Spurs have the task of Spanking Young Boys on the 18th and I'm semi tempted. I might have trouble getting the time off, but otherwise I'm up for it.

So whats to do in Berne? I'm afraid that my image of Switzerland is a boring place populated with the sort of People who listen to Moneybox.

I'd probably have about three days - so apart from the evening of the game I would be free for around two and a half days.

I'm not big on chocolates, mountain stuff and fascism. Has Switzerland got anything else?

Don't all football fans stand in the street drinking and shouting at passers by? In your case...com'on you YIDS!!!

Well yes we do. But it's not all we do....

I knew this post would appear when I saw the draw .

Look forward to hearing about Berne.

Serious questions:

How does one get there from London? Are there direct flights (google is no help). Or do I have to fly to somewhere else and get a train (or toboggan)?

How is it for hotels? Trip advisor etc mainly bring up corporate business-boxes.

What else to do there? Or nearby - car hire is possible.

Is Switzerland as mind-numbingly dull as I suspect?

If not what is there to do (if you are middle aged and fat - so no nightclubs etc)?

Or would I be better off on the sofa with a few cans and ASBOcat?

Go feed the bears in the bear pit.

There is a small airport in Bern which used to have direct flights from London City. Otherwise, fly into Zürich or Geneva - both airports have direct train connections to Bern.

You will find what you look for. If you look for mind-numbingly dull, thats what you will find. It's all the question of attitude.

I can't feed bears for three days!

What are you looking for if you arrive in a new city?

Beer is available everywhere, fairly good food too (though pricy). You can go watch politics being made (the parliament sessions are accessible for anyone, from a gallery) but I can imagine there are only very few less boring sights to see.

Basically, what do you want to do? Museums? Food? Hot women?

(The latter all left Bern for Zürich anyway...)

Hi Cholmondley_Warner,

Here's a link to a walking tour -- though I'm not sure that that's what you'd like --

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...r.Of.Bern.html

s

Maybe it would be a good idea to feed yourself to the bears. On the other hand, they might get an upset stomach then.

Well, since you didn't indicate your view on Swiss timepieces, I'll mention they have a clock.

C_W, here's a link to a Wiki info thing:

http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtm...n&fwd=1&q=bern

Doesn't look like anyone flies ex UK to Bern direct, via Zurich or Geneva as altamiro said. Maybe pass Harry the link, he'll need to know how to get there!

See you in the final.

Looks like a night in with a can or two (or three or four) and the ASBO cat.

I'm a big fan of the Lac Leman region. I specifically like the towns of Lausanne, Vevey, and Montreux which are all right along the lake.

Not into bears, never made it to Bern. My friends who live there think it's boring and I took their word for it.

I have spent anywhere from a few days to several weeks in 24 European countries but without a doubt Berne is the most boring city I have ever visited. When I was there even the bears were not available. They too were probably bored and left town.

Larry J

Seems like Bern is still exactly the opposite of stressful cities. Makes me want to hop on a train and go there right away again.

Bern ist probably not a thrilling place to live in. But it only got 100K or so inhabitants, so it's a bit unrealistic to expect something like Schönbrunn palace or the Louvre there.

But from the tourist's perspective, I would not exactly know what makes Bern "boring". It got a very beautiful compact old town (UNESCO world heritage), good restaurants, a nice location high above the bend of the Aare river, and some good museums (incl. the most important for Paul Klee).
You probably won't stay there more than one or two nights - but you also rarely spend more time in Freiburg or Linz.
If you think that Bern is "boring" then you probably don't need to see 90% of all the towns that size in the Alps or nearby.

Being a UNESCO World Heritage site is not at all unique as there are 911 of them. Being the capital city of Switzerland helps getting on the list too. Size has nothing to do with a town being boring either. I think Bordeaux, France is boring too and it's much larger than Berne. On the other hand in the Alps I think small towns like Wengen, Muerren, Grendelwald, Kleine Scheideg and Gstaad are very beautiful and interesting little towns and villages. I just think Berne is boring but if someone else thinks differently I can certainly respect that and would not try to draw any conclusions from that about their tastes and opinions of other towns. ...............By the way did the bears ever return to Berne?

Larry J

Well, at least you know how the UNESCO list work.
But I still don't know what makes it boring to you? Not enough souvenir shops or restaurants. Lack of museums? Or not enough mountains in the vicinity? No bears?
I will gladly admit that I find Zurich or Vienna more interesting than Bern. But just to say "boring" is more or less a non-information.

So far all that's vaguely interested me is the bears. I like bears.

It sounds like my vision of Switzerland - uptight and boring. So it's the couch, a few nelsons and the ASBOcat methinks.

But thanks for the info.