Can anyone tell me if there is an un-manned border crossing near to Basel? I am bringing some bits over from my house in France and whilst I have paperwork for it, I would rather nip through without being stopped. Thanks
Hi
There is no such thing, a mobile border patrol can be at any border crossing, at any time. Having said that, the ones on the highway (German/Swiss, French/Swiss) are always manned.
The Swiss authorities also read EF.
You might want to consider going through Kandern DE / Otterbach Zoll - manned but not so busy ( BVB Bus Nr. 55 route ). This is far better than say Rheinfelden Zoll where anti-smuggling activity has been heightened recently.
I live very close to a border crossing which is not (wo)manned all the time. but they have border patrols all over the place, day and night, both on main and minor roads. It's a bit of a lottery- you might be lucky, but there again..
If they 'catch' you crossing at a normally un-manned crossing at night, for instance, their questioning and searches are likely to be much more persistent than if you go through a manned crossing during working hours, as they'll assume that if you choose to cross there, it is for a good reason, unless you live on that route.
I'm not sure that crossing is on a highway though.
The point being that irrespective of the kind of road, the Customs have patrols day and night on every route in and out, even farm tracks. Here they even use drones from time to time. So as Castro says, there is no such thing as an un-manned crossing, as such.
I don't want to be paranoid but what if the OP asked that to smuggle drugs or kidnapped people or whatever???
I mean it's nice to help but to help "sneaking" the customs seems... naive.
The OP asked for unmanned checkpoints, and I offered none. Instead I offered a possible checkpoint that might not be that busy ( you'd still likely be checked ) so as not to delay the transit for too long.
Good point, but if you look at the OP's profile it seems unlikely.
I'm not so sure.
[](https://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/transportation-driving/27236d1305875921-basel-border-crossing-profile.jpg)
@Shazaa, I also have a few minor things.. could I chuck them in your car when you cross the un-manned border?
Transporting a minor over state lines? Isn't that naughty?
Thanks for the advice and a special thanks to Mirfield for the hilarious alteration of my profile- you clearly have way too much time on you hands. Just to reassure those who were in doubt- I am also not a drug smuggler or kidnapper- merely wishing to bring some personal items from my home in France up to Switzerland as painlessly as possible. As I suspected, there are no short cuts to this- but I just wanted to check
At least you'll save some space by not having to pack a sense of humour.
I tend to find driving through maned borders quite painless, and often quite profitable, but hey, each to their own.
Even if one were to be found, and space enough to pack it, it would get confiscated at the manned border - maybe that's why a back way in was sought.
There's a crossing that comes out on Hegenheimerstrasse that might suit.
As Castro mentioned above, the Grenzwache can be patrolling around, though.
The one near Hesingue is usually pretty quiet, never seen anyone there.
Yes, well, you would say that, wouldn't you - whether you were or not.