Bern
Switzerland
A capital that looks like a market town, in a loop of green river, with six kilometres of arcades to shelter under and bears living beside the water
Photo by Ilia Bronskiy on Unsplash
Photos by Mads Egmose, Andreas Fischinger, Andreas M and Tobias Reich on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Switzerland
Late November to late December for the markets, and May to September for everything else — the markets are busiest at weekends and in the last fortnight before the holiday
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 120mm in May
Where it is
46.95°N, 7.45°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk the whole length of the arcades
- Be at the Zytglogge a few minutes before the hour
- Go down to the Matte quarter and the bear park
- See the Paul Klee centre
- Watch where the locals get out of the Aare before swimming in it
Bern travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Switzerland
Very expensiveSwiss francs. Cards are taken everywhere including the market stalls, which is not true across the border. Shops near the German and French borders will take euros at a rate deliberately worse than the bank’s; pay in francs.
ATMs & cards
UBS, Raiffeisen and PostFinance machines rather than the independent ones by the station. Decline the conversion every time it is offered.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- the machines beside the Christmas markets
Use these instead
- UBS
- Raiffeisen
- PostFinance
- Valiant
Decline the conversion. Draw before the market rather than at it: the independent machines cluster where the stalls are, and a good many stalls still want cash.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Switzerland
Very safeVery comfortable and genuinely sleepy for a capital. The arcades mean the markets stay usable in bad weather, which is rarer than it sounds. The Aare is a fast cold river with a strong current, and the locals who float down it in summer know exactly where to get out.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (4 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- swimming in the Aare without local advice — a fast cold current, and knowing the exit points is the whole skill
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Switzerland visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Switzerland
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Tetanus up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for a summer in forest below 1,500m
Getting treated
Among the best in the world, and among the most expensive. Treatment is billed and there is no free emergency care for visitors — the EHIC covers EU citizens, everybody else needs insurance. Rega, the air rescue service, will fly you off a mountain and will invoice for it.
Nothing infectious. Altitude sickness above 3,000m, which the Jungfraujoch train reaches in two hours from 570m, and which catches people out. Ticks in summer woodland. And the sun at altitude, which burns through cloud.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodBerner Platte, a mountain of meats on sauerkraut; Zürcher-style but heavier; and the Zübi — onion tart — on the fourth Monday in autumn, when the whole city has an onion market and throws confetti. The market sells raclette and Glühwein.
Getting around
Easy and cheap- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a Swiss taxi, which is among the dearest in the world. Both are dear.
The rules vary by canton and the supply is thinnest away from the biggest cities.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Zurich — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Getting online
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Switzerland, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
German
- HelloGuten TagGOO-ten tahk
- PleaseBitteBI-tuh
- Thank youDankeDAN-kuh
- Yes / NoJa / Neinya / nine
4 more phrases
- Excuse meEntschuldigungent-SHOOL-di-gung
- How much is it?Was kostet das?vas KOS-tet das
- The bill, pleaseDie Rechnung, bittedee REKH-nung
- Cheers!Prost!prohst
Religion
Catholic and Protestant in roughly equal parts, and increasingly neither
Split canton by canton since the Reformation, which is why two neighbouring valleys can look entirely different. Sunday is genuinely quiet everywhere — the shops shut and the noise rules apply.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Be exactly on time. A dinner at seven means seven, and the trains mean it too
- Greet the room on entering a small shop or a mountain hut — grüezi in the German part, bonjour in the French
- Sort your rubbish, which is taken very seriously and is sometimes checked
- Say grüezi mitenand to a group, which is the plural and is noticed
Don't
- Do not make noise on a Sunday — no mowing, no drilling, and in many buildings no laundry
- Do not assume Switzerland is Germany or France; it is neither and the point matters
- Do not haggle, and do not ask for a discount
- Do not step onto a marked hiking trail in trainers and expect sympathy
Where to stay in Bern
No Holistay rentals in Bern yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Bern on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Zurich ZRH
1h 20mfrom the airport· 130 km as the crow flies
1h 20 by direct train from the airport.
Also worth pricing: Bern BRN — ten minutes out, but very few flights land there.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
