14 Best Places to Shop in Bern, Switzerland

The self-styled prince of Bernese chocolatiers, Tschirren has been making its divine assortment of artfully rough-hewn truffles since 1919.

About 100 arts-and-crafts stands fill the Münsterplatz on the first Saturday of the month between March and December. In December, the market also happens on the first Sunday and the third Saturday and Sunday.

Münstergasse, between Zytglogge and Münster, offers meats, dairy products, bread, fish, fruit, veggies, and more every Tuesday and Saturday.

Find an assortment of pralines and truffles, as well as hazelnut gingerbread emblazoned with the iconic bear, at Eichenberger. There are five stores in Bern, three of which have cafés.

Held on Matte's Mühleplatz the third Saturday of the month from May to October, this market has the look and feel of an antiques-laden tag sale.

Good-quality, stylish, often vibrantly colorful home accessories and cooking gear fill the upper stories at Globus. On the lower levels, fashionable hats and scarves, cosmetics, and designer labels give way to foodstuffs—from specialty oils to cheese—in the upscale supermarket downstairs.

Colorful handmade wooden figures and candelabras, delicate shaved-wood trees, and lacy wooden cutouts adorn Holz Art.

Founded in 1881 by four Bern brothers, Loeb features clothing for adults and children along with toys, craft supplies, and housewares. At ground level you'll find accessories, stationery, and cosmetics.

The Bärenplatz is filled with fresh produce, herbs, and flowers every day except Sunday between May and October.

This inviting concept store features a good range of products solely from young Swiss designers, including furniture, bed linens, jewelry, clothes, bags, housewares, and ceramics.

This awning-covered warren is the place for handmade soaps, antique copper pots, silver jewelry, handmade hammocks, tie-dyed scarves, and toys, including helium-filled balloons. Open on Tuesday and Saturday year-round, the market also opens on Thursday between April and October.

Bern boasts a whopping six small Christmas markets. Throughout December, hot mulled wine adds spice to the arts and crafts, colorful decorations, and seasonal produce lining the stalls set up around the Bern Minster, Waisenhausplatz, Kornhausplatz and more, open daily from late November until December 24.

The Zibelemärit is a remnant of a 15th-century Autumn Market that lasted two weeks; 19th-century farmers' wives, notably from Fribourg, developed the habit of coming to Bern on the first day of the market to sell their excess produce, particularly onions. Today half the 200 stalls that line the City Center on the fourth Monday in November display a vast assortment of items made with onions—everything from wreaths to alarm clocks to soup. Some say the best time to browse the annual market is just after it opens at 4 am, when stalls are candlelit; you may be treated to a predawn dusting of snow, and confetti battles—a major part of the festivities—do not yet rage.