Bern Travel Forum

Hello everybody,
I will be in Switzerland for the last two weeks of August. I would like to stay in a hotel in Bern for the entire trip so I don't have to worry about lugging my suitcases around. At the same time, I would like to be able to travel around and visit other places, but at this point don't know when, where and what exactly. I would like to have enough freedom and not commit to hotel reservations way in advance. My question is - is it possible to go from Bern by train or bus to other cities/towns (Gerzensee, Genf, Lucern, Interlaken and others) early in the morning, see the place, and then come back to my hotel in Bern for the night? Or are some places too far from Bern for that? And while we are at it, what is a decent quality hotel in Bern that's not too expensive? I would like a place that is really Bearnese in style and feel, but wonder if that could be lacking in modern facilities ( I really need my bathroom to be tip-top and also a decent matress for a good night's sleep). I looked up info here on hotels in Bern, but there are few comments, and I can't make up my mind. This and any other tips on travelling in Switzerland would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know much about hotels in Bern as I was renting a small flat there for three months, but I was doing those one-day trips all the time, and Bern is a great place for persuing this kind of tourism. It takes usually about an hour or two to get, for example, to Lucerne, Zurich or Lausanne. The problem is, taht Swiss cities are so enchanting that you may not want to go back to your hotel in the evening.

You can look up public transport times (and prices) on www.sbb.ch. Even for places that don't have train service, as the system knows about busses and trams too. Use this site to plan your trips. Generally speaking you can do a lot on day trips from Bern. It is probably also a good idea to plan certain trips as circuits. You can do Bern Luzern via Interlaken to experience the Brünig railway, and return with the fast IC...

But since you are going to be staying in Switzerland for two weeks I wouldn't necessarily stay in Bern the whole time. Bern is a nice town (I live there :-) but some parts of Switzerland will be hard to reach on day trips. I would suggest dividing your time over more places. You can't visit Ticino and Grisons on day trips from Bern.

If you don't want to lug your luggage around, have a look at this:
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/services/schalter/reisegepaeck/schnellesreisegepaeck.htm

Thank you, K V B.
Here is my situation. I am Russian, living in California, having been married to a Swiss (my husband passed away two years ago). In many years of marriage we never got to go to Switzerland together, and now I am going by myself. There are relatives in Bern and surroundings, but I am not sure how welcoming they would be, so I don't want to rely on them and then be disappointed, although I certainly would get in touch. I will try to see places that my husband had told me about, to the best of my memories. He was born in Gezensee, and that's what it says on my Staatsangehoerigkeit papers, too. So I would want to get there and try to find the church that keeps the family records and photograph that for my kids. The town of Gerzensee has a huge website, but it is all in German, and my German is ok for getting around as a tourist, but not yet enough for reading serious texts. At any rate, I would not want to get sucked in too much of this whole memory lane trip and get overly emotional, although I certainly feel a connection with the country I am a citizen of but so far has never been to.
If you have any more tips for me, I greatly appreciate it, vielen dank.
Natasha

Hi Natasha
I am sorry you won't be able to travel with your husband but am so happy you are going to make the trip. Have you thought of renting a vacation apartment for two weeks instead of a hotel? The price will be similar, you will have a lot more room and you can fix some of your own meals. I also travel alone sometimes and the only thing I dislike about it is eating alone in restaurants. I also eat less when I fix my own meals. The downside of an apartment is that you could not easily cancel and go elsewhere or stay with a new-found relative. This would be easier with a hotel.

Have a wonderful trip!
Kathy