Berne Region

The central, flatter part of the canton of Berne is marketed as the Swiss Mittelland by the Swiss tourism office. This region includes the northern part of the canton of Berne, the German speaking part of Fribourg as well as the southern half of the canton of Solothurn.

Cities

North Berne (1 Berne, 2 Biel) The northern part of the canton around the Swiss capital Berne, whose old town is inscribed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Biel is a bilingual city famous for being home to many watch companies. This is also where the picturesque Emmental is located, home to the famous cheese.

South Solothurn (3 Solothurn, 4 Olten ) The capital Solothurn is a small town at the southern edge of the Jura mountains, but the largest city is Olten. The northern part of the canton is part of Northwestern Switzerland

Sense District (5 Düdingen , 6 Schwarzsee ) This is the German speaking part of the canton of Fribourg (also called Freiburg). The French speaking part is part of Western Switzerland. The area is mostly known for the Schwarzsee resort and lake, surrounded by the Gantrisch nature park.

Understand

Public Holidays

The public holidays are different in each canton. These are the public holidays in addition to those observed in the whole of Switzerland:

• St. Berchtold (2 January, observed in Berne and Fribourg)
• St Joseph's Day (19 March, observed in parts of Solothurn)
• Labour Day (1 May, observed as a half day in Solothurn)
• Corpus Christi (60 days after Easter, observed in Fribourg and most parts of Solothurn)
• Assumption (15 August, observed in Fribourg and most parts of Solothurn)
• All Saints Day (1 November, observed in Fribourg and most parts of Solothurn)
• Immaculate Conception (8 December, observed in Fribourg)

In the canton of Solothurn many towns have their own local holiday on the day of their saint patron.

Get in

There is an airport in this region, near the city of Berne. However, as this airport doesn't offer that many connections, for most travelers it will make more sense to take the plane to Zurich.

See

• Visit the picturesque Emmental which is not only home to the cheese but also boasts a hilly landscape with traditional farm houses:
  • 1 Emmentaler Show Dairy (Emmentaler Schaukäserei), Schaukäsereistrasse 6, 3416 Affoltern im Emmental. Daily 09:00-18:30 (17:00 in winter). Learn how the famous Emmentaler cheese is made. Fr. 10 for audioguide tour. (updated Nov 2016)

Do

• Swimming or rafting on the river Aare.

Go next

Bern-Mittelland (administrative district)