We disembarked from the AMAKristina around 9am, in Basel, Switzerland. I can't say we saw much in Basel, other than the train station. After confirming our train departure time, we pulled our wheeled duffel bags over to the train gate that would take us to Bern. 45 minutes later, we arrived at the Bern train station.
Throughout our Switzerland rail journey, we really appreciated how well the trains arrive and depart according to published schedules. For most of our train changes during a long rail trip, we had from six to ten minutes to disembark one train, confirm the proper gate of the next train, walk to the gate with our luggage and, finally, find our seats in next train car. Our Swiss rail pass was for second-class seating and we found it fairly easy to find two adjacent eats. First class seating for a Swiss rail pass is substantially more expensive than second-class seating.
Exiting the Bern Rail station, we were a little confused as to which local city tram would take us to our hotel. This was an issue for many of our arrivals at a new train station. Once we got our directional bearings, sometimes with the guidance of a local resident, we quickly learned our way around the town or village.
Our first stop in Bern was the Bellevue Palace Hotel. This hotel was first built in 1865 and completely rebuilt during 1910-1913. After its 2001 remodel, the hotel room count was reduced to 130 from 230. The hotel is owned by the Swiss government and is located close to the Swiss Parliament building, The Bellevue has been host to many worldwide and national conferences.The public areas and rooms are beautifully furnished and our second-floor room had a wonderful balcony with views of the Aare River. The Bellevue Palace is in Old Town Basel and is walking distance to many city sights and museums.
The next morning, before checking our of our hotel, we walked over to the Bern Historical Museum.
Throughout our Switzerland rail journey, we really appreciated how well the trains arrive and depart according to published schedules. For most of our train changes during a long rail trip, we had from six to ten minutes to disembark one train, confirm the proper gate of the next train, walk to the gate with our luggage and, finally, find our seats in next train car. Our Swiss rail pass was for second-class seating and we found it fairly easy to find two adjacent eats. First class seating for a Swiss rail pass is substantially more expensive than second-class seating.
Exiting the Bern Rail station, we were a little confused as to which local city tram would take us to our hotel. This was an issue for many of our arrivals at a new train station. Once we got our directional bearings, sometimes with the guidance of a local resident, we quickly learned our way around the town or village.
Our first stop in Bern was the Bellevue Palace Hotel. This hotel was first built in 1865 and completely rebuilt during 1910-1913. After its 2001 remodel, the hotel room count was reduced to 130 from 230. The hotel is owned by the Swiss government and is located close to the Swiss Parliament building, The Bellevue has been host to many worldwide and national conferences.The public areas and rooms are beautifully furnished and our second-floor room had a wonderful balcony with views of the Aare River. The Bellevue Palace is in Old Town Basel and is walking distance to many city sights and museums.
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| Bellevue Palace Hotel, Bern, Switzerland |
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| View from Room Balcony |
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| Another View from Balcony |
We made the most out of our afternoon and morning in Bern. We toured the Einstein Apartment and the Bern Cathedral before heading to the Kunstmuseum (Fine Arts Museum) café for lunch. At the Kunstmuseum, we walked through the first floor art exhibit of modern painters, including Picasso, Klee, Openhiemer, Matisse and Hodler. You may recall the Kuntsmuseum being mentioned in the news. Back in 2012, a tax audit of Cornelius Gurlitt revealed over 1,400 art pieces in his apartment, many of them stolen or purchased from Jewish owned collections by the Nazis during WWII. Gurlitt died in 2014 and his will donated the art work to the Kunstmuseum, with the requirement that restitution be made for any art piece that was determined to have been stolen.
On our way back to the hotel, we viewed the historic water fountains in the Old Town of Bern, Parliament, Barenplatz farmers market, Casino Concert Hall, and the Zytglogge Clock Tower (with a dancing jester, parading bears and a guilded man named Chronos who flips an hourglass as a bell is struck). I've read that this clock inspired Albert Einstein's theory of relativity Our evening dinner was at the Federal Entrecoat - a restaurant specializing in its beef offerings. There, we had one of the the best sirloin steak dinners in recent memory.
Dining in Switzerland can be somewhat expensive. While our hotel stays included breakfasts, lunches for two often ranged from $20USD (e.g., sandwiches and coffee) to $50USD (e.g., moderate-priced restaurant), We avoided upper scale dinner restaurants in Switzerland and found dinner ranged from $60 to $90USD. While these dining prices may appear on the high-end, for comparison, a McDonald's Big Mac was about $12USD.
Dining in Switzerland can be somewhat expensive. While our hotel stays included breakfasts, lunches for two often ranged from $20USD (e.g., sandwiches and coffee) to $50USD (e.g., moderate-priced restaurant), We avoided upper scale dinner restaurants in Switzerland and found dinner ranged from $60 to $90USD. While these dining prices may appear on the high-end, for comparison, a McDonald's Big Mac was about $12USD.
The next morning, before checking our of our hotel, we walked over to the Bern Historical Museum.
This museum contained a permanent exhibit describing Einstein’s work and life, The Einstein exhibits included private and public artifacts from Einstein’s life as well as simpler multimedia explanations of his physics theories. The exhibits were spread over two floors. The museum also contains exhibits focusing on Switzerland accomplishments through the 2000s.
After our morning museum visit, we checked out of the Bellevue Palace and made our way over to the Bern Rail Station. Our next destination was Lauterbrunnen, in the Berner-Oberland mountain region.
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