After spending a very pleasant night, in which we have not opened an eye after the full day we had yesterday touring the Chillon Castle, Gruyères and Fribourg, we woke up at 6 am with totally renewed energy and eager to start seeing all the places we have in mind to see Bern in one day.
After breakfast, which today is included in the room price of the Ibis Budget Bern Expo, we pick up our bags and go to get the car, which as we mentioned yesterday, we have parked in the blue zone, quite close to the hotel, which is free until 9 am.
A few minutes after 8 o'clock in the morning we start with the route of Bern in one day and we go straight to Rosengarten, parking also in a street just next to it, in the blue zone.
Rosengarten in Bern
This is one of Bern's parks, located in the upper part of the city, from where we have incredible views of Bern. Probably the best in the city.
At the Rosengarten viewpoint in Bern on Hotel deals in Switzerland at top-hotels-switzerland.com
They say that people go to the Rosengarten in Bern more for the views than for the flowers, and after our experience, we can confirm this. From here you can see the city from a different and exceptional perspective.
TopHotels.com is another great resource to explore and find the best hotel.
Views of Bern from Rosengarten
In Rosengarten they have an incredible garden with little tables in the sun that seem to call out to us. It's a pity we don't have more days to enjoy Bern, because this would surely be one of our favourite places.
After this brief stop, we go back to get the car and drive down to the lower part of the city, where the "controversial" bear moat is located, where we park our rental car in Switzerland again.
We park a little before the moat, in the street going down, again in the blue zone (we are saving a lot on parking) and we take the opportunity to walk down, with incredible views of the city, this time closer to the river and from where we can appreciate the meanders that surround it much better.
Views of Bern and its meanders
Arriving at the area of the bear moat, we have to consider that the truth is that it is not something that we really like to see animals that are not in their natural habitat, but we cannot deny that it is another of the attractions of Bern and we want to see it to be able to give an informed opinion.
The Bear Pit in Bern
At first, and after analysing the situation, we have to say that we definitely did not like this attraction in Bern, although we have been able to verify something and that is that in Switzerland, no matter how many people there are in a place, you will not see anyone shouting, or trying to sneak in, or pushing and shoving.
This is an example to keep in mind and, of course, to follow.
It doesn't take us even 5 minutes to get back to the car, where Roger decides to set our cardboard clock at 11.30, even though it is 10 in the morning, to have time until 14.30 in the afternoon, which we guess will be more or less the time when we will finish visiting and enjoying Bern.
I don't really agree with this little lie, and we'll tell you later whether it worked or whether we got a good fine.
In this case it is not a question of paying more or less, it is simply that you are not allowed to stay longer than the established time and to avoid having to return, we have "changed" the time of arrival.
We cross the bridge that takes us to the historical area of Bern, passing first through the main street Gerechtigkeits, where we find the famous fountains of Bern and its Clock Tower.
Bern's historic centre
The medieval centre of Bern is a very picturesque destination with about 6 kilometres of arcades, shops and bars in underground cellars.
After the devastating fire of 1405, the city was rebuilt and the wood was replaced by the characteristic grey-green sandstone.
Streets of Bern
One of the landmarks is the Zytglogge or Clock Tower, which was part of the western gate of the city.
Clock Tower. Bern in a day
Another of Bern's landmarks are its decorative fountains, which depict historical figures. Most are concentrated along the sections of the Marktgasse, but the most famous is the Kindlifresserbrunnen or Ogre Fountain at Kornhausplatz, which depicts a giant eating children.
Kindlifresserbrunnen Fountain or Ogre Fountain
Streets of Bern
After this morning stroll through Bern, we head towards the Kornhaus building, now converted into a café, where after a second thought, we end up not stopping to continue getting to know Bern.
We continue our route, heading back to the Clock Tower and the Federal Palace.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Switzerland
- Where to eat in Bern: recommended restaurants
- Where to stay in Bern: best neighbourhoods and hotels
- Switzerland by train
- 10 must-visit Switzerland travel tips
- 15 must-s ee places in Switzerland
- 10 must-see places in Bern - 10 must-see places in Bern
All the streets are lively at this time of the morning with people having a drink on the terraces, taking advantage of these moments in the sun that will probably not last long in this part of the world.
From here we continue our way to Berner Münster or Cathedral of Bern where we enter and after visiting its interior, Roger pays the 5 francs that give him access to the tower from where he can contemplate some of the most incredible views of the city.
Bern Cathedral
The spire of this Gothic cathedral is 100 metres high and is the tallest in Switzerland. You can access it via a spiral staircase, after paying 5 francs, to get incredible views of the Bernese Alps and on the way down, watch the upper and lower bells ringing every day.
Views of Bern from the Cathedral
At the entrance to Bern Cathedral you can see the main portal, which is dedicated to the Last Judgement: the Mayor of Bern is shown on his way to heaven, while his Zurich counterpart is on his way to hell.
Details of the main portal of the Cathedral. Bern in one day
After this visit and these incredible views, we go back to the main street to take some pictures of Einstein's house and we decide that instead of having lunch here, as we had planned, we will go to Thun, which will be our next stop and so we will take more advantage of the afternoon.
Einstein's house in Bern
When we are arriving again at the bear moat, we see that they have enabled, in an area parallel to the river and that connects with the moat, a kind of park somewhat larger in size than the moat, which for a few minutes leaves us more convinced of this attraction.
Park that has been set up for the bears beside the moat
It is 12 o'clock in the morning when we take the car and we mark in our GPS the city of Thun, where we will arrive after 20 minutes crossing roads surrounded by green and more green.
We arrive in Thun at 12.30 and after seeing that the blue zone car parks are 1 hour for 2 francs, we go straight to a covered car park where the price is the same and there is no time limit.
Before starting our tour of the city, we take the opportunity to stop and eat at a fast food restaurant, a regular on our trips, such as McDonalds.
As expected, despite being a fast food place, it is much more expensive than what we are used to in other countries: 26 francs for two large menus!
After a lively after-dinner chat, we set off again in the sunshine at just after 2 pm.
We start by taking a short, aimless stroll through the streets of the city, in order to take the food down and make the most of the sunshine.
Corners of the city of Thun
After this walk, we go through the little streets that will take us to the Schloss Thun or Thun Castle, located on the top of a hill and with 900 centuries of history behind it.
Views of Thun Castle
This castle belonged to Duke Bertoldo V of the powerful Zahringer family. It now houses a museum, displaying prehistoric and Roman relics, tapestries and piles of armour.
Thun Castle
Once in the upper area, right at the base of the castle, from where we had read that we would have the best views of Thun, we decide that it is best to return to the old town as we are not even able to see the town from here.
Bridge leading from the Castle to the Altstadt
We arrive at Altstadt, the beautiful old town of Thun, whose squares and streets are lined with 15th and 16th century houses.
Beautiful streets of the town of Thun
Also of note here is the Untere Schleusenbrücke, a 300-year-old covered wooden bridge, lined with pink and purple flowers in the summer months.
Untere Schleusenbrücke, the Thun town bridge
We go over the wooden bridge and the Ferris wheel, a very atmospheric area, and return along another of the main streets where we stop for a coffee and a pastry to take some of the edge off the homesickness we are feeling at this time of the afternoon after lunch.
Having lunch in the town of Thun
At 15.30 in the afternoon we return to the car park where we have left the car and after paying 8 crowns for almost 4 hours, we head towards the Oberfraun Castle halfway to Spiez, where we only want to stop for a few minutes to have a view of the outside and take some photos of the enclave.
The GPS shows us 8 minutes and if we are not mistaken, we would say that it took us even a little less time to get there.
We arrived at Oberfraun Castle, parked right next to it and found ourselves in the middle of a wedding without realising it!
Acting a bit absent-minded, we walked through the middle of the tables, continuing on our way to take some photos of this castle on the banks of a lake that gives us some of the most beautiful scenes we have seen so far, reminding us in a certain way of the Chillon Castle we saw yesterday.
Wedding in Oberfraun Castle
Oberfraun Castle
After a few minutes strolling around the surroundings, we get back in the car and now we drive to Spiez, less than 5 kilometres away, where we arrive in less than 10 minutes at its famous castle.
We park again in the blue zone, where we pay 1.50 francs for 1 hour and we go to the area of Schloss Spiez or Spiez Castle, a medieval castle that emerges among emerald-coloured vineyards.
Vineyards around the Spiez Castle
Spiez Castle
After a while in the castle, we follow a side path downhill, which leads us to a grassy beach area that we are seeing so much on this trip to Switzerland from which we have some breathtaking views.
Spiez Lake
The truth is that we know that one day we will come back, like in so many other places, just to enjoy these places without having to look at the clock.
Shortly before 6 p.m. we get back in the car and head towards Interlaken, the town where we will be staying tonight.
It takes us 15 minutes to get to Interlaken from Spiez and we are lucky enough to be able to park very close to the Swisslodge Falken hotel, on the same street, where we see that from 7pm to 7am it is free of charge. So we have free parking for today ????
Interlaken is very lively at this time of the afternoon so we go quickly to the hotel, check in and after a few minutes of rest we go for a walk through the streets of the city before going to dinner at a pizzeria in the centre for a plate of pasta, beer and coke for 45.20 francs.
Dinner in Interlaken
We finish dinner after 9 p.m. and after today we can't do anything else but go to rest.
Tomorrow we have a very full day on our tour of Switzerland.
