Bern, Switzerland: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Looking for things to do in Bern? Switzerland’s federal city brings together a UNESCO-listed Old Town, medieval towers, Renaissance fountains, important churches, museums, and views across the River Aare. Its compact historic centre makes Bern especially rewarding to explore on foot. Neywo also offers a free audio guide for Bern with 185 narrated places.

What to see in Bern

Zytglogge

The Zytglogge is Bern’s most famous medieval landmark and the city’s oldest monument. Built around 1218 as a guard tower and gateway in the first defensive walls, it later served as a prison, civic clock tower, archive, storeroom, and air-raid shelter. Today, the sandstone and limestone tower rises 54.5 metres above the Old Town.

Its astronomical clock is the main attraction. The external clock face and puppet show date from the 15th century, while the internal mechanism was completely replaced in 1530. On the east side, the Astro-Dial tracks the zodiac, the sun’s position, and the phases of the moon.

Bern Minster

Bern Minster is the largest late medieval church in Switzerland. Construction began in 1421, although the Gothic building took centuries to complete. Its tower reached its final height of 100.6 metres in 1893, making it the tallest church tower in the country.

The west façade is dominated by a remarkable late medieval representation of the Last Judgement. Forty-seven large statues and around 170 smaller figures fill the portal, showing the righteous entering heaven and the wicked facing punishment. The sculptural ensemble survived the destruction of religious images during the Protestant Reformation in 1528.

The French Church

The French Church is the oldest sacred building in Bern. Dominican friars built it in 1269, and French-speaking Protestant refugees later made it their place of worship. It remains an active French-speaking Protestant congregation.

Inside, the single roof covers both the nave and chancel, while a permanent rood screen separates the former friars’ space from the congregation. Empty niches recall the Catholic chapels and statues once found there. The rood screen is decorated with paintings by the Bernese Carnation Masters, anonymous Gothic artists named for their delicate carnation motifs.

The Historical Museum of Bern

The Historical Museum of Bern is the second largest historical museum in Switzerland. The building was completed in 1894 by Neuchâtel architect André Lambert, who designed it to resemble historic Swiss castles from the 15th and 16th centuries. A modern extension was added in 2009.

The entrance hall contains The Age of History, a glass mosaic created in 1900 by Swiss painter Léo-Paul Robert. Inside, more than half a million objects cover the period from prehistory to the present day. The collections include historical room recreations, material from Bern and its region, and visual records such as Bern’s “plague drawings”.

Bern’s historic fountains

Bern’s fountains are among the most distinctive sights in the Old Town. Several of the city’s 16th-century fountains are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and are listed as Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance.

The Kindlifresserbrunnen, or Child Eater Fountain, stands in Kornhausplatz. Created by Hans Gieng between 1545 and 1546, it shows a seated ogre biting into a child while other children appear in a sack and pouch. Its meaning remains disputed, with interpretations ranging from Krampus to the Greek Titan Cronus and medieval antisemitic imagery.

At Rathausplatz, the Fountain of the Knight Banneret dates from 1542. The armoured figure on top of the Corinthian pillar represents a Venner, a medieval military and political leader who carried a city section’s banner and could rise to the position of mayor.

The Läuferbrunnen, or Runner Fountain, features a messenger dressed in Bern’s red and grey, carrying a spear and messenger’s case. A young bear dressed as a courier walks beside him, linking the fountain to Bern’s enduring bear symbol.

The Pfeiferbrunnen, or Bagpiper Fountain, was made by Hans Gieng in 1545 and 1546, based on a woodcut by Albrecht Dürer. A golden goose and a small monkey accompany the musician, creating a lively scene associated with travelling performers. The fountain originally stood in front of a guesthouse that served minstrels.

Käfigturm and the city’s fortifications

The Käfigturm, or Prison Tower, marks the western edge of Bern’s second expansion. The Baroque tower was built in the early 1640s to replace a gate tower dating from 1256. It functioned as both a city gate and a prison, with room for between 60 and 70 inmates.

Its bell was cast in 1643 in eastern France. The prison closed in the late 19th century, after which the tower was used for state archives and other civic purposes. It remains part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering Bern’s Old City.

The Blood Tower, or Blutturm, once marked the northern end of the fourth western belt in the city’s historic fortifications. Its former names, Witch Tower and Harz Tower, reflect the different roles associated with it over time.

Churches beyond the Old Town

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is the cathedral church of Switzerland’s Christian Catholic community and the first Catholic church built in Bern after the Reformation. Construction took place between 1858 and 1864, following an international competition. Its design combines Romanesque and French Gothic traditions.

St. Paul’s Church, or Pauluskirche, is one of Switzerland’s notable Art Nouveau religious buildings. Karl Moser designed it, and it was built between 1902 and 1905. The interior is decorated in blue, green, and gold, with stained-glass windows by Max Laeuger. Its 36-metre bell tower holds five bells.

The Well Pump House

The Well Pump House, or Brunnenpumphaus, was built in 1585 and formed part of Bern’s drinking-water system. Its pumps distributed water to the city’s fountains and homes. The original machinery was replaced in 1885, and the system continued operating until 1911.

After more than a century without use, the restored pump house reopened as a museum in February 2024, displaying the preserved pumping technology.

The Universal Post Monument

On the Kleine Schanze, the Universal Post Monument celebrates Bern as the founding city and headquarters of the Universal Postal Union, which has connected the world’s postal systems since 1874.

The bronze sculpture Autour du monde—Around the World—shows five female figures representing the continents as they pass letters around a globe. Nearby, Berna personifies the city, with her hand resting on Bern’s coat of arms. The monument was designed by French artist René de Saint-Marceaux, who won an international competition in 1903.

Old Castle Bümpliz

Old Castle Bümpliz, or Altes Schloss Bümpliz, stands in Bern’s Bümpliz-Oberbottigen district. Its history reaches back more than a thousand years, to a wooden royal court associated with the High Burgundian kings in the ninth century.

A water-filled moat was added in the 11th century, a stone round tower appeared in the 13th century, and the property was expanded into a castle in the 15th century. It became the “Old Castle” after a New Castle was built next door in 1742. In 1919, it was converted into a community centre with a restaurant, library, and kindergarten.

Explore Bern with a free audio guide

Neywo’s Bern audio guide includes four walking tours, one bus route, and one bike route. Together, they cover the city at different speeds and with different themes:

• Four walking tours, ranging from 1.34 to 1.95 km, taking between 75 and 106 minutes, with 10 or 12 narrated stops each.
• One 4.3 km bus route, taking 18 minutes and including 10 narrated stops.
• One 1.7 km bike route, taking 8 minutes and including 3 narrated stops.

The walks cover the fountains and historic centre, the route down to the Aare and the Bear Pit, federal Bern and the Postal Union, and the city’s museum quarter. The bus route runs from Elfenau to the Federal Palace, while the bike route connects the Rose Garden with Zentrum Paul Klee.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages. For more Swiss destinations, continue with Switzerland, or compare Bern with Geneva, Basel, or Lucerne.