Written: Apr 29, 2024
Updated: Apr 29, 2024
Read time: 8 min

Bern, Switzerland (2023)

D and I spent a day in Bern with my parents, relatives, and family friends before we all set sail on a cruise down the Rhine River the next day. We had already been in Switzerland for a week, exploring Basel and the Bernese Alps. My mom had been doing research before the cruise and was really excited to see the beautiful city of Bern, which is also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. While there were thirty of us joining the cruise, only half the group was up for the adventure. The fifteen of us hopped on a direct train from Basel SBB (central train station) and began our city walking tour of Bern.

Bern Altstadt (Old Town)

The entire Altstadt (literally "old city" from "alt" and "stadt") is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Bern as a whole is home to 114 Swiss heritage sites of national significations. It hosts the tallest cathedral in Switzerland, the Berner Münster, which began construction in 1421 and was not completed until 1893 -- over 150 years! One of the big sights in Bern besides the beautiful medieval buildings and the lovely Aare river that encircles the Altstadt is the Einsteinhaus where Albert Einstein lived from 1903 to 1905. The house on Kramgasse No. 49 is where Einstein wrote and published the Annus Mirabilis papers: his theory of relativity.

A medieval tower with restaurants on the bottom — A medieval tower that now hosts trendy and modern restaurants.

If you walk straight out of the Bern Bahnhof (train station) down Neuengasse, you'll reach a square where the Käfigturm, a 17th-century clock tower, stands as the central attraction. The tower is one of the Cultural Propert[ies] of National Significance and was originally built as a gate house in 1256 as part of Bern's second line of defense. Moreover, the tower was converted to a women's prison in the 1400s and also served as a watch and signal tower. The word Käfigturm literally means "cage tower", and was derived from the Bernese German (Bärndütsch) word kebie, which is a shortened form of the original name, nüwe kefyen.

Käfigturm in Altstadt — You can now ride through the Käfigturm on an S-bahn!

We and the fam bam strolled down the main street, Marktgasse ("market alley"), which connects the outer ring of Bern guarded by the Käfigturm to the original Altstadt guarded by the Zytglogge clock tower. Marktgasse, as its name so aptly suggests, is full of cute chocolate shops (this is Switzerland after all) and boutique shopping stores. My mom and her friends are always looking for fancy chocolates to try and they were big fans of the Läderach brand (in case you're interested). I thought it was fine, although I'm not much of a chocolate person anymore; now that I'm older, I prefer savory snacks!

Marktgasse in the outer ring of Altstadt — Our walk down Marktgasse with the Swiss national flag and Bern coat of arms flags flying (not actually sure what the middle flag with the black waves is).

Why is Bern's coat of arms a bear? The folk legend is that Duke Berthold V of Zähringen -- founder of the city of Bern -- vowed to choose as namesake the first animal he hunted in the woods earmarked for deforestation for the building of the city. As you can guess, the first animal he found and killed was a bear. When the victorious Bernese returned from the Battle of Novara in 1513, they brought back a live bear as war booty in their triumphal procession and kept the bear in the city moat in front of the Käfigturm.

The Berner Münster ("minster") is made almost completely out of sandstone quarried in Bern and there are a total of 294 sculptures that are a part of the church! The church was commissioned during the Bern Reformation as a display of the political power and influence of Bern in the 15th century due to Bern being the largest city north of the Alps.

We unfortunately did not climb the steps up the 100m (~328-ft) spire, so we didn't get to see those panoramic views of the Aare and Bern. There were only four people in our cruise party who were under the age of 60, including D and me, so the preference was to keep things as leisurely as possible.

Turquoise side door of the church — A pretty turquoise door on the side of the church.

Intricately carved figures out of the sandstone — The detail of these carvings is astounding.

Small versions of the arches carved into the main arch — Some arch-inception happening here, with tiny replicas of the spire carved into the archway.

After well over an hour of slowly meandering through Altstadt, we finally reached the Nydeggbrücke: one of the main bridges crossing the Aare.

D on the Nydeggbrücke — D in front of the Altstadt on the Nydeggbrücke ("die Brücke" is German for bridge).

We came across something on the other side of the bridge that I would've never thought to see in the middle of a city: a bear. (At least before I did more research on Bern for this blog post). I was so confused seeing bears ambling about near the rivers' edge. And not just one, but three or four in total. Apparently, Bern has always kept bears since the one they brought back from the 1513 Battle of Novara in northern Italy. A two-part moat known as "BearPark" was built in 1857 and has been expanded and renovated throughout the years to improve comfort for the bears. You could say that their bear necessities were all taken care of (I'll show myself out).

Bear wandering along a grassy slope — If not friend, why friend-shaped?

A bear relaxes in a dugout — They look so cute napping with their legs splooted.

It was just after the lunch rush when we got to the bear pit. My mom, who had done way more research than I did for this day trip, found a nice restaurant in the rose garden that overlooks the city and the river. The restaurant was really pretty and had a lovely sunroom with wrap-around windows. You can also dine outside, but it was really cold and drizzly that day. Food was tasty but definitely on the pricier side!

Lentil and bean stew — A hearty and delicious lentil and bean stew, with falafel on the side

There was a surprising number of vegetarian options that weren't just salad or plain pasta, and a good amount of diversity in the ingredients and spices. Everything was super fresh too. I think all the non-vegetarians enjoyed their meals as well.

Once our bellies were full, we all took a nice stroll through the rose gardens, which are free to visit.

Purple tulips — Lots of beautiful tulips blooming in late April.

View of Bern and the Aare from above — We got great views of the city and Aare from here.

Single-petaled tulips with yellow centers

There were so many scenes of Bern that felt like they would fit perfectly in a Wes Anderson film. While everyone was admiring the tulips and roses and pretty flowers, D and I were taking a bunch of silly Wes Anderson-inspired photos.

D standing in front of a grove of trees - take 2

D standing in front of a grove of trees - take 3

As you walk back down the hill towards the river's edge, you can actually see some of the Bernese Alps in the distance!

Berner Münster from across the river — The Münster sticks out from the rest of the city.

There are benches all along the path to the rose garden; one of them has a metal sculpture of Einstein sitting on the bench.

D kissing the Einstein statue — D immediately gravitated toward Einstein.

D smiling with the Einstein statue — The magnetism was palpable.

D laughing gaily with Einstein's statue — You could also say it was electric.

D putting his hat on Einstein's statue — This mass attraction could distort space-time!

Ok I'll stop with the Einstein jokes, here are some other pictures of the city:

A smaller bridge called Untertorbrücke — A small bridge called Untertorbrücke, or "bridge under the gate"

Portrait of Untertorbrücke — A portrait view just because I think it's nice.

Churches and steep rooftops — The layers of steep, red roofs are like little mountain ranges.

A pretty hotel with a rooftop deck by the river — I liked the outdoor deck on this building, that's all.

A biker rides down the cobblestone streets — A cyclist riding down the windy, cobblestone streets

Packed row houses curving around the corner — I really liked the perspective of these row houses turning the corner

Violin handles in a shop — We passed by a violin-making shop, which I've never seen before!

Zähringerbrunnen (Zähringen fountain) in Altstadt — I was very intrigued by this statue of a bear in armor and a deep sea diving helmet?

So I looked up what this statue is and it's called the Zähringerbrunnen (Zähringen fountain, from the word "der Brunnen"). It is one of the Swiss Cultural Properties of National Significance and was built in 1535 by the founder of Bern, Berchtold von Zähringer. The bear represents that first bear he shot when he was looking for a site to build a city. There is also a little bear cub at the feet of the statue if you look closely.

And that's all, folks -- thanks for bearing with me and my puns and reading about our little Bern adventure!

If you'd like to follow the rest of our adventures in our 20-day trip through the Rhine River region of Europe, you can find the whole collection of posts in 20 days on the Rhine River (2023).