Hi everyone,

If you just arrived in Switzerland or you have been here for quite a while but never had the opportunity to visit the federal capital of Switzerland that is Bern, then this event is for you.

Bern, 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 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 and Bern is ranked among the world’s top ten cities for the best quality of life.

The official language of Bern is German, but the main spoken language is the Alemannic dialect called Bernese German; most residents of the city speak both. English and French are fairly widely spoken, but to a lesser extent.

Bern was founded in 1191 by Duke Berthold V von Zähringen and was part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1353 Bern joined the Swiss confederation. After several successful conquers, Bern became the largest independent city state north of the alps. It was occupied by French troops in 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars, and was stripped of a large part of its territory. The city became the Swiss capital in 1848.

-----------------------------------------------------

Are you now interested in discovering Bern more in depth?

Then please RSVP for this event

-----------------------------------------------------

It is gonna be a friendly and discovery day tour and trip of Bern with me showing you a maximum of places in Bern that i know of. I will also kindly ask everyone for CHF5 contribution for the efforts that i put into the organisation of this trip to Bern. Many thanks for your understanding.

The tour will last the whole day in Bern. I will also take you all for lunch to a restaurant which does typical, local and regional food from Bern.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the key points of what we are gonna see during the whole day:

- The Cathedral of Bern (Das Berner Münster) which is the most impressive example of Late Gothic architecture of the city. The basilica with its three naves towers above the roofs of Bern's old town.

- The highest church tower of Switzerland with 101 metres high

- the child eater fountain

- Zytglogge (Clock Tower) which was Bern's first western city gate (1191 - 1256) and is now one of Bern's most important sights.

- The Old Town of Bern which is part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites thanks to the medieval and well-preserved townscapes of the old town of Bern

- Bear Park

- the house of Albert Einstein

- the house of parliament and government of Switzerland

- Federal Square

- Prison Tower : It is Bern's second tower and was the second city gate.

- the River Aare

- French Church which is now the city's oldest church

- The Elfenau Estate which is is among Bern's most beautiful green areas

- The Granary (Kornhaus) which is regarded as one of Bern's chief examples of High Baroque architecture.

- Town Hall which was built in the period from 1406 - 1416.

- And many other impressive sights that Bern has to offer

---------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting details:

Meeting date: On Monday, on the 13/08/2012

Meeting time: At 9.30am as we will take the direct train to Bern of 9h45am arriving in Bern at 11h26am. This is the quickest train to Bern as it will take only 1h41mins. And again this is a direct train to Bern.

Meeting place: To make it easier for everyone, let's meet right in front of the big pharmacy called "Amavita" inside Cornavin Train Station.

You will find this pharmacy by getting through to the main entrance of Cornavin Train Station. The pharmacy (which is under renovation) is just facing the former main ticket office and the currency exchange point inside Cornavin.

I will also have a "GLOCALS" sign so that you can find me quicker by looking out for this sign.

The price for the return train ticket to Bern:

* if you have the half price card: CHF47
*if you don't have it: CHF94

I would advise everyone to get the yearly half-price card that you can get at Cornavin Train Station. You can buy it at the main ticket office of Cornavin. Just ask for the half price card. It is definitely worth it as you get half price for all your trips by train within Switzerland and half price within Geneva for bus, trams tickets.

I hope to see you all then! The more The merrier!

Best regards,

David