Bern is the day trip from Montreux that feels least like an excursion and most like arriving in a capital: a compact medieval city wrapped on three sides by a green loop of the Aare, its sandstone streets lined with six kilometres of arcades, its skyline held up by a clock that has run since 1530 and by the tallest church tower in Switzerland. It is also about an hour and a half from the Riviera by train — the quickest “big city” day out on this side of the country.
Short answer: take an InterCity from Montreux to Bern — roughly 1 h 35 to 1 h 55, usually with a change at Lausanne — then walk ten minutes from Bern station into the UNESCO-listed old town. Watch the Zytglogge clock perform a few minutes before the hour, climb the 344 steps of the Bern Minster tower, wander the Kramgasse arcades past Einstein’s old flat, and finish down at the bears on the Aare.[1]
In this guide
Why Bern makes the best city day trip
Bern has been Switzerland’s federal city since 1848 — the country has no capital in the constitutional sense, but this is where parliament sits — and its old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1983. What makes it work as a day trip is the scale. The historic centre sits on a sandstone promontory inside a bend of the Aare, roughly a kilometre from end to end, so the walk from the station is shorter than the walk you take to the station at home.
The main axis, the Kramgasse and its continuations, runs under some six kilometres of arcades — the Bernese Lauben — which is why the city works even in the rain. Under them are cellar restaurants, small shops and cafés; above them are the painted fountains, most carved in the 1540s, that give Bern its second skyline. You can spend a whole day down here at ground level and never once get wet.[2]
Add the clock tower, the Minster, the bears on the river and Einstein’s one-time flat on the same street, and the old town stops feeling like a museum and starts feeling like a working city you can walk end to end in an afternoon.
| Bern highlight | What it is | Cost / note |
|---|---|---|
| Zytglogge | Astronomical clock of 1530 in the old west gate tower | Free from the street; figures perform about 4 min before the hour |
| Bern Minster tower | 100.6 m spire — the tallest church tower in Switzerland | Ticketed climb, 344 steps to the gallery |
| Old-town arcades | Around 6 km of covered shopping promenade | Free — the city’s rain plan |
| Einstein House | Kramgasse 49, where the theory of relativity took shape in 1905 | Small museum, ticketed |
| BärenPark | Bear enclosure on the Aare bank, opened in 2009 | Free, open daily |
| Rose Garden | Hillside park with the classic postcard view | Free |
The record: Bern’s Minster tower reaches 100.6 m and is the tallest church tower in Switzerland — 344 steps up to the gallery, under a spire that took from 1421 to 1893 to finish. A few streets away stands the Zytglogge, whose astronomical clock was built in 1527–1530, which puts two of the country’s great medieval monuments inside a ten-minute walk. Source: Berner Münster (bernermuenster.ch)[1]
Leave the lake behind on the Riviera and the green sandstone city of Bern arrives an hour and a half later.
The Zytglogge: the clock that has run since 1530
The Zytglogge is Bern’s oldest landmark: a west gate tower first built in the early 13th century, rebuilt after the great fire of 1405, and fitted in 1527–1530 with the astronomical clock by Kaspar Brunner that still runs today. Its dial tracks not only the hours but the zodiac, the days of the week and the phases of the moon.[3]
The performance is the thing to time your visit around. A few minutes before every hour the figures come alive: a jester rings two small bells, a parade of bears files past, a rooster crows, and the knight Hans von Thann strikes the great bell with his hammer while Chronos, the bearded figure of time, turns his hourglass. It happens about four minutes before the hour, it is completely free from the street below, and it is worth standing through at least once.
If you want to see the works themselves, guided tours climb inside the tower to the clock mechanism and out onto the viewing platform. Groups are small, so book ahead in summer.
Bern Minster: 344 steps to the tallest tower in Switzerland
The Bern Minster (Berner Münster) is the city’s late-Gothic cathedral, begun in 1421 and, unusually for Switzerland, not finished until 1893, when the open-work spire was finally set on top. The result is a tower 100.6 m high — the tallest church tower in the country — reached by 344 steps to the upper gallery.[1]
Two things make the climb worth the effort. The first is the view: from the gallery the whole old town, the green loop of the Aare and, on a clear day, the snow line of the Bernese Alps are laid out below you. The second is what you pass on the way in — above the main portal, the Last Judgment is the most complete surviving Gothic figure programme in Switzerland, with the wise and foolish virgins, the saved and the damned, and more than 200 carved figures across the arch.
The tower is ticketed at the entrance; the cathedral itself is free to enter. If 344 steps sound like too many, the terrace behind the choir and the neighbouring Nydegg bridge give you the same view of the river bend for nothing.
Bears, the Aare and the Rose Garden
Bern has kept bears since 1513 — the animal is on the city’s coat of arms and in its name — and today they live in the BärenPark, a riverside enclosure on the bank of the Aare below the Nydegg bridge, opened in 2009 to replace the old 19th-century bear pit. It is free, open daily, and takes about twenty minutes to walk through: the bears have direct access to the river slope and a pool, with viewing windows at eye level.[4]
From there the Aare does the rest. In summer the river is Bern’s swimming pool — locals float the green current in dry bags — and the grassy banks under the bridges fill from midday. If you would rather keep your feet dry, cross the Kirchenfeld bridge to the Rose Garden (Rosengarten), a free park on the hillside with the classic postcard view back over the rooftops, the river and the Minster, then walk back down through the old town.
Getting there from Montreux
By train (recommended). Montreux sits on the Lake Geneva line, so reaching Bern is a matter of one InterCity: trains run roughly every half hour and take about 1 h 35 to 1 h 55, usually with a change at Lausanne (a handful of services run direct). Bern station is the crossing point of the Swiss rail network, which also makes the city quick to reach from anywhere else you stop along the way.[5]
From the station the old town is a ten-minute walk — downhill through the arcades of the Spitalgasse — or two stops on the tram. Everything described in this guide is inside that walk.
By car. The motorway takes about 1 h 45 from Montreux to the edge of Bern, but parking in the centre is expensive and scarce, and the train drops you inside the UNESCO zone instead. If you do drive, leave the car at the Park+Ride on the outskirts and ride the tram in.
How to shape the day. Take the 8–9 am train, catch the Zytglogge a few minutes before an hour, climb the Minster, lunch in an arcade cellar, walk the Kramgasse past Einstein’s flat, then finish at the bears and the Aare before a train home in time for dinner on the lake. Weekday mornings are noticeably quieter on the Kramgasse than Saturdays, when the whole city seems to shop under the arcades.
When to go and where to base yourself
Bern is a year-round city: the arcades make it work in the rain, and the Minster tower opens outside the deep winter. Autumn and winter have their own set pieces — the Zibelemärit onion market, which takes over the old town on the fourth Monday of November and starts long before dawn, and the Christmas market that fills the arcaded squares through December.[2]
Summer is for the Aare and the Rose Garden; spring brings the fountains back on and the terraces out under the Lauben.
Where to stay. Bern’s hotels are business-priced, and the city is small enough that you do not need to sleep in it: the train back to the Riviera takes under two hours and runs late. The sensible base for a Bern day trip is Montreux or Vevey on the lakefront, which also puts Jungfraujoch and the GoldenPass Express within reach on either side of your Bern day.
Base yourself in Montreux
RivieraHost manages apartments in Montreux and Clarens, minutes from the station that puts the InterCity to Bern, Lausanne and Geneva on your doorstep. Sleep on the Swiss Riviera, run into the federal city for the day, and come back to your own kitchen and balcony.
Check availabilityRelated reading: The GoldenPass Express: the scenic train from Montreux to Interlaken · Jungfraujoch: a day at the Top of Europe · Best places to visit around Montreux & Vevey
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Frequently asked questions
How do I get from Montreux to Bern?
By train: InterCity services run roughly every half hour and take about 1 h 35 to 1 h 55, usually with a change at Lausanne. Bern station is then a ten-minute walk from the old town, or two tram stops. By car it is about 1 h 45, but parking in the centre is scarce and expensive.
What should I see in Bern’s old town in one day?
The Zytglogge clock a few minutes before the hour, the climb up the Minster tower, the Kramgasse arcades with the fountains and Einstein’s old flat at Kramgasse 49, lunch in a cellar restaurant under the Lauben, then the BärenPark and the Rose Garden for the classic view back over the rooftops.
How tall is the Bern Minster and how many steps are there?
The tower is 100.6 m high, which makes it the tallest church tower in Switzerland, and 344 steps lead to the upper gallery. Construction began in 1421 but the spire was only completed in 1893. The tower is ticketed; the cathedral below is free.
When does the Zytglogge clock perform?
About four minutes before every hour, when the jester rings his bells, the bears parade, the rooster crows and the knight strikes the bell. The 1530 astronomical clock by Kaspar Brunner is free to watch from the street, and it is the oldest landmark in the city.
Is Bern worth a day trip from Montreux?
Yes. At roughly an hour and a half by train it is the closest “big city” day out from the Riviera, and everything worth seeing — clock tower, Minster, arcades, bears, river — sits inside a ten-minute walk of the station. It also works in the rain, thanks to those six kilometres of arcades.
Sources
- Berner Münster — tower height 100.6 m and tallest church tower in Switzerland; 344 steps to the gallery; foundation stone 1421, spire completed 1893; Last Judgment with more than 200 figures. bernermuenster.ch
- Bern Welcome — old town inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1983; the arcades; Zibelemärit and the Christmas market. bern.com
- Bern Welcome, Zytglogge — astronomical clock by Kaspar Brunner, 1527–1530; figures perform about four minutes before the hour. bern.com
- City of Bern — BärenPark opened in 2009, free admission; bears kept in Bern since 1513. bern.ch
- SBB — Montreux–Bern timetables via Lausanne, journey times and connections. sbb.ch
Base yourself in Montreux
RivieraHost’s apartments sit steps from the lake — with kitchens, more space and better value than a hotel for families and groups. Every one is right on this guide’s doorstep.