Bern

Bern (Berne), the capital of Switzerland, is a small to medium sized city with a population of about 130,000 in the city proper and roughly 350'000 in the agglomeration area. It sits on a peninsula formed by the meandering turns of the river Aare. The remarkable design coherence of the Bern's old town has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It features 4 miles of arcaded walkways along streets decked out with fountains and clock-towers. Bern was one of the eight host cities in the 2008 European Football Championships.

Bern has an excellent public transportation system, with frequent local city services provided by trams, trolleybuses and buses, together with an S-Bahn rail system for longer journeys into the surrounding suburbs.

Bern is full of history and museums. It also has quite a bit of public art, all of which is marked on a walking map which is available from the tourist office in the train station for free.

Many Bernse will tell you that nightlife in Bern is not exactly what you might call spectacular, but they're probably comparing it to Zurich or Paris.