Switzerland · Self-guided walk
Bern in one walk 8 sights, 45 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Bern Old Town: 8 sights on one 2.9 km loop, about 45 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 2.9 km, a loop
- Time
- about 45 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Bundeshaus – Parlamentsgebäude
- Steps
- no streets with steps on the route
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Bern walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Bern, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Bundeshaus – Parlamentsgebäude
the start
Everybody photographs it from the square. Do the opposite: walk round behind, onto the Bundesterrasse, where the ground stops and the country begins. On a clear day the white wall of the Alps lines up along the horizon, and nobody up there says much.
Next: Einsteinhaus, 610 m, about 9 min, along Amthausgasse, Münstergasse.
Lunch break
Lesbar, Münstergasse 61-63, about 30 m off the route, open Mon 08:00–20:00, Tue–Fri 07:30–20:00, Sat 07:00–18:00, Sun 10:00–17:00.
A café on the ground floor of the university library, in the oldest part of a house that was a granary and then a market hall for dairy. More on what to eat in Bern.
2. Einsteinhaus
about 9 minutes of walking from the start
One door in a row of identical doors, under the same arcades as the shops. Nothing outside it asks for your attention, which is rather the joke. Count the numbers along until you arrive, then go up a flight.
Next: Münster, 90 m, about 1 min.
3. Münster
about 10 minutes of walking from the start
Walk behind it to the Plattform. Chestnut trees, gravel, benches, and then a railing with a very long nothing on the far side of it: the low quarter and the river lie straight underneath. A lift runs down from here. Walking up again is the better half.
Next: Nydeggbrücke, 690 m, about 10 min, along Junkerngasse, Nydeggbrücke.
4. Nydeggbrücke
about 21 minutes of walking from the start
Stop in the middle and turn around. The town stacks itself up behind you in layers, roofs above roofs above a long face of grey stone, and everything you have walked is in one frame. Then carry on. Dessert is on the far bank.
Next: Bärengraben, 40 m, about 1 min.
5. Bärengraben
about 22 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sun 00:00–24:00
Over the river and up the other side, at the very end of everything. A wide terraced enclosure steps down the bank, and its residents explain this town's shield better than any book does. Give them time. They are not in a hurry either.
Next: Rathaus, 570 m, about 9 min, along Nydeggbrücke, Postgasse.
6. Rathaus
about 30 minutes of walking from the start
Most of this one's face is staircase. Two flights climb from the lane, meet on a landing, and only then release you at the door. I approve of an entrance you have to earn.
Next: Zytglogge, 380 m, about 6 min, along Rathausgasse.
7. Zytglogge
about 36 minutes of walking from the start
Come at it from the east and look up at the painted dial before anything else. Then wait with the small crowd that collects underneath every sixty minutes. They are all early for the same reason, and I am keeping it to myself.
Next: Käfigturm, 310 m, about 5 min, along Bim Zytglogge, Marktgasse.
8. Käfigturm
about 41 minutes of walking from the start
The lane runs straight at it, splits, and joins up again beyond. Go under the arch rather than along the sides. Past this point the paving widens and the stalls take over. Narrow first, then the market. A sensible order.
Back to the start: Bundeshaus – Parlamentsgebäude, 240 m, about 4 min, along Bärenplatz, Bundesplatz.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Bern.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 94 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Bern Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.