Canton: Basel-Landschaft
Destination: World of Dinosaurs, Birsfelden
Special guests: two very excited little boys
Interesting thing: We never knew the Rhine river had locks, but we got a chance to see two large, industrial river barges using them. Rather different to London’s cozy canals!
The year is slipping away from me and it feels like the winter cold and dark has really kicked in now. I’m trying to make it to all the cantons but I might have to pull a few swifties and re-link to old posts or even invite some guest bloggers in to help me out if I’m going to make my deadline. But you don’t care about that, do you? Here be dinosaurs!
It’s nice when a plan comes together. Basel-Landschaft seems a rather like the poor cousin of the vibrant city of Basel-Stadt (they were once one canton but separated as the result of a scuffle in 1833 and now each rates as a half-canton in Swiss politics). And yeah, from my thorough research (Google and Wikipedia) as far as I can see, Baselland is mostly comprised of the rural area around Switzerland’s 3rd largest city. I am keen to visit the Roman ruins at the outdoor museum Augusta Raurica but that’s more suited to summertime. So I was pleased to find out about this dinosaur exhibition located on a small island on the BASELLAND side of the Rhine!
Truth be told, World of Dinosaurs was looking a little sad and dishevelled on Sunday. It has been cold and damp and, while there’s snow on the higher ground, there was none here. It’s that time of year when most of the autumn leaves have fallen but none of the snowy winter or Christmas magic has quite kicked in.
No matter. Two small boys were very excited as we approached and the subzero wind lifted the netting on the netting to show a hint of Mammoth tusk and thunder-lizard tail as we circumnavigated the exterior of Dino Corral. Inside, we were one of maybe four families there? The café was closed and the ground was muddy. But it was a pretty cool display and when the sun came out, we got some nice snaps. Points too for the so-bad-it’s-good dino-scooters ride complete with onboard Schlager soundtrack.
Although he was a bit wary of them at first, right before we left, my six year-old gave the three animatronic dinosaurs the ratings of two thumbs up, two thumbs up and ten out of ten. Success.
Cantons visited / to go so far.
Basel-Landschaft
Geneva
Luzern
Neuchâtel
Uri
Vaud
Zug
Zürich
clairevetica 
Haha your posts are so entertaining and so relatable!! Keep it up and do keep warm in the upcoming colder months! If you need to be taken -virtually- to somewhere warm, we will be featuring more sunny articles!
Yay… I could use some summertime again (already!)
I didn’t realise the dinosaurs were still there! I read about them in the summer but I thought they would be gone by now!
Basel-Land isn’t all that bad. (I may or may not live there and thus may or may not be biased 😉 )
I’m sure it’s lovely in Baselland. What’s your top tip for the area? Would love some local’s knowledge for a future visit!! 🙂
Surely Canton Zürich is a shoe-in! Zug is very close (there’s a new playground on the Zugerberg I’ve been meaning to get to!) Luzern is a firm favorite, anywhere there is great 👍 👍, Geneva is slightly far as are Vaud and Neuchâtel but gosh it’s so beautiful there… well I’ve only ever driven through Uri…
https://m.zug-tourismus.ch/de/familien/Erlebnisse
There’s a new Erlebnisweg and the playground and trails at the top of the Zugerberg are great
Yes, I think Uri and Geneva are the only ones I haven’t visited in the past (although I’ve been through Uri on the train!). Luzern I’ve gone to a fair few times, including this year but only passing through… that counts, right?! 🙂
Dinosaurs are always a good reason for a daytrip, right?
BL (and SO) are hard to ‚figure out‘ because they’re spread all over!
Hey, Zug is a half hour train ride, you can totally do it! It‘s very nice at the lake or up on the Zugerberg!
Let me know I‘b happy to guest post otherwise.
I was thinking i might try for Zug this week. Will pm you! X
My sons would surely love the dinosaurs! Thanks for the tip!
Just check the dates before you go as it was ending soon! x
My kids would have loved to see the dinosaurs but Basel is quite far from where we live. However, it’s still on our to-visit list!