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Sightseeing Overview
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city of Bern has a lot to offer visitors in terms of sights and attractions. Just walking the medieval streets of the Old Town is a very special experience. One of the most famous landmarks is the Zeitglockenturm, the clock tower, with its astronomical calendar clock from 1530. The Bear Pits are also a landmark, intimately linked as they are to the city’s history and indeed its name and identity.

Switzerland’s largest ecclesiastical building, Bern’s late-medieval Cathedral, is also worth a visit, not least because of the views offered by the country’s highest church tower. A much more recent building is the Bundeshaus, the house of parliament (completed in 1902). It is an imposing structure with interesting artwork inside and a lovely square outside (the redesign of which was finished in 2004).

You are never far from nature in Bern, and there are many green spaces. One of the nicest is the Botanical Garden in the heart of the city, which has around 6,000 plant species in its grounds. Another lovely green space is the park at the Gurten, Bern’s own mountain, which offers fantastic views of the city and the Alps in the distance.

Art lovers should check out Bern’s Museum of Fine Arts, which has a good collection of art from the Italian Trecento via 15th-century Swiss art to international masterworks from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Tourist Information
Tourist Information Center
Bahnhofplatz 10A
Tel: (031) 328 1212.
Website: www.berninfo.com

The visitor center’s helpful staff provides visitors with the information and advice they need as tourists in Bern, and also offer help with accommodation, bookings and tickets.

Passes
With the BernCard visitors get free unlimited travel on the public transportation system in the city and its environs (zones 10/11), free admission to the permanent exhibits at 27 museums, libraries, archives, gardens (excluding special exhibitions) and the BernShow at the Bear Pits, as well as a discount on all official city tours. The card is available at the tourist information centers at the railway station and the Bear Pits, at the Libero Shop, all Bern Museums Association institutions and all hotels in the city.

Key Attractions:

Zeitglockenturm (The Clock Tower)
The tower was built in the 12th century and was Bern’s first city gate to the west. The famous clock was created in 1530. The mechanical figurines, which are set in motion on the clock’s east side every hour, tend to fascinate tourists. It is far more interesting, however, to see how the clock’s mechanism works, and it is recommended to join one of the tourist office’s guided tours, which is also the only way to get inside the tower.

Kramgasse
Tel: (031) 328 1212.
Website: www.berninfo.com
Admission charge (for guided tour).

The Bear Pits
According to local legend it was city founder Berchtold V von Zähringen’s killing of a bear on the Aare peninsula that led to the city’s obsession with bears, and their influence upon its name and coat of arms. Bear pits have been a feature of the city for centuries, and the current ones, which house two brown bears, have been around since 1857. A project was launched in 2003 that will turn the bear pits into a future bear park that will enable the bears to be outdoors at all times and have the opportunity to swim and fish in the water of the River Aare for the first time ever.

Grosser Muristalden 6
Tel: (031) 328 1212.
Free admission.

Münster Cathedral
Switzerland’s largest church building, Bern’s cathedral is a fascinating example of late gothic architecture. It took generations to build, and some features took centuries to complete. Building started in 1421, and the spire was finished in 1893. The cathedral has Switzerland’s highest church tower, and the views from there are very impressive.

Münsterplatz 1
Tel: (031) 312 0462.
Website: www.bernermuenster.ch
Free admission.

House of Parliament
This house was built in stages from 1852 to 1902 and is the seat of the Swiss government and parliament. The central domed hall and the two chambers on the sides feature numerous art works by Swiss artists. The new-look Parliament Square outside opened in 2004 and has proved popular with tourists and locals alike. It has a water display with 26 fountains that represent the Swiss cantons located right in front of the House of Parliament.

Bundesplatz
Tel: (031) 322 2111.
Website: www.bundeshaus.ch or www.bundesplatz.ch
Free admission.

Botanical Garden
Bern’s Botanical Garden covers 2 hectares (5 acres) in the heart of the city and is a lovely green space as well as an impressive collection of plants. Some 6,000 species grow here either outdoors or in the greenhouses. The show houses include a fern house, a palm house and a house exhibiting vegetation in semi-desert landscapes. The Alpinum displays alpine plants and gives visitors a delightful introduction to the Swiss flora.

Altenbergrain 21
Tel: (031) 631 4945/44.
Website: www.boga.unibe.ch
Free admission.

Zentrum Paul Klee
Since June 2005, the Zentrum Paul Klee has been presenting to the public the world’s most important collection of works by Paul Klee (4,000 works, or 40% of his oeuvre). The center constantly presents different aspects of the collection, putting on attractive temporary exhibitions and mediating art in general to children, young people and adults.

Monument im Fruchtland 3
Tel: (031) 359 0101.
Website: www.zpk.org
Admission charge.

Further Distractions:

Gurten
At 864m (2,835ft) above sea level, Gurten isn’t really much of a mountain by Swiss standards. But it works a treat as Bern’s own mountain playground. It offers a wide range of entertainment and cultural activities, concerts and games. The park is a great local recreation space with plenty of children’s activities, a miniature railway and an observation tower.

3084 Wabern
Tel: (031) 970 3333.
Website: www.gurtenpark.ch or www.gurtenbahn.ch

Kunstmuseum Bern (Museum of Fine Arts)
Bern’s Museum of Fine Arts has one of the finest collections in Switzerland. They span eight centuries and consist of 3,000 paintings and sculptures in addition to more than 55,000 drawings, prints, photos and films. The collection of modern art from the 19th and 20th centuries (Impressionism, Cubism, Expressionism, Blauer Reiter, Surrealism) is particularly impressive, but works from the Italian Trecento and Swiss art from the 15th century and onwards are also of interest.

Hodlerstrasse 8-12
Tel: (031) 328 0944.
Website: www.kunstmuseumbern.ch

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