Bern

Bern is a city where sport, politics and culture meet under the watchful gaze of medieval towers and modern glass. The Swiss capital’s skyline is shaped by the long shadow of the Zytglogge and the gleaming spires of the Bundeshaus, while its streets hum with the echoes of football chants, orchestral crescendos and the clatter of skates on ice. From the roar of 31,500 voices in the rebuilt Stadion Wankdorf to the hushed pages of the Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek, this route stitches together the city’s most vital places, each stitch a story of ambition, memory and everyday life.

A modern football cathedral

The Stadion Wankdorf rises where the old stadium once stood, its curved roof sheltering not only 31,500 spectators but also a shopping arcade, a school and a solar plant that powers part of the district. Completed in 2005, it hosted three group matches and a quarter-final at UEFA Euro 2025, proving Bern’s claim as a stage for Europe’s biggest football nights. Beneath the Longines clock, rescued from the wreck of the 1925 original, the pitch can be rolled away to clear the floor for concerts, while the integrated photovoltaic array glints in the Bernese sun. A tram line and railway siding drop visitors at the door, linking the arena to the pulse of the city.

Seat of the nation

The Bundeshaus stretches for more than 300 metres along the southern edge of the Old Town, its Bernese sandstone glowing in the afternoon light. Three linked buildings—West, Parliament and East—house the National Council, the Council of States and the federal administration, their neorenaissance dome a daily reminder of Swiss compromise. Visitors climb the broad steps to the Bundesplatz, where the Marzili funicular glides up from the Aare, and step inside to see chambers lined with oak from every canton. The 1990s restoration returned the interiors to their original craftsmanship, while the surrounding square still hosts open-air debates in summer.

Racing ghosts in the Bremgarten woods

North of the city, the Bremgarten-Rundstrecke once carved its way through the forest, a ribbon of tarmac that claimed the lives of champions such as Rudolf Caracciola and Omobono Tenni. The 7.26-kilometre circuit, with its blind crests and rain-slicked corners, hosted rounds of the Grand Prix and Motorcycle World Championship until the Le Mans disaster of 1955 ended Swiss motor racing. Today only fragments of the old route remain, marked by a memorial stone in Brünnen, yet the forest still hums with the ghost of Fangio’s Maserati and the scream of pre-war superchargers.

A library of the nation

The Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek occupies a 1931 building in the Kirchenfeld quarter, its reading rooms lit by vaulted skylights that filter the changing Swiss light. Inside, 7.9 million media—books, posters, sound recordings and digital files—chart the cultural life of the country, from first editions of Dürrenmatt to the latest HelveticArchives database. The Helveticat catalogue offers instant access to every Swiss imprint, while fragile manuscripts rest in climate-controlled cases in the main reading hall. The library’s staff of 120 curators maintain the national memory, ensuring that every voice, in every language, finds its place on the shelves.

Heart of the UNESCO ensemble

The Berner Altstadt unfolds below the Zytglogge like a single medieval stage set, its arcaded Lauben stretching for six kilometres beneath sandstone arcades. Founded in 1191 by Berchtold V of Zähringen, the city grew through successive rings of walls, each fire and flood leaving its mark in the pale stone. The great blaze of 1405 forced the rebuilding in sandstone, giving the skyline its enduring unity. Walk from the Nydeggbrücke in the east to the former Schanzen in the west and you pass fountains where figures of Justice and bears still keep watch over daily life.

The medieval timekeeper

The Zytglogge, raised between 1218 and 1220 as the western gate of the first city wall, still chimes the hours for Bern. Its astronomical clock, one of the oldest in Switzerland, tracks the sun and moon across a painted zodiac, while the hourly procession of a jester, a bear and Chronos himself draws crowds to the base of the tower. The mechanism, installed in 1530 by Kaspar Brunner, has ticked without pause for nearly five centuries, its deep bronze bells echoing over the Münsterplattform. Visitors can climb the 110 steps to the viewing platform, where the entire Old Town lies spread below.

Gothic grandeur by the Aare

The Berner Münster rises above the river on a stone platform planted with lime trees, its west portal crowded with 234 figures of the Last Judgement carved from Bernese sandstone. Begun in 1421 and left unfinished by the Reformation, the church finally reached its full height in 1893, its 100-metre spire piercing the skyline. Inside, the choir’s fifteenth-century stained glass is reckoned the finest cycle in the land, while the original portal figures now reside in the Historisches Museum. The Münsterplattform below offers a quiet vantage point for watching the light play on the river’s loops.

Art and memory in Klee’s orbit

The Zentrum Paul Klee, a swooping Renzo Piano structure in the Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde quarter, houses the world’s largest collection of the artist’s works—4,000 paintings, drawings and archival boxes that trace his journey from Munich to Bern. Opened in 2005, the building’s 4.2 kilometres of steel ribs frame changing exhibitions, while the Creaviva children’s museum invites young visitors to draw inside the galleries. The surrounding park, designed by Bernard Lassus, rolls down to the Aare, offering views back to the city’s spires.

Ice and decibels under one roof

The PostFinance-Arena, formerly the Eisstadion Allmend, dominates the skyline with its steep terraces that can hold 17,031 spectators. Home to the SC Bern ice-hockey club, the arena set a European record in 2008–09 with average crowds of 16,203, the noise of nine thousand standing fans shaking the rafters. A five-storey extension houses hospitality boxes, restaurants and media suites, while the main hall can be converted for concerts and congresses. The five-storey extension houses hospitality boxes, restaurants and media suites, while the main hall can be converted for concerts and congresses.

Switzerland in ten tongues

SWI swissinfo.ch keeps Bern connected to the world from its offices near the Bundeshaus, broadcasting Swiss news, politics and culture in ten languages. Since 1999 the platform has grown from a radio service into a multimedia newsroom, offering live blogs, podcasts and social-media feeds. Its Russian edition, launched in 2013, reaches readers in the former Soviet sphere, while the mobile app delivers push alerts to subscribers across four continents. Awards such as the Social Impact Award 2023 recognise its role as a bridge between Switzerland and the global diaspora.

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