Bern (canton)

Bern (canton)

The turquoise waters of the lakes meet the massive ice walls of the high Alps in this grand central canton. You find yourself in the capital city with its famous clock tower and arcades before the road leads you south. The landscape shifts quickly from the rolling hills of the **Emmental** to the deep valleys of the Berner Oberland. This is the land of the **Eiger**, **Mönch** and **Jungfrau** peaks. The driving routes are legendary and take you over the high **Grimsel** and Susten passes. You can park in **Lauterbrunnen** to see seventy two waterfalls crashing down from vertical cliffs. The blue waters of Lake **Brienz** and Lake **Thun** provide a cool break between the mountain climbs. Every turn offers a view of a glacier or a high alpine meadow full of wild flowers. It is the ultimate Swiss mountain experience. Life here is big and bold. You can visit the bear park in the city or taste the famous holey cheese in the rural valleys. The villages like **Grindelwald** and **Gstaad** combine rustic charm and high end luxury. Bern is a province of giants and clear water. It provides a journey through the most iconic scenery the country has to offer.

Bern (canton) highlights

Part of these road trips

Follow the routes that cross this destination

The Scenic Route
The Heritage Drive
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History of Bern (canton)

Legend says the Bern canton was founded in 1191 by a duke who vowed to name the town after the first animal he killed in the woods which happened to be a bear. From this start the city grew into a military giant that conquered the surrounding valleys. The massive stone arcades and the famous clock tower were built with the riches of a kingdom that eventually became the capital of a nation. In the high mountains of the south the history was written by the glaciers. For centuries the people of **Lauterbrunnen** lived in isolation from the politics of the city. They were mountain farmers who navigated the ice to move their livestock. Their history was one of survival against the raw power of the **Eiger** and the **Jungfrau**. This changed in the 1800s when the first explorers arrived to conquer the summits sparking a global obsession with the Alps. The arrival of the first mountain railways turned these remote villages into global icons. The people who once feared the peaks became the world first high altitude mountain guides. The history of the province is a tale of the transition from a medieval military giant to the birthplace of alpine tourism. It is a story of the bear and the peak where the road from the parliament leads straight to the eternal ice.
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