Basel

Basel is the quiet sophisticate of Swiss cities — a Rhine port where pharmaceutical fortunes underwrite one of the densest concentrations of art on earth. Nearly forty museums stand within a town of moderate size: the Kunstmuseum, the oldest public art collection in the world, and the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Renzo Piano's pavilion of light. Each June, Art Basel turns the city into the centre of the global art market, collectors and museum directors converging from every continent. Erasmus taught here; Holbein painted here. The elite come for the fairs and the foundations, but also for Basel's particular temperament: humanist, unshowy, and utterly serious about beauty.

From Zurich, the A3 carries you northwest through the Fricktal toward the Rhine, an hour of easy motorway before the city's towers appear. During Art Basel week, FFGR clients favour the V-Class VIP — advisors and acquisitions travelling together in conference comfort — while the S-Class serves the private collector travelling alone. Your chauffeur has prepared the geography in advance: the Messeplatz approach, the timed entries, the crossing to the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen between viewings. He holds position through the long fair hours, the cabin cool, water and quiet waiting. Crated purchases, gallery deliveries, a discreet detour to a freeport — all handled without a word needing to be said.

There is only one address: Les Trois Rois, on the Rhine since 1681, where the river slides past the terrace and the Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl holds three Michelin stars. During the fair, dinner there is the evening's true vernissage. Beyond the halls, reserve a private hour at the Fondation Beyeler among the Monets and Rothkos, and cross to the Vitra Campus just over the German border for Gehry, Ando and Zaha Hadid in a single meadow. A last espresso on the terrace, the Rhine swimmers drifting past below. Your chauffeur brings the car around. Basel concludes itself perfectly.