Visiting Bern wasn’t really our intention, but on the way to the mountains we were in need for some socks. It’s a simple as that. It’s not the first time we stopped at Bern though, but the first time in the bleak midwinter.
Bern is like a teeny-tiny capital; one that will set all your cultural dreams about Europe on fire. If you’d need to use one word to describe it, it’d be picturesque in my opinion. Everything is so cute, so detailed, so clockwork efficient, so organized and tidy, that it feels like you’re stepping into some fictional and annoyingly perfect world.
“It is the most beautiful that we have ever seen,” wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in a letter to his friend Charlotte von Stein during his stay in Bern in 1779. Well.. slightly exaggerated if I may say so, but yes, Bern has a great charm for sure and therefore would make a perfect addition to any European itinerary. That is, if it doesn’t cause to much trouble to the travel schedule.
The old city (Altstadt) was built around the horseshoe bend of the River Aare and added to UNESCO’s world heritage list in 1983. The cobblestone streets are full of colourful fountains with fun, little details, that were erected over the centuries to commemorate significant historical events. The best thing you can do in here is just wandering around.
Gaze at the river from the Munsterplatform, watch the figures of the clockwork Zytglogge ‘perform’ (every hour; it’s been in use since 800 years(!!) – just let that sink in), admire the intricate clock face, go shopping at the Laubengange (Europe’s longest covered shopping promenade) and eat some rösti or raclette in between.
My favourite place in the city would be on the bridge near the Bäregraben (Bern’s bear pit; and it stars a couple of actual bears after the city’s emblem – weird!), which provide you the best views on Berns ‘skyline’. In summer it’s even possible to swim the river beneath, but more about that crazy activity later in another article.
Even though we only made a blitzstop, we for sure felt the Bern!
