Things To Do in Bern

Before you rush off to sample the sightseeing attractions of the capital of Switzerland, stop in at the Brasserie zum Bärengraben, Muristalden 1 (tel. 031/331-42-18; www.brasseriebaerengraben.ch), immediately across the street from the Bear Pits, the town's major attraction. At a table here you can enjoy a slice of local life better than anywhere else. Many habitués settle down to read the morning news, ordering their favorite coffee, a beer, or a glass of wine.

In Town

The town's old but dignified Rathaus (town hall), on Rathausplatz, is still a center of political life. Built in 1406 in the Burgundian Gothic style and restored during World War II, the town hall has a double staircase and a covered porch.

Nearby

The most panoramic attraction in the immediate vicinity of Bern is the belvedere atop Mount Gurten at 844m (2,768 ft.). At its summit, there's a children's playground, a network of hiking trails, and panoramas that sweep out over the surrounding mountains and valleys. The belvedere is accessible to Bern via the Gurtenbahn, a cable train that's one of the fastest in Europe. The train departs from a station beside the Seftigenstrasse, about a half-mile north from the center of Bern. To reach the departure platform, take tram no. 9, and get off at the Gurtenbahn station, for a cost of 4F each way. The trip takes 4 minutes each way. If driving, follow the road signs to Thun. A parking lot in the hamlet of Wabern is a short walk from the cable-train station.

Round-trip passage on the cable-train to the belvedere costs 11F. The train operates year-round daily from 7am to sunset (depending on the season). For information, contact Gurtenbahn Bern, Eigerplatz (tel. 031/961-23-23; www.gurtenbahn.ch).

Especially for Kids

Dählhölzli Tierpark, Tierparkweg (tel. 031/357-15-15; www.tierpark-bern.ch), is one of the most interesting zoos in Europe. It offers a complete range of European creatures, from the tiny harvest mouse to the mighty musk oxen. You can admire more than 2,000 animals, including exotic birds, reptiles, and fish in the vivarium. Admission is 10F for adults, 6F for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. The zoo is open April through September daily from 8am to 6:30pm; off-season hours are daily 9am to 5pm. A family ticket sells for 24F. Take bus no. 19.

Kids will also enjoy the Zytgloggeturm (Clock Tower) and the Bärengraben (Bear Pits). The Naturhistorisches Museum, Bernastrasse 15 (tel. 031/350-71-11; www-nmbe.unibe.ch), with its fascinating reptile collection and gallery of stuffed African beasts, is best for a rainy day, and a picnic at Mount Gurten is a good way to cap any child's visit to Bern.

With a few exceptions, stores in the city center are open on Monday 9am to 7pm; on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 8:15am to 6:30pm; on Thursday 8:15am to 9pm; and on Saturday 9am to 5pm.

With 6km (4 miles) of arcades, stores of all types are sheltered in Bern. The main shopping streets are Spitalgasse, Kramgasse, Postgasse, Marktgasse, and Gerechtigkeitsgasse.

You can begin your shopping excursion at Globus, Spitalgasse 17 (tel. 031/313-40-40; www.globus.ch), a major department store comparable to Bloomingdale's, with departments for just about everything. Many people from the Bernese Oberland come into Bern just to shop at Globus. Also in the center of town, Loeb ag Bern, Spitalgasse 47 (tel. 031/320-71-11; www.loeb.ch), has a little bit of everything but is known chiefly for its high-quality fashions.

The best handicrafts, souvenirs, and gifts are found at Heimatwerk, Kramgasse 61 (tel. 031/311-30-00), located on a historic street near the Clock Tower. This outlet sells handicrafts from all over Switzerland, including textiles, woodcarvings, music boxes, and jewelry.

A collection of Art Nouveau pewter pieces is found at Galerie Trag-art, Gerechtigkeitsgasse 9 (tel. 031/311-64-49; www.tragart.ch).

For antiques, dolls, and toys, the best outlet is Puppenklinik, Gerechtigkeitsgasse 36 (tel. 031/312-07-71).

A good outlet for leather footwear is Bally, Kramgasse 55 (tel. 031/311-54-81), a branch of the famous Swiss shoe manufacturer that carries the complete line. Spitalgasse lies right off Bahnhofplatz. On the same street, Gygax Mode, Spitalgasse 4 (tel. 031/311-25-61; www.gygax-lederwaren.ch), is a leading name in leather goods. It sells locally produced items as well as some of the best from neighboring countries such as Italy.

For fashion, women gravitate to Ciolina Modehaus, Marktgasse 51 (tel. 031/328-64-64; www.ciolina.ch), where clothes have fine styles and high prices. A leading men's store is Zwald, Neuengasse 23 (tel. 031/311-22-33). Fashions here reflect a Continental flair.

Swiss chocolates (not always made in Switzerland these days) are sold at Beeler, Spitalgasse 29 (tel. 031/311-28-08; www.confiserie-beeler.ch), one of the city's leading chocolatiers, and Abegglen, Spitalgasse 36 (tel. 031/311-21-11).

Hats and handbags are the specialties at KB Accessories, Münstergasse 12 (tel. 031/312-01-15), as designed by funky fashion iconoclasts Brigitte Keller and Stephan Billeter. Look for the kind of unusual and hip millinery that, if you're brave enough to wear it proudly and with good posture, will evoke comparisons to Marlene Dietrich.

Many of the art objects at Galerie Granero/Erg du Ténéré, Nydeggasse 15 (tel. 031/311-71-41), derive from Africa's dusty sub-Sahara region, especially the arid and folklore-rich countries of Chad and Mali. The Swiss-born owners scour that region for silver jewelry crafted by members of the Tuareg tribes, some of which come adorned with mystical symbols that are believed to ward off evil and empower the wearer.

Chalk Lhasa, Münstergasse 51 (tel. 031/311-61-06), up to offbeat shopping. Switzerland's status as a neutral nation has encouraged the emigration to Bern of some of Tibet's spiritual leaders, with this shop acting as a focal point for them. You'll find meditative aids, exotic jewelry, carpets and weavings, clothing, incense, and books describing various aspects of Tibet's unique points of view about politics, philosophy, and religion.

Here's a random sampling of funky shops in funky Bern. Irmak und Wirz, GmbH, Kramgasse 10 (tel. 031/312-06-04; www.atelier-irmak.ch), specializes in tribal rugs from Iran, many of them woven high in the Iranian mountains according to age-old geometric designs of the Quashquai tribes. Trouvaillen am Münster, Münstergasse 16 (tel. 031/312-79-82), is dusty and overcrowded, containing an intriguing, sometimes bizarre collection of African and Swiss hunting trophies, antique lighting fixtures, bric-a-brac, and oddities that include an elephant embryo from the 1950s and a barely used motorcycle from the 1930s. This is counterculture Bern at its most genuinely eccentric. Visit Marcopolo, Münstergasse 47 (tel. 031/311-88-44), for artifacts from the developing world, all arranged in glittering arrays of jewelry and weavings from Africa, India, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Everything here seems exotic and ironically positioned a bit like a cleaned-up version of a Middle Eastern bazaar.

Most Bern residents get up early on weekday mornings, so they usually limit their evening entertainment to a drink or two at a historic cellar such as the Kornhauskeller or the Klötzlikeller. Nevertheless, the city offers several late-night clubs, with dancing and cabaret, for the nocturnally active international crowd. Bern Guide, distributed free by the tourist office, keeps a current list of cultural events.

The Performing Arts

The Bern Symphony Orchestra is one of the finest orchestras in Switzerland. Concerts by the orchestra are usually performed at the concert facilities in the Bern Kursaal, Herrengasse 25 (tel. 031/328-02-28; www.kursaal-bern.ch). Except for a summer vacation, usually lasting from July until mid-August, the box office is open Monday to Friday noon to 6:30pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm. Tickets range from 20F to 60F.

Concerts with fewer musicians, especially chamber music, are often performed in any of four or five churches; in the auditorium at the Konservatorium für Musik, Kramgasse 36 (tel. 031/326-53-53; www.konsibern.ch); or in the concert and recording facilities of Radio Studio Bern, Schwarztorstrasse 21 (tel. 031/388-91-11).

Major opera and ballet performances are usually staged in what is generally acknowledged as Bern's most beautiful theater, the century-old Stadttheater, Kornhausplatz 20 (tel. 031/329-51-11; www.stadttheaterbern.ch). Performances are often in German, and to a lesser degree in French, but even if you don't understand those languages, you might want to attend a performance. Other plays and dance programs, including ballet and cabaret, are presented in the Theater am Käfigturm, Spitalgasse 4 (tel. 031/311-61-00; www.theater-am-kaefigturm.ch).

Gambling

Grand Casino Kursaal Bern, on the fifth floor of the Allegro Hotel Bern, Kornhausstrasse 3 (tel. 031/339-55-55; www.kursaal-bern.ch), is the only place in town to gamble. Indeed, it's a great spot for novices to learn because the size of bets is limited, and consequently, serious money rarely changes hands here. It's open daily noon to 2am, and admission is 10F. Drinks cost 10F to 15F. Within the immediate vicinity, and managed by the Allegro Hotel Bern, are three restaurants and two bars, plus a dance hall that charges a 10F cover. It's open Friday and Saturday 9pm to 3:30am, and Sunday 3 to 10pm.