Day trips in Bern and Zurich in April

We (hubby, 80 year old mum and myself) will make a day trip from Basel to Bern on 1 April and from Basel to Zurich on 2 April.

We have done some research and plan to visit the following attractions:

BERN:

- Rose Garden

- Old Town

- Zytglogge

- Bern Cathedral & Munstrplatform

- Barengraben

- Marzili Furnicular

ZURICH:

- Old Town

- Lindenhoff Hill

- Schipfe

- St Peter Church, Fraumunster, Grossmunster

- Limmatquai

- Bahnhofstrassre

My questions:

1) Are all the above attractions in Bern and Zurich within walking distance from one to another?

2) If need to take public transport, what is the cheapest option if we do not have a Swiss Travel Pass?

3) Can we visit all the above attractions within a day? How many hours are required?

4) Did we miss out any other interesting attractions in Bern and Zurich?

5) What is the temperature like in early April and what time it gets dark?

Your inputs on the above will be helpful.

Thank you.

Hello Jenn Chuah,

Congratulations for having designed a reasonable plan for your visit to Bern and Zurich!

1) It depends a bit on your mum's enjoyment in walking, but basically, yes, you can walk to all those places, and from any of them to the next one. The urban transport system is very efficient and you can also use public busses or trams for many of these destinations.

2) Take a Day Pass (Tageskarte) from the ticket vending machines at any bus or tram stop. It will be valid for the whole day. Any passer-by will gladly help you if you have a problem with the ticket machine, although menus in English are available.

3) Yes, but if you get tired, just skip some. I suppose you would arrive in Bern, respectively Zurich, around 10 am, and do the visits until 5 pm before going back to Basel.

4) Of course, you will miss out many things, but I can't guess what would be better than the things you have listed, as I have no idea of your tastes.

5) Have light warm clothes to wear or to have in your handbag depending on the weather, have a rain jacket and an umbrella. You won't need gloves or winter shoes any more. Sunset will be shortly after 8 pm, and it would get dark around 8:30 pm.

Have a great time!

Snowman

Hello Jenn Chuah,

Nice to hear you're all coming to Switzerland!

1) As I'm Zurich oriented myself for living reasons I can for sure say that everything in Zurich you mention is walkable, see below link for a suggestion of practically the walk you want to do.
- www.myswissalps.com/hiking/zurich

In Bern you'll also be fine walking, however I don't have as many details in mind of the city. And then again, Zurich is the largest city and walk-able..
- www.myswissalps.com/zurich
- www.myswissalps.com/bern

2) As stated by Snowman, you will only need local transport to get around the cities, best get it at the ticketing offices at the train stations. This allows you to speak to someone and find out your personal best ticket option on the spot.
Find input on getting around locally in the "how to travel" tab of above link.

3) Yes they are, for sure! Find out about needed traveling time upon arrival by using below timetable, a fabulous tool to plan any trip in Switzerland (also within cities, if needed).
- www.myswissalps.com/timetable

4) Don't' think so. Check the "What to do" tab in the links in No. 1 for more input, whereas there you'll also find day trips to further destinations.

5) Apart from Snowmans correct input please check:
- www.myswissalps.com/weather
- www.myswissalps.com/besttimetovisit

Hope this helps. We're here anytime for further input.

Best,
Steph

Hi Jenn Chuah,

In addition to Snowman's and Steph's excellent tips, you can find more advise about rail tickets and passes here:

• www.myswissalps.com/zurich/travel
• www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass

Thank you everyone for the useful information.

Just wondering whether Zurich and Bern have the hop on hop off bus to the various attractions. If yes, please provide me the link to get more info.

Thanks.

Hi Jenn,

I'm not aware of such buses. I haven't seen them, but could be proven wrong. There's not really a need for them as both city centers are really compact and walk-able. And there's a lot of buses and trams if you need them. Steph's city links will get you suggestions on things to do.

Noted with thanks