Bern Tourism - Travel to Bern
Bern (in english usually Berne), the capital of Switzerland, is a small- to medium-sized city with a population of about 130'000 which sits on peninsula formed by the meandering turns of the river Aare. The remarkable design coherence of the Bern's old town has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It features 4 miles of arcaded walkways along streets decked out with fountains and clock-towers.
The main language spoken in Bern is Bernese-German, one of the many Swiss-German dialects which all vary greatly not only from what the Swiss call Hoch Deutsch/High German, but also among each other. Because of these differences, even Germans are often not able to follow Swiss-German talking. Like all Swiss-German dialects, Bernese-German is only a spoken language. For writing, the standard German (Hoch Deutsch/High German) is used. But due to the big popularity among Swiss, Swiss-Germen is more and more often used as a written language in advertisements and personal communications as well, though as no special spelling for the words exist, one is allowed to write whatever seems appropriate. In schools and Universities, children and students are taught only using standard German. Thus allowing almost all Swiss to understand their northern neighbors from Germany.
English seems to be supplanting French as the favorite second language of the Bernese, but both are widely spoken, especially as the canton of Bern is a bilingual canton (German/French).
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Understand Bern Tourism
Bern was founded in 1191 by Duke Berthold V von Zähringen and was part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was made an free imperial city by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1218 after Berthold died without an heir.
In 1353 Bern joined the Swiss confederation. After several successful conquers, Bern became the largest independent city state north of the alps. It was occupied by French troops in 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars, and was stripped of most of its territories. The city became the Swiss capital in 1848.
Get into Bern
Bern is located in the center of Switzerland and is very well connected with the rest of the country.
By airplane
Bern's small international airport (http://www.alpar.ch) with direct flights from Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Munich and Vienna lies just a few kilometers south of the city. If you don't exit the plane as one of the first, you may suddently end up without a taxi when exiting the terminal as the few available have already been taken. But new taxis arrive usually within a few minutes. A taxi ride into the city is approx. CHF 30. Alternatively, the airport shuttle bus takes you to the railway station in the center of Bern for 14 CHF.
Travel to Bern By Train
Bern is on the main line of the Swiss Federal Railway between Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich and is served twice per hour by express (Inter-City) trains from the airports of each of these cities. Hourly express trains take you into all directions, including Basel, Fribourg, Brig and Interlaken.
Travel to Bern By car
Bern is easily reachable with the national motorway network from all directions.
Travel to Bern By Bus
Get around in Bern
See Bern
Bern is chock full of history and thus museums. It also has quite a bit of public art, all of which is marked on a walking map which is available from the tourist office in the train station for 1 Chf.
- Einsteinhaus, Kramgasse 49, +41 31 312 00 91 (webmaster@einstein-bern.ch, fax: +41 31 312 00 41). 10am to 5pm (4pm Saturdays) March to October, 1pm to 5pm (Noon to 4pm Saturdays) March and February. Albert Einstein rented this small flat with his wife during his years working at the Swiss patent office. Their first child, Hans Albert, and the special and general theories of relativity were born here, where Einstein's writing desk overlooked the busy street and its lovely clock-tower. There are numerous photos and original documents from Einstein's life, work, and speeches. 3/1 Chf Adults/Students. http://www.einstein-bern.ch
- Invasion of Bern >> successful! As you explore, you may notice these small alien graffiti mosaics. GAME NOT OVER was declared by the anonymous Parisian artist Invader in 1998. Since then, space invaders have been reappearing on the walls, bridges and roofs of cities across the world, most famously on the Hollywood sign and in several locations in the Louvre. Two additional Swiss cities have been invaded: Geneva and Lausanne. Those with 10 EUR, a longer visit, and a weird sense of humor might consider ordering a map and doing the space invader tour. http://www.space-invaders.com
- The Clock Tower. Near the center of the old town. On the hour, every hour throughout the day. A stunning display of early animatronic technology, the clock in the center of Bern's old town puts on a little show. At a few minutes before the hour, it begins with a little song and some flapping from the golden phoenix then some drumming by the jester up top. At the hour the bears and the old bearded king get into the act. OK, it's probably a good thing to take kids to see. It tells time too! (And the month, day, sign of the zodiac and phase of the moon). Free.
Do Bern
- Gurten The Gurten (http://www.gurtenpark.ch/) is a lovely hill just outside the city. It features a park and great view over the city on one side and a nice panorama of the Bernese alps on the other. The park is visited heavily by locals to play ball, to barbecue or to just lie in the sun. Tourists are not an unusual sight, though this little attraction is missed by most of the many that visit the city. Hiking paths lead in all directions and you will almost certaintly stumble across some cows when walking around. A wooden look-out tower allows an even better panorama than that you would already have. If you get hungry or thursty, a good budget restaurant service and self-service provides you with all you need. Families with children should not miss the cool playground. The Gurten can be easily reached with tram number 9 from the railway station in Bern in direction Wabern. Exit the tram at station Gurtenbahn and walk a few steps up the hill. Then take the Gurtenbahn, a panorama train that will bring you on top in just 5 minutes (http://www.gurtenbahn.ch/, round-trip tickets are CHF 9 for adults or CHF 4.50 for children, departure usually every 20 minutes depending on daytime). A club called up-town features various cultural events on weekends and once a year in summer national, european and a few international music stars (among others Alanis Morisette, Skin, Moloko and Jimmy Cliff in 2003) visit it for the Gurtenfestival, an open-air music festival (http://www.gurtenfestival.ch/english.html). Gurten is a must see for everybody visiting the city for longer than a day. Except transportation and restaurant, everything is free.
Learn
Work
Buy
As with most other cities in Switzerland, store opening and closing hours in Bern are strictly regulated. All stores, including grocers must close by 6:30 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Thursdays they are allowed to stay open until 9:00pm, but on Saturdays everything closes at 4:00pm. The stores are closed on Sundays. Rathausgasse and the streets parallel to it have any number of cute shops with an amazing range of artisanal goods. This is not the normal range of swiss souvenir stuff, but really interesting things. There are a couple of worthy examples below, but the real pleasure is in spending a few hours (or days) exploring the arcades and vitrines.
- Yamatuti, Rathausgasse 53. +41 31 318 26 56. Opens at 1:00pm on Mondays,
- Krompholz Music, Spitalgasse 28 (Just around the corner from the main train station.), +41 31 311 3489 (info@krompholz.ch). Monday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm. The thing that makes this shop special is its HUGE collection of sheet music and English language music instruction materials. http://www.krompholz.ch
Eat - Travel to Bern
Budget
- Wäbere, Gerechtigkeitsgasse 68, +41 31 311 42 58 (fax: +41 31 312 20 67). 11am to 11pm except Sunday. Excellent soups, a good rendering of Swiss standards, such as cheese fondue, and an decent number of vegi choices. 14-24 Chf (many items available in half portions).
- Vatter, Bärenplatz 2, grocery: 9am to 5pm, restaurant: 10am to 10pm daily. Vatter is the largest of the several organic groceries in the old town, and has its own restaurant upstairs as well if you don't feel like cooking, or lack the facilities. 8-20 Chf. http://www.vatter.ch
- Kornhaus, Kornhausplatz 18, +41 31 327 72 70 (fax: +41 31 327 72 71). The room alone is worth a stop at this fabulously appointed mostly Italian restaurant. As one might guess from the name, the building was originally built for grain storage, but now features fresco paintings of traditional swiss scenes, events from local history, and related characters. 26-45Chf for the main dish. 9-14Chf for appetizers.
- Pastamania, Kramgasse 49, +41 31 318 28 28 (fax: +41 31 318 28 29). Located in the same house as the Einsteinhaus, this very small restaurant serves some very good pasta dishes. 18-25CHF for the main dish. 8-14Chf for appetizers.
Mid-range
Splurge
Drink
Sleep - Bern Tourism
The main train station has a tourist office on the west side on the ground floor. They'll try to help you find a hotel room, if you arrive without booking. However, it is better to book ahead if you can, as Bern is a capital city; the budget hotels do tend to fill up on the weekends.
Budget
- Landhaus, Hotel-Restaurant Landhaus (near the bear pit), +41 31 331 41 66 (landhaus@spectraweb.ch, fax: +41 31 332 69 04). Reception is open until 10. A cute, friendly, and well-kept place with a good restaurant and bar downstairs. 90-160 Chf (If they are fully booked ask to crash in the TV room, 34 Chf). http://www.landhausbern.ch
Mid-range
Splurge
- Belleview Palace, Kochergasse 3 - 5. +41 31 320 45 45 Only a short walk from the Federal Council building, this five star hotel provides exquisite rooms and amazingly attentive service. The bathrooms alone make this place worth the price, if you can afford it. Doubles from 350 Chf per night. http://www.bellevue-palace.ch
Contact
Stay safe - Bern Tourism
Bern is a very safe place with nearly no violent crime.
But as it is the capital of Switzerland, it features frequent political demonstrations on a variety of subjects every few weeks, seldomly leading to some police intervention on randals.
The central railway station often hosts some undangerous, but sometimes irritating drunks and homelesses at night.
Cope
Get out
External Links for Bern Tourism
- Bern, Switzerland - official site of the Bern Official Tourist and Convention Bureau. Available in English, German, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish.
