One week in Interlaken – Day 7

Day 7 – Saturday 28th July 2019

Our day didn’t quite go to plan from the beginning, as it was a rather wet, rainy and thunder stormy day which we weren’t expecting. The plan was to pop over to Lake Thun in the morning and rent a couple of kayaks for the morning and go out exploring. However, due to the thunder and lightning they wouldn’t let anyone go out which is totally fair enough. It was a shame as we didn’t get to kayak on this holiday which Abby and I especially were really looking forward to but oh well!

We were at a bit of a loss of what to do for the rest of the day, but with a bit of internet research I found that the journey to Bern (Switzerland’s capital city) was just under an hour. There seemed to be a lot to do in Bern and it would make a change to what we had been seeing over the last few days. After purchasing the tickets in Interlaken Ost we boarded the IC61 train straight into Bern.

You could tell that Bern was beautiful as soon as you set foot out of the station. It was bustling without being overwhelming; the buildings were stunning especially when the sun hit them and bounced off the white surface; and I personally loved the trams that trundle their way through the city.

The layout of the shops also amazed me, there were shops in basements that you accessed through cellar doors, and the fact that so many of them were in arcades meant that we could keep dry when it rained. There were so many quirky shops that we had a look around, some of it was tack but a lot of it was really nice and well made stuff. I would definitely recommend having a browse if you have time to spare.

Another highlight of the day was seeing the bears in the Bärengraben (Bear Pit). These bears are kept as part of Dählhölzli Zoo, but are kept separate because they are so popular. This is because a bear is the symbol of Bern, and what the city got it’s name from. The bear pit has changed drastically over the years to give the bears better living conditions, and they now have a whole park to themselves called BärenPark.

Bern was a lovely place to spend the day, I’m sure there was so much more to do in this city but we just didn’t have time! If anyone has any suggestions about what to do in Bern or Interlaken then please let us all know!

I hope my Switzerland series wasn’t too much for you all, I’ll leave the posting to David for a while so you can have a break from me!

Happy travelling!

Zoe and David x

Written by Zoe