If you are like me, I must stay in touch via the Internet and cell phone when away from home and office. In order to do that, I decided on two things here in Basel.
First of all, I got an unlocked cell phone prior to leaving home that would accept SIM cards. My main phone in the USA is a Verizon cell and they do not accept such cards.
You do have the option of making arrangements with your US provider to enable your phone to work here in Europe however, the cost is about $ 1.00 per min. and that is far more than you need to spend.
I suggest in Basel that you go to the Mibile Zone store in the Market Platz and purchase a pre-paid SIM card for the Lebara network. This card can be as inexpensive as $ 14.95 and then you load as much onto the phone prior to use as you wish.
When you do this, you can accept calls from anyone free of charge ( airtime free ) while here in Switzerland. You may also make calls to other countries very cheaply from your cell. As an example, you can call the USA for $ .09 per min. which is far better than what your provider will charge you.
I was here for 10 days and made many calls to home and still have money left on my phone card for the next trip. I started with $ 50.00 on my phone. You may start with whatever figure you want from $ 10.00 and up.
You will also have a local Swiss phone number to give the hotel, hospital, and whomever you wish in order to be reached when needed. An example of how important this is, the hospital was able to reach me to request I return after Sherrie was discharged in order to provide bank info to them. After the treatment and after I made payment in full with my credit card, Highmark Blue Cross/ Blue Shield decided to pay for the treatment in full. The hospital needed to reach me to refund my money. Had I not made arrangements for a phone and provided it to the hospital, that would have had to await my return home for letters, ect… That in itself was worth the entire cost of the phone and phone card to me.