Things to do
8-
Bern Minster
Standing above the Aare, this late Gothic cathedral has the tallest church tower in Switzerland, begun in 1421 and finished in 1893. Over the main door, a carved Last Judgement of more than two hundred figures survived the Reformation. Several hundred steps climb the tower, and the platform south of the church overlooks the river.
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Bern Old Town
A grid of sandstone arcades and eleven sixteenth-century fountains on a spur in the river, almost unchanged in plan since the fifteenth century. The whole quarter is on the UNESCO list and it is still the working centre of the city.
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Zytglogge
Built around 1218 as the western city gate, this tower carries an astronomical clock rebuilt in 1530, with a moving figure show that starts a few minutes before each hour. Guided tours climb inside to see the mechanism at work. It stands on the old town's main street.
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BaerenPark
The bear enclosure on the far bank of the Aare, kept since 1513 in a pit and moved in 2009 into a hillside run down to the river. The bear is the city's emblem and it is on the arms, the fountains and the flag.
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Bellevue Palace
The hotel of 1913 next to the parliament building, owned by the federal government and used to house visiting heads of state, with a terrace over the Aare looking at the Bernese Alps. The public can book the rest of it.
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Einstein House
On Kramgasse, the second-floor flat where Einstein lived from 1903 to 1905 is furnished as it was, and it was here that he wrote the papers on relativity while working at the patent office. The floor above covers his life and work. The visit takes about half an hour and it is the right half hour.
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Rosengarten
On the hill above the bear park, this garden holds around two hundred and fifty rose varieties in summer, iris beds, a lily pond and spring cherry blossom. Its edge gives the classic view of the old town in its river loop. Once a cemetery, it opened as a park in 1913. Bus 10 runs from the centre.
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Zentrum Paul Klee
A Renzo Piano building of 2005 on the eastern edge of the city, three steel waves in a field, holding four thousand works by Klee, which is about forty per cent of his output and the largest holding of any single artist anywhere.
