If last week I took you to summer Zurich, this time we are travelling to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. We have already been there, remember? It was during a beautiful and cold autumn day. Golden tones dominated the city, the scent of roasted chestnuts filled the air and the bears of Bern were still playing in their pit before their winter hibernation…
I love the city of Bern since the very first time I visited it. There’s something very unique in this Swiss city. Maybe it is the fact that it doesn’t look like any other Swiss city I know. That’s specially true when you compare Bern to other cities in the German speaking part of Switzerland. I love its unique architecture: the long main streets in the city centre, the identical grey buildings with their beautiful arcades, the hints of color of the baroque fountains, the geraniums on the windows and the cantonal flags waving gently… I like to watch the three bears of Bern in their renovated and larger pit, taking baths in the Aare river, eating honey from the hives in the trees and ignoring all the tourists and visitors observing them from the distance… I specially love the views of the old city that you get after climbing the incredibly steep street to the Rosengarten…
This summer we went to Bern again when my brother and his wife visited us. It was a scorching summer day with beautiful blue skies. Lots of tourists were buzzing in the old town of Bern. There were a lot of terraces full of people enjoying the sun and buskers added a cheerful soundtrack to the day. It was so different to the other times I visited the city! This time, we just visited the city centre, as we wanted to leave with enough time to travel back to Zurich driving through the valley of Emme (yes, where the Emmental cheese comes from!)… We wandered through the busy streets of Bern, enjoyed watching the bears going about their businesses and the children playing in the fountain in front of the Bundeshaus (the Swiss Parliament), refreshed ourselves in every single fountain we saw in our way and ate delicious Swiss food at a local restaurant…
Here are some photos I took during this trip. I hope you like them!
Old classics. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 55mm f/11 1/250sec. ISO200
Summer life. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 35mm f/11 1/60sec. ISO200
Stories in the city. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/320sec. ISO100
A sweet tooth bear. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 142mm f/5 1/1000sec. ISO200
Brown bear. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/4.5 1/200sec. ISO200
The bear and the bees. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 300mm f/5 111/1250sec. ISO200
Views of Bern. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 50mm f/11 1/1250sec. ISO100
Rosengarten views. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 70mm f/11 1/800sec. ISO100
Pretty streets. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 50mm f/11 1/500sec. ISO100
Pretty streets. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 59mm f/11 1/800sec. ISO100
Summer in the Cathedral park. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/100sec. ISO100
Bern. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 70mm f/11 1/400sec. ISO100
Those bears look so healthy. That is great to see. I have not seen that city before. Thanks for showing us.
Thank you for stopping by, Amanda! Yes, those bears look healthy and happy in their new pit. Apparently the old one was very small, but now the three bears of Bern have place to run and climb and even they bath in the Aare river, as Bernese people do in summer! hehehe
I love this city. It still has all the character of a Swiss city, but it feels different at the same time! It’s nothing like Zurich!! And it is such a delight to see all its live during summer 🙂 You should include Bern in future visits to Switzerland!! It’s only one hour by train from Zurich, so it’s very reachable!
One hour by train. Yes it will go on the wishlist!!!
Well, I guess that international flights from Australia will come to Zurich, hehehe and Bern is definitely one of the day trips from Zurich I would recommend! 🙂 If you come to visit Switzerland, you won’t regret a visit to Bern!
Zurich via Milan via Singapore. I have flown into Milan from Singapore previously.
Those are pretty long trips! But I’m sure it’s worth it if you stay for more than a few days in Europe, right? Well, I hope that, while you plan your future trip to Switzerland, you can get some more ideas from my blog 🙂
Your blog is definitely especially useful for tips, Mercedes. Thank you for that. You are right about the length of our stay. We usually stay for over a month, to make the four-five days travelling worthwhile.
Me he acordado de cuando estuvimos con vosotros. Preciosa ciudad y los soportales de unas de sus calles principales, del mercadillo por donde pasamos y de la maravillosa taza con las flores tan bellas típicas de los Alpes
Fue una excursión preciosa, su parque con esas vistas preciosas y su foso con los osos que brevemente pudimos ver.
Muy buenos recuerdos.
Preciosa la fotografía como todo lo que tu realizas.
Un beso muy fuerte
What an amazing city! Thank you for taking us there. Beautiful images as always.
Thanks a million Anne! Bern is one of my favorite Swiss cities, so when we have visitors is one of the places where we usually take them. And it is such a beautiful place to visit during the different seasons… the city changes so much in just a few weeks! 🙂
For a capital city, Bern looks so lovely and relaxing. I think it has the charm of a French village 🙂 Gorgeous photos as always!
Thanks a mil, Len! So happy you like the photos!
Well, Bern has a very unique atmosphere! It is the capital, but is smaller than Zurich, Basel or Geneve. The Government sits in Bern, but the financial capital is Zurich, and it feels more like it. Bern is more relaxed and charming maybe not as sophisticated as Zurich, for example. Coming from a city like Madrid, Bern is like a little charming town for me! I adore it!