Bern and the Mittelland

Holidays by Destination Europe Switzerland Bern and the Mittelland 

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Berne Tourism
pays-de-fribourg

The Swiss Mittelland stretching from Lake Geneva to Zurich, is the country's most populous and wealthiest area, including the World Heritage Site city of Bern.

Bern named after a bear, still has a bear pit (with next to it a multimedia show about the city in English. The pedestrian centre includes six km of covered shopping arcades and 16th century fountains which include on of an ogre consuming toddlers which is probably best avoided if your offspring are given to nightmares. The cathedral includes one of the few remaining whole and large late gothic sculptures in Europe over the central doorway, a scene of the Last Judgement. Worth drawing to children's attention might be the 16th century choir stalls with detail of daily life alongside the faces of the prophets. To wear them out, the tower, which can be climbed, is the tallest in Switzerland. It is possible to be up there when the bell is being rung but, though memorable, this is something to avoid with little ones. The Museum of Fine Arts has a particularly good collection of works by Paul Klee.
Also good is the Bernisches Historischen Museum, including a notable Islamic collection, portraits of Swiss peasants, but perhaps more interestingly, the Changes in Daily Life section, covering places like shops and schoolrooms.
Also fun is the Zytglogge, a clock tower with a timepiece dating from the 16th century and still offering its fine astrological and date measurements. A mechanical display of figures is activated on the east face four minutes before the hour but the one-hour guided tour of the workings is probably more interesting.

For children with tired legs this is a city offering tours by horse and carriage.

The Emmental, made up of rolling hills rather than mountains, is of course dairy country, home of the holey cheese, produced in the local timber-built dairies. The main dairy is the Schaukaserei in Affoltern village, with free access to the cheesemaking processing and English language videos on the cheese industry.

In addition to plenty of pretty villages, southern Emmental offers Solothurn, marketed as the most beautiful Baroque city in the country.

Fribourg is another attractive centre with an almost perfectly preserved medieval centre and forest setting by a river. Bridge crossings include medieval wooden ones. The university keeps the place dynamic but one of the most fun attractions is the Espace Jean Tinguely which complements the collection in Basel with lots of sculptural machines showing enormous amounts of ingenuity. One of the strangest tourist attractions is a funicularwhich works by making use of some of the city's raw sewage.

In the Bernese Seeland is Seeteufel with a large playground and playroom for bad weather, plus an aquarium, snakes, crocodiles, parrots, bears, lions and apes.