“I have frequently been to Switzerland for business, but unfortunately always had to leave again quickly. This summer, I got on the train and stayed in the very special Bern and the sophisticated city
of Lucerne. What a revelation: the atmosphere of the Aare, the view from the Gurten meeting, Pilatus at night, stories about the KKL and lots and lots of water.“ Sylvie Konzack
Bern and the AareBern and its Matte district with the Cosmos Coworking Space
Really. While my train rolls directly over a bridge towards Bern’s train station, I can see colorful parasols, towels, that are spread out on the ground and green water. A little later, as I stand on one of the many bridges, the “Bernese Sea” presents itself in all its glory: the incredibly green Aare River winds its way through the UNESCO-protected old town of Bern like a sweeping brushstroke. In summer, it’s all that everyone in Bern is talking about, its temperature, its water level, and the best swimming spots. This is where the Bernese celebrate their cozy work-life balance, according to the motto: relax in the small capital, while in Zurich, a good 120 km away and much larger, the hectic pace of life is in full swing – at least according to the Bernese.
In Bern, where people greet each other with three kisses and quickly switch to first names, they are aware of their city’s rich history, which in the 16th century made it the largest city-state north of the Alps, last but not least thanks to a number of patrician families – and yet they like to understate things here, which is what makes this city of 134,290 inhabitants so appealing to me. There is much to discover, even with a surprise effect, without falling into large tourist bubbles.
I have been to Bern two or three times in recent years for business appointments, and each time I sensed that it would be worth staying longer. Now I’m setting off on my own little Switzerland excursion – five days through German-speaking business Switzerland, railway Switzerland, and dreamy mountain Switzerland. I’m taking the train from southern Germany, along Lake Constance, stopping first in Bern and then traveling via the Emmental to Lucerne and back again.
It’s quite easy being on the go with the Swiss Travel Pass, which gives foreign visitors free travel by train, bus, and boat throughout the country, as well as free admission to over 500 museums and discounts on mountain railways. On this trip, I’m catching up on bleisure, researching workation opportunities, meeting old business contacts, and making new ones. One of them is Pietro. Born in Italy, until last year, he had spent almost his entire in the city’s financial sector, and now he occasionally gives guided tours of his beloved Bern. He guides me to the Bundesplatz and the Bundeshaus, through the historic arcades, past dozens of fountains, and together we climb up to the 13th-century Zytglogge, complete with figurines and an astronomical clock. Pietro explains how a perfect Swiss clockwork mechanism was constructed here back then, using gears, and how it still works today. We peer down from above towards the Matte district, just below the actual old town. The Matte used to be a commercial and craft district, later becoming the city’s slum with its own language, because the people there wanted nothing to do with the rich Bernese living above them. Today, it is a trendy neighborhood popular with families and start-ups alike. I visit the Cosmos Coworking Space, which has been around for four years. About 16 designers, graphic designers, web developers, and anyone else who wants to join on a monthly or daily basis share the desks. The Aare river is right outside the door, in which you could just jump righ in. So workation is also possible in Bern.
Festhalle Bern
Conference and then Bleisure
Working in Bern in general – the city is not only the country’s largest center of public administration, but also a conference hotspot that is in no way inferior to the classics Zurich or Basel. If you take the train from Zurich Airport to Bern-Wankdorf, a good hour and a half away, you’ll find a wide range of meeting rooms in the venerable soccer stadium. Right across the street is the new Festhalle, which just recently opened up in April. While I arrive, conference guests are riding bikes on the forecourt, and a piano in the foyer invites visitors to play. In total, cultural events, shows, congresses, trade fairs, sporting events, etc. for up to 9,000 people can be held here. “And many of our international guests go hiking in the mountains after their conference,” reports Ingrid from the Festhalle. Americans in particular enjoy bleisure and plan to spend up to two weeks in the country.
There are also smaller conference facilities in the city center. The Swissôtel Kursaal Bern, for example, also operates the neighboring Kursaal, but the hotel itself however, has 28 meeting rooms with a view of the water-rich hotel garden and the Aare River. The four-star superior hotel, where I am staying, is one of the city’s classics and offers suites with foldable fitness stations as a special feature. The director, Karin Kunz, has traveled extensively and has a laid-back Bernese attitude. On the rooftop terrace, which is redecorated every year, guests can leave all of their stress behind.
And then there is the Gurten (photo right): located on the 858-meter-high local mountain with a restaurant and event rooms, all Bernese residents and many business travellers and vacationers gather here, just recently during the annual Gurten Festival. Built in 1899, it was first visited by summer vacationers, but today it is mainly used for seminars, family celebrations, and customer events. A highlight is the glass-enclosed Gurten Pavilion built for up to 500 guests with an amazing view of Bern. The outdoor areas of the Gurten attract visitors with a barbecue station, a herb garden, a golf course, and a summer toboggan run. “Slow down and get going” is written on a sign here – how fitting.
Pilatus-Flash
I continue on to Lucerne and want to make a detour by train and bus to the Emmental. It sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. When I get off at Sumiswald-Grünen, the bus is already waiting to take me onward. The driver is enjoying his break with Swiss folk music playing on the radio. A little later, we are swaying through rolling hills and lush greenery, and I get off in Dürrenroth, which welcomes me with loud cowbells. Just on the street is the Romantik Hotel Zum Bären – a gem consisting of three Emmental Baroque buildings, which, ironically, a German turned into a jewel known beyond the borders about 15 years ago. But I have to move on.
Romantik Hotel Zum Bären in Dürrenroth
The bus takes me to the next train station and an hour later I’m in Lucerne. The city looks quite white with its buildings in comparison to Bern, but before I delve deeper, I want to climb the local mountain – the Pilatus, which stands at an impressive 2,132 meters tall and offers 2,132 possibilities above the sea, as it said. From here, there is a magnificent view of the mountains and Lake Lucerne, you can hold meetings in the panoramic rooms or take part in capricorn safaris and astronomy evenings.
I spend the night at the Hotel Pilatus-Kulm and enjoy a four-course meal in the Queen Victoria Room, with its stucco and chandeliers, a tribute to the English queen who is said to have stayed here in 1868 and helped start the tourist boom. Sometimes guests interrupt their meal to watch the sunset. The service staff are altready used to this. The next morning, I interrupt my sleep at 5 a.m. and, like a few others, make the short, steep climb to the summit of the “Esel” (donkey). The view is fantastic, even if it is overcast, with clouds dancing in the sky above the jagged lake. The rising sun remains shyly behind them. Still, it’s a flash!
A little later, we take the steepest cogwheel railway (photo left) in the world to the Alpnachstad valley station. We whizz down Mount Pilatus for half an hour, standing on the brakes, with a gradient of up to 48%. After another short train ride, I finally arrive in Lucerne – for the first time. The city looks different and brighter than Bern, thanks to the lake and the many whitewashed buildings. I am immediately one out of thousands of tourists here. But I soon receive a private tour by the wonderful Mignon through the magnificent KKL, Lucerne’s culture and congress center right by the lake. Jean Nouvel designed the building, which opened in 1998, with a plenty of character. In the foyer, for example, there are shallow water basins that create special reflections – in the early days however, many concert-goers fell into them. It is said that Jean Nouvel was only persuaded to install discreet barriers after his mother-in-law’s fall. Another story goes that when visitors to the terrace, with its unique cantilevered roof, complained that they couldn’t see the church spires, he recommended that they kneel down in a Catholic manner. Anecdotes aside, the KKL is one of the ten best concert halls in the world. And if you want to hold a meeting in the other rooms, you may do so too.
Another impressive meeting and conference venue is the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne. Switzerland’s most visited museum has many exhibition halls where banquets can be held, between suspended aircrafts for example, and it also has its own conference center and planetarium.
Something I’ve always wanted to see: the Bürgenstock Resort on the Bürgenstock. A ferry takes me to the historic funicular railway, and once at the top, there are lots of “wows”! Whether it’s the old and new hotel facilities, the jet-set history complete with Hollywood pool, or of course the view that is celebrated everywhere. You can hold meetings here in 31 meeting rooms, in the ballroom, or in your own cinema. Companies can also book entire buildings.
And Lucerne itself? A gem with many stories to tell. First and foremost, the medieval Chapel Bridge, a covered wooden bridge over the river Reuss, that leads to the church on the opposite bank. The city guide tells us that the water tower in the middle was once used to lock up married couples who had quarreled. Later, an American tourist asks whether the geraniums along the bridge are actually real. For sure, and yes, they are watered by hand. The tour ends at the baroque Jesuit church of
St. Franz Xaver – an impressive building that can even be rented for events. Well then, nothing seems impossible in Switzerland!
Sylvie Konzack …
… enjoyed her week in Switzerland and knows that she will have to plan every business trip with a bleisure trip afterwards in the future. She was also impressed by the variety and flexibility for conferences and events. Everything is possible – including spectacular scenery.
bleisure tips
Bern: for meetings and conferences, the Festhalle, the Wankdorf Stadium, the Swissôtel Kursaal Bern, and the Gurten, etc. After the conference, visit the Bern Historical Museum (with yoga in the Oriental Room, also feat. an Einstein exhibition), the Bear Park, the Rose Garden, and Bern Minster etc.
Lucerne: for meetings and conferences, the Swiss Museum of Transport, KKL, Bürgenstock, and Pilatus-Kulm etc. Afterwards, the climbing garden on Pilatus-Kulm or hiking trails into the valley, tours on the other local mountain – Rigi, swimming in the Reuss River, etc. Hotel tip: Art Deco Hotel Montana
info destination
Switzerland is a democratic confederation.
Location and population: 8.96 million, in the Alps in Central Europe, with Germany to the north, Austria to the east, France to the west, and Italy to the south. Currency: 1 Swiss franc (CHF) = 1.07 euros
Getting there: For foreigners with the Swiss Travel Pass, among others: with a single ticket, you can travel on the entire public transport network in Switzerland – whether by train, bus, boat, or mountain railway. Further information via the QR code.
There are also smaller conference facilities in the city center. The Swissôtel Kursaal Bern, for example, also operates the neighboring Kursaal, but the hotel itself however, has 28 meeting rooms with a view of the water-rich hotel garden and the Aare River. The four-star superior hotel, where I am staying, is one of the city’s classics and offers suites with foldable fitness stations as a special feature. The director, Karin Kunz, has traveled extensively and has a laid-back Bernese attitude. On the rooftop terrace, which is redecorated every year, guests can leave all of their stress behind.
A little later, we take the steepest cogwheel railway (photo left) in the world to the Alpnachstad valley station. We whizz down Mount Pilatus for half an hour, standing on the brakes, with a gradient of up to 48%. After another short train ride, I finally arrive in Lucerne – for the first time. The city looks different and brighter than Bern, thanks to the lake and the many whitewashed buildings. I am immediately one out of thousands of tourists here. But I soon receive a private tour by the wonderful Mignon through the magnificent KKL, Lucerne’s culture and congress center right by the lake. Jean Nouvel designed the building, which opened in 1998, with a plenty of character. In the foyer, for example, there are shallow water basins that create special reflections – in the early days however, many concert-goers fell into them. It is said that Jean Nouvel was only persuaded to install discreet barriers after his mother-in-law’s fall. Another story goes that when visitors to the terrace, with its unique cantilevered roof, complained that they couldn’t see the church spires, he recommended that they kneel down in a Catholic manner. Anecdotes aside, the KKL is one of the ten best concert halls in the world. And if you want to hold a meeting in the other rooms, you may do so too.
