The Swiss Capital of Bern

I arrived into Bern on a cold, rainy afternoon and unfortunately, this pretty much foreshadowed my entire stay in Bern. 

Bern is very compact and most of the attractions are all within a 30 minute walk of the downtown core.  I started off by visiting the House of Parliament, and was lucky enough to catch a brief blue sky before the rain started again.

A few shorts steps away is the Prison Tower, located right near Barenplatz station, where a number of trams stop to take you to nearby attractions.

A 10-15 minute walk will get you to the Bern Cathedral, an impressive gothic style church.  The church wasn’t open when I visited, but the adjoining park was very popular with both locals and tourists.  The park is located on a platform and offered views of the Aare River below.

At sunset, I made my way up to the Rose Garden for the most impressive view of the city.  Due to the fact that it was a rainy day, the view wasn’t as great as I had hoped, but nonetheless, it was still very nice.  There were so many people just sitting up at the Rose Garden and enjoying the sunset.

To finish off the day, I walked from the Rose Garden down to Bärengraben, or Bear Pit.  The Bärengraben is home to a family of bears that have been living there since 2009.  I was able to spot one of the bears briefly, but I wasn’t sure whether it was the father, mother or daughter.  In the flash of an eye, the bear had disappeared and I was only left with this picturesque photo of the Aare River.

Bern is a beautiful city and I would love to go back and explore more of it during a less rainy week.