is Bern worth getting off the train?

I'm not a big fan of Bern, even though the train station is right smack in the middle of the old town, I would keep moving. Your kids might be more interested in the official Swiss Rail museum in Interlaken. It's three floors of working model trains; even this 43 year old "kid" loved it. It's a block away from the Interlaken West station, on the main street past the Supermarket. Zurich also has an excellent Zoo.

It was years ago, but we stayed in Bern a couple times. It is a very scenic place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern

There were several colorful statues about town; I remember one of an ogre eating children. Bern is perched above a hairpin loop of the Aar River with exciting views of the river gorge below. The old town has many attractive buildings.

Regards, Gary

ok-got it--thanks--we will spend our time in Interlaken, Luzern or Zurich and skip Bern--thanks. Elaine

I really don't understand why Bern doesn't get more recommendations. I'd take it any day over Zurich.

If you are interested even a little bit in Albert Einstein, this is the place to be! You can visit his appartment right in the middle of the historic centre. The "Historisches Museum" of Bern is great in itself but also includes a permanent exhibit on his life and ideas.

The historic centre is very pretty with loads of neat fountains. My kids (10 and 8 at the time) loved them! I also very much liked the Munster.

Here are some of my favourite pics:

view from the Munster

city centre as viewed from outside Einstein's appartment

Munster detail

Agreed Beatrix, I would take Bern over Zurich also. Although, Interlaken over both.

If your kids are into hiking (I definately was at that age) I would spend some time in the alps and get some hiking time in. Lots of trails, some geared for families.

Love Bern!!!!!!!! One of my favorite places in Switzerland.
Don't understand why others dont like it???

IMO Bern is a nice place to live, but for the average tourist, it's a bit "blahh"....doesn't have have much tourist appeal. For me Switzerland is all about the Alps...they only cities worth visiting are Luzern, and Luscanne, and even then just quick day trips.

But if I had to choose between Bern and Zurich, I'd go with Bern.

Did have an interesting experience in Bern back in 1998. As I was passing through I discovered the city was holding the "After Dark" film festival. All of the cinemas around the city were showing classics films from the past 30 years all day & night for an entire weekend. Films like Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Star Wars, Alien, all the Bond films etc. As a film buff I thought I died and went to heaven. I'd seen these film many times on video but never on the big screen. Didn't get much sleep that weekend, as I tried to cram-in as many movies, as I could.

For me Switzerland is all about the Alps...

Sure, the Alps are stunning and not to be missed. But reducing the entire country to just one natural feature? Switzerland has a very interesting history and culture, I was really impressed when I started to learn more about it.

As a physicist my husband is certainly familiar with Einstein but even he was surprised to discover that he had internalized some myths and that become evident when we walked the places he lived.

One of my biggest surprises included learning more about the silk industry in Switzerland - I had no clue that it ever existed.

And I could go on and on ...

When I travel somewhere, I'll see, do, and learn the things that interest me most; it's my money my time. Learning about Swiss history is not a priority in my life right now. I visited Bern, gave it a chance, it bored me, someone asked for opinions about it. I gave my opinion, it's just that.

p.s. I have no interest in learning more about a man involved in developing the A-bomb, and cheated on his wife.

So far, the only travel guides I have found which will tell you about a specific location "there is nothing here to interest the tourist" are the Rough Guides. All of the other guide books make everything sound worthwhile. So, you might want to visit Borders or your local equivalent and check out what the Switzerland Rough Guide says about Bern or any other location. At least then you are (hopefully) getting the opinion of someone who has probably visited all of the sites and can prioritize them. If you ask a travel board, you get wildly divergent opinions, based on the person's interest (or lack thereof) in a location. For instance, I would tell you Stonehenge is not to be missed while others will tell you it's just a pile of rocks. Just a thought...

oh my, if people who cheat on their partners do not interest you that doesn't leave much to be interested in ...

... kidding aside: I certainly get that people are interested in different things. That is exactly the reason I gave a few examples of additional aspects of an ENTIRE country that might interest a traveller beyond just ONE.