheapest is by Train, fastest is by Train.
At a glance
- Distance
- 382 km
- Fastest
- 3h 20m
- Average
- 3h 44m
- Services per day
- 7
- Cheapest
- €47.34
- CO2 per passenger
- 40.2 kg
Every way to make this journey
Journey times below are door to door, so they include getting to the terminal and away from it at the other end. Fares are the cheapest we currently sell on 29 September 2026.
| Mode | Door to door | Moving | At the ends | From | CO2 | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train | 3h 24m | 2h 40m | 44m | €50.94 | 12.5 kg | 5 |
| Flight | 4h 8m | 58m | 3h 10m | €56.78 | 95.7 kg | 2 |
- 3h 24mFastest, by Train
- €50.94Cheapest, by Train
- 12.5 kgLowest CO2, by Train
- 382 kmDistance travelled
The cheapest and the fastest on 29 September 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Fastest€57.54
- DB Fernverkehr DB374106:152h 40m08:55Koln HauptbahnhofBasel SBB
Door to door 3h 24mCO2 12.5 kgChanges 0Refundable
Today's real departures
Live from the operators' own published timetables, through the open transit feeds they publish. Times and services are real. Fares are modelled until our booking connectors are live.
No live timetable for this journey yet.
Live from the operators' own published timetables, through the open transit feeds they publish. Times and services are real. Fares are modelled until our booking connectors are live.
Prices over the next three weeks
Live from our own engine, refreshed on every request. The cheapest days for each way of travelling are marked.
| Cheapest fare by mode and day for Cologne to Basel | Thu10 Sept | Fri11 Sept | Sat12 Sept | Sun13 Sept | Mon14 Sept | Tue15 Sept | Wed16 Sept | Thu17 Sept | Fri18 Sept | Sat19 Sept | Sun20 Sept | Mon21 Sept | Tue22 Sept | Wed23 Sept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train | €140.59 | €110.34 | €100.99 | €89.99 | €66.34 | €60.84 | €88.89 | €65.24 | €59.19 | €63.04 | €64.69 | €50.94 | €56.99 | €70.19 |
| Flight | €122.27 | €80.38 | €102.80 | €63.27 | €65.63 | €69.76 | €72.12 | €74.48 | €63.86 | €56.78 | €58.55 | €58.55 | €56.78 | €62.09 |
Cheapest day: 2026-09-29 · €47.34
Basel sits on the water, which usually settles which side of town you want to wake up on. Rooms are not ours to sell.
A room in Basel for the night the flight gets in
Sort by distance from Basel SBB and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Basel on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Cologne to Basel
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €37.3190 days
- €41.5960 days
- €40.2645 days
- €42.6230 days
- €52.0421 days
- €62.0914 days
- €72.127 days
- €100.993 days
- €122.271 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 90 days ahead, at €37.31.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 228 percent. The dearest point is €122.27, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 90 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €58.55Sun
- €50.94Mon
- €56.78Tue
- €62.09Wed
- €65.24Thu
- €59.19Fri
- €57.37Sat
How the fare moves month by month
The same journey priced on the fifteenth of each of the next six months.
- €60.84Sept
- €45.44Oct
- €44.98Nov
- €38.49Dec
- €36.13Jan
- €34.44Feb
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 43% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 57% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 382 km against 378 km in a straight line, a detour of 1 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Koblenz, Saarbrücken, Freiburg, Luxembourg. The gap between arriving and leaving is 49 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Cologne at 06:15 and the last at 14:02, across 5 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Köln
Rail
- Koln Hauptbahnhof
- Köln Hbf
- Köln-Lövenich
Coach
- Koln Breslauer Platz
- Wahn S-Bahn
Air
- CGN
Ferry
- Weiß - Zündorf
- Zündorf - Weiß
Basel
Rail
- Basel SBB
- Liestal
- Laufen
Coach
- Basel Meret Oppenheim
- Dornach Bahnhof
Air
- BSL
Ferry
- Basel Schifflände
- Basel St. Alban-Tal
BSL is not in Basel, and the road in from it is the part of the trip nobody plans. We sell the flight and stop at the terminal door.
Getting from BSL into Basel
A price agreed before you fly, a driver at arrivals, and a car big enough for the bags.
Book a transfer from BSL with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DB Fernverkehr | €48.74 | 3h 20m | 140 km/h | Refundable | Power sockets, Wi-Fi |
 European Air Transport | €47.34 | 4h 5m | 740 km/h | Fixed fare | Not published |
What the fare is made of
Every part of the total, so the number at checkout is the number here.
| Part | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Operator fare | €32.50 | 69% |
| Taxes | €5.85 | 12% |
| Supplier fees | €7.00 | 15% |
| Our service fee | €1.99 | 4% |
| Total you pay | €47.34 | 100% |
Check-in is at three and you will be in Basel well before then. Lockers are not something we run.
Where to leave your bags in Basel
Priced by the bag and by the day, booked before you get there, and insured while it sits.
Check Basel on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Cologne to Basel
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Cologne to Basel?
The fastest journey from Cologne to Basel takes 3h 20m door to door, of which 2h 40m is spent moving, on the Train. Most services take around 3h 44m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Cologne to Basel?
The cheapest fare from Cologne to Basel is €47.34, checked on 29 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €65.24. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Cologne to Basel?
The cheapest way from Cologne to Basel is by Train, at €50.94 for one passenger on 29 September 2026. That journey takes 3h 24m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
What is the fastest way to get from Cologne to Basel?
The fastest way from Cologne to Basel is by Train, at 3h 24m door to door. Only 2h 40m of that is spent moving; the remaining 44m is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. The cheapest fare on that mode is €50.94.
When should I book Cologne to Basel?
Fares from Cologne to Basel bottom out around 90 days before departure, at €37.31. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 228 percent, measured on 29 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Cologne to Basel?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Cologne to Basel, at €50.94. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, checked on 29 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Cologne to Basel?
February is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Cologne to Basel, at €34.44 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Cologne to Basel?
2 operators sell services from Cologne to Basel across 2 modes: DB Fernverkehr, European Air Transport. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Cologne to Basel?
43 percent of the services we sell from Cologne to Basel are direct. The rest connect at Koblenz, Saarbrücken, Freiburg, Luxembourg, with about 49 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Cologne to Basel produce?
Travelling from Cologne to Basel by Train produces about 12.5 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Flight produces about 95.7 kg, roughly 8 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Cologne to Basel use?
Services from Cologne to Basel by Train leave from Koln Hauptbahnhof and arrive at Basel SBB. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Cologne to Basel?
1 of the 2 operators we sell from Cologne to Basel allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modelled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Cologne to Basel on 9 September 2026: 382 km of route against 378 km in a straight line, 7 services a day, 2 operators, a cheapest fare of €47.34, and 3h 20m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Plenty of what is worth seeing sits outside Basel and elsewhere in Switzerland. None of it is ours to sell.
Day trips out of Basel and across Switzerland
Timed entry, guided walks and half-day trips out of Basel, with free cancellation on most of it.
See Basel on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
Other ways to make this journey
Arriving in Basel
Leaving Basel
- 207Places you can leave for
- 41Countries
- 54Operators
Plan a trip from here
Ask Ori for the same corridor under a different constraint, or for a longer trip that starts on it.