Bern Transportation

In all the surrounding countries (Germany, France, Italy, Austria) cyclists are careful to lock their bikes TO something when they leave them unattended, in fact the standard procedure is to lock both the frame and the front wheel to some unmovable object such as a bicycle stand that has been set up especially for this purpose.

Not so in Switzerland. Here the city councils simply paint big boxes on the streets and paint bicycle symbols in them. People park their bikes in these boxes and simply block the rear wheel with a tin lock. Evidently there is enough social control in Swiss cities that this is adequate protection against theft, even though it would be theoretically possible for someone to pick up one of these bikes and walk off with it.

For someone who mainly cycles in other countries, this takes a bit of getting used to.

The parking area in the photo is on Kornhausplatz by the Bern City Theater, at the south end of the Kornhaus Bridge.

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Bern has a fine system of public transport, including three tram lines and several bus lines of various sorts. So if your bicycle has a flat tire or something you should have no trouble getting around town.

Second photo: Trams at the Kornhaus Bridge, as seen from above.

Third photo: Tram # 9.

Fourth photo: I was glad to see that Bern still has trolleybuses, which impressed me when I lived there in the 1960s. These are electric vehicles which can maneuver like busses, to a certain extent, but they get their electricity from double strands of overhead wires. The bus is the photo is the number 12 going through the Gerechtigkeitsgasse, where I used to live, on its way to the Zentrum Paul Klee.

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This short funicular connects the center of Bern (Bundesterasse, near the Federal Parliament Building) with the Marzili district 32 meters lower, by the banks of the Aare River. In the summer, lots of local people use this funicular to get to and from the Marzili outdoor swimming pool down by the river.

The length of the track is 105 meters, and the trip takes about one minute.

From 1885 to 1973 this funicular was run by a "water counterbalanced" system, which was replaced in 1974 by an automatic electric system which is still in use today.

Second and third photos: As in most funiculars, there are two cars which take turns going from top to bottom and bottom to top, and pass each other in the middle.

Fourth photo: Looking down at the Marzili district with the Aare River and the outdoor swimming pool.

Bundesterasse 7, CH-3011 Bern
46°56'45.44" North; 7°26'31.74" East

Like most self-respecting cities, Bern also offers the possibility to travel around town by Velo-Taxi.

So far I've never tried this, since I prefer to do the pedaling myself, but in principle I'm all in favor of it.

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Within just a few years in the 1990s, the Switzerland Mobility Foundation (formerly Cycling in Switzerland Foundation) succeeded in establishing a network of nine national cycling routes with a total length of over 3000 kilometers and standard signposting throughout Switzerland in all cantons.

These national routes have one-digit numbers, such as route # 8 in the photo.

Route 8 is called the Aare Route because it begins at the source of the Aare River (at a mountain village called Gletsch which is 1,757 meters above sea level) and follows this river downstream via Oberwald, Meiringen, Interlaken, Spiez, Thun, Bern, Biel, Solothurn and Aarau. It ends after 305 kilometers at a place called Koblenz, near Bad Zursach, where the three rivers Limmat, Reuss and Aare join together.

In addition to the nine national routes, there are also fifty-five regional routes with two-digit numbers, such as # 94 and # 34 in the photo.

Route 34 is called the Alter Bernerweg (Old Bernese Way) and goes through "the former peasant lands of the Bernese Lords" for 176 kilometers from Estavayer-le-Lac to Baden. They say this is an easy route which can be done comfortably in four days.

Route 94 makes what they call a "sweeping arc through a variety of landscapes in seven cantons" for 258 kilometers from L’Areuse to Zürich.

According to the website Cycling in Switzerland, these cycle routes are "generally accessible paths or roads with as far as possible little or no motorized traffic, ideally surfaced with tarmac or concrete." When they have to go along busy roads they are along cycle paths or "in lanes with safe crossings or turning-off points."

Second photo: Route #8 signs by the Aare River in Bern.

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Pro Velo Bern is the lobby of local bicycle users, which since 1978 has been campaigning for more space on the streets, uninterrupted bicycle routes, enough bicycle parking spaces, a safe traffic climate and better connections to public transport.

They want to see to it that "the bicycle will be perceived as a fully-fledged means of transportation."

As an out-of-towner just riding around Bern for a day on a rented bike, my impression was that they have been very successful in all of this -- but on their website they show dozens of trouble spots that have not (yet) been resolved to the satisfaction of local cyclists.

Additional photos: More cyclists in Bern.

We drove to Bern from our hotel and parked before we crossed the Nydeggbrucke (Nydegg Bridge). There are pay box style meters but since it was Sunday parking was free.

We did drive through most of the town before parking, maybe it's just open on Sunday to car traffic because I imagine it's horrendous trying to dodge tourists when the city is at its peak. The whole city is walkable and rather compact.

Bern is best reached by train or car. But you can also get there by plane.
The timetable of the train you can find online at www.sbb.ch
Most of the interesting parts of the city can be reached by feed. But there is also local public transportation you can use. Information about the public transportation can be found at www.bernmobil.ch.
During the summer you can borrow bikes to get around and that for free!