To visit Bern or Not to visit Bern is the question.

I was just at Hotel Edelweiss in Murren. :-) The restaurant will be open in June. So, you can still eat there if you like.

I’m not a fan of Bern, but pretty much everyone else is.

As for splitting time in Wengen and Murren, I was very happy that I did on my last trip and plan to do that again on future trips.

I’m sure you saw the many posts this June about late openings for some of the trails this year. You can never predict the weather. Hopefully, you have better luck next June.

Hi Carrie- Thanks for your feedback on Bern. I will take it into account. Happy you liked splitting up your time. I know we are coming early and some trails might not be open. We will just have to go back another time if we have to. Hopefully we will get lucky!

Like Carrie, I am not a fan of Bern, but I have used it as a rainy-day option. I would add a night to Wengen then day trip to Bern if the weather is not suitable for mountain activities. I hope you are planning on getting Berner Oberland Regional Passes to cover your transport in the region. A pass makes it easy to say “Let’s go there!” Instead of worrying about extra out-of-pocket expense. ## Heading ##

Hi Laurel-

Thanks again for your response. Seems to be a trend for the four nights in Wengen. That was going to be my next question…Where to put the extra night should we decide to scrap Bern? Thanks for that. So we would have 4N Wengen, 3N Mürren, and 2N Luzern.

We will be getting passes. Not sure which ones yet. We are getting ready to head to Italy at the end of September. Once I am home I will be able
to focus more on this trip for next year. At the moment just trying to sort out hotel reservations and hotels.

islandfam, my standard comment is that Bern is a nice town, if you want to see town things - architecture, museums, picturesque streets, etc. But it's not in the mountains. Mountains are what you come to Switzerland to see. I would spend that extra night in Luzern. Have you considered the Hotel Jungfrau in Mürren? I believe they do half-board.

Hi Stan- Thank you for your reply and thoughts on Bern. I had not looked at Hotel Jungfrau but will check it out. We will be celebrating my husbands 50th birthday so sort of looking to splash is out on the accommodations this trip.

Just to be contrary, I will say that my husband and I really like Bern—-more than Luzern, actually. It feels more “real” and much less touristy. Maybe it has to do with my husband’s Swiss heritage—-his paternal relatives were dairy farmers in the Emmental region. But it was the charm of the Altstadt, nestled in a horseshoe bend in the river, that got me.

Last year we went straight to Bern from the Zurich airport for our first night, staying in the Altstadt area. This part of the city is lovely for walking, with covered sidewalks like the porticos in Bologna. The evening vibe on a Friday night, with so many people having dinner at outside tables along Gerechtigkeitsgasse, was very enjoyable. We had a fun conversation in mixed German and Italian with the Swiss people at the next table, in town for the weekend. Fortunately we finished dinner before the rain started, but not our wine, so the waiter helped us move inside.

My husband enjoyed a quick swim in the river the next morning, but then we headed off to Mürren without exploring the city more. But we are going back next month to visit the Einstein museum, climb the Minster tower, and more. Again, this will be for our arrival night in Switzerland, before we move on to our village in the Valais region.

I would not take time away from the Berner Oberland villages to visit Bern as a daytrip, but I do like it for a first overnight stop after the long flight from the US. Of course you will be coming from Italy, so that is a different situation.

I will add that I like the idea of splitting time between Wengen and Mürren. It solves the problem of trying to choose between them.

I spent a few hours in Bern 20 years ago on a train change, had a very nice lunch, walked around a bit - pleasant enough city, saw the famous clock tower - but I remember thinking at the time that Bern isn't worth any effort, much less an overnight, given the rest of Switzerland is the real attraction.

A waste of time? That is harsh. So you would advise someone landing in Zurich around 5 pm, after 15-20 hours of flying, to spend another 4 hours on trains and cable cars to get to their destination in the mountains, probably skipping dinner and crashing into bed around 10 pm?

I will submit that paying resort hotel prices for a room you don’t occupy until 10 at night is the waste of money. Plus the extra travel at the end of a long travel day just adds to jet lag snd travel fatigue.

We see lots of people who plan to spend their arrival night in Zurich to avoid extra travel after the long flight. Bern or Lucerne are much better choices than that.

On our way home from Wengen, via Geneva and Lyon France, we're stopping in Bern for a couple of hours to go to the Paul Klee Zentrum (museum/institute/workshop). https://www.zpk.org/en
A previous trip we spent a couple of hours looking at the central city, cathedral, bears...
So, it is possible to check your luggage at the station, spend a few hours, and then move on.

We'll eat some lunch at the Zentrum and then catch the train on to Geneva where we'll stay the night before the last two trains to get home the next morning. But yes, the object of our trips to Switzerland is the mountains, not the towns unless it's rainy or foggy.

Switzerland is too expensive to "waste" time and money on 2nd and 3rd tier places.

That sounds like a pretty general statement to me, not just specific to the OP.

I just do not see the point of rushing to reach a hotel in the mountains right after landing, when you are going to arrive after dark, especially when a pleasant little city that one wants to visit anyway is right on the way. And it is also one that Rick likes and recommends.

But we all have our own travel style, don’t we.

Everyone - Thank you so much for your feedback. I will be going over all this with my husband when he gets home. Seeing as we are will arrive in Zurich at 11:20am and it seems the train and lifts would take about 3 hours or less to get to Wengen we would arrive with plenty of day light left should we decide to go that route. I would agree if we were flying over night a shorter train ride would be preferable but we will be coming from Italy. We do typically like city travel but those of you that have pointed out that the mountains are usually ones main focus for a visit to Switzerland are not wrong!! You have given us a lot to think about and for that I thank you!

If you wish to stay in Bern, I can recommend the Hotel Savoy. A short walk to the train station and in the old town.

We are going next month and my husband wants to see Bern and Geneva. His theory is that we have stayed in Basel, Zurich and Lucerne and should stay in Switzerland's other cities.

I have given in to a night in Geneva since that is where we fly out from, so it works. We won't stay in Bern though. We have a full week in Wengen and will make Bern a day trip from there. We will have the BO pass so it won't cost anything and it looks easy enough for a full day. We will make it our worst day, weatherwise.

Have a great time planning.

FWIW, I LOVE Bern- a small city with gorgeous, elaborate old fountains, double-tiered, arcaded shops, Einstein's apartment, famous clock tower, cathedral, Rose Garden above the bend in the Aar River, the brewery in the Altes Tramdepot near the bears and the Paul Klee Zentrum.
Add in the ancient parts of town along the lower river, meander through the winding cobble alleyways!

I have stayed a week in an apartment to get to know the city even better.

It seems that many people reserve Bern for a rainy day, which makes sense, but I wonder if this affects how they experience the city. Imagine comparing a day spent walking around your own town in bad weather to a beautiful sunny day. How might your mood and desire to explore differ?

What if you could see the distant mountains and had the energy to climb up to the Rose Garden to take in a stunning panorama of the river, bridges, and church spires nestled among the UNESCO World Heritage buildings? You could meander around the Parliament buildings, walk through the arches to the other side, and sit on a bench to enjoy the view. Or explore the square behind the Cathedral, where you’ll find numerous benches, a charming café with outdoor seating, and lovely views down to the Aare River. Wouldn’t that change your perspective of a city you had only hurried through on a rainy or cloudy day?