What to do in Bern

Bern is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their "federal city". With a population of about 144,000 (as of 2020), Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration includes 36 municipalities.

Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerland's cantons. The official language is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, Bernese German. In 1983, the historic old town, Altstadt, in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bern lies on the Swiss plateau in the canton of Bern, slightly west of the centre of Switzerland and 20km (12 mi.) north of the Bernese Alps. The countryside around Bern was formed by glaciers during the most recent ice age. The two mountains closest to Bern are Gurten with a height of 864m (2,835 ft.) and Bantiger with a height of 947m (3,107 ft.). The site of the old observatory in Bern is the point of origin of the CH1903 coordinate system at 46°57′08.66″N 7°26′22.50″E.

The city was originally built on a hilly peninsula surrounded by the river Aare, but outgrew natural boundaries by the 19th century. A number of bridges have been built to allow the city to expand beyond the Aare.

Bern is built on very uneven ground. An elevation difference of up to 60 metres exists between the inner city districts on the Aare (Matte, Marzili) and the higher ones (Kirchenfeld, Länggasse).