Revealing The Walls of Two Cities in Switzerland

In 2017 we spent my spring break in Switzerland. Switzerland had never been at the top of our bucket list of places to visit, however the airfare was compelling. We found a bargain price to Zurich and decided to go for it. What we didn’t realize at the time was Zurich is the most expensive city in Europe. Perhaps it was not as much of a bargain as we originally thought.

While we did spend time exploring Zurich, we went to a number of other locations as well using Switzerland’s well known train system. In many ways the train system is great. The cars are comfortable and clean with great views. However, they are also not cheap. Everyone says they are the easiest and most convenient way to travel, but no one mentions the cost. There are various options for tourists which are actually quite confusing. I’m not sure at all if we chose the best one for us, but I did the best I could. From Zurich we took the train to three different locations. This post is about two of them, Berne and Stein am Rhein. Berne, of course, is the capitol city while Stein am Rhein is a small town on the Rhine River.

We arrived in Switzerland on Easter morning. The following day we traveled to Berne. Here’s a hint for traveling in Europe. For many places the Monday after Easter is a holiday. We didn’t realize that and arrived in Bern to discover a city that was mostly closed. Fortunately some of the restaurants remained open.

There were a few striking things about Berne. First is its location. There is almost a loop in the Aare River, and Berne’s city center sits inside it. Building walls go right up to the river in places. There are various bridges that connect the city center to the areas on the other side of the river. The river is an important part of the city.

Secondly, it feels like there is a sameness to the city. Almost all the buildings are finished in very neutral colors. There is not much color in the city as you walk through it. However, if you look down on the city, most of the roofs are made with a red tile creating a uniformity throughout the city. As we walked down the main street, the sameness was striking. The buildings were all four stories butted next to each other. The bottom floor would be a business and above it were often three levels of apartments. You could distinguish one building from the next by such things as the decoration around the windows, but otherwise not much was different.

Down the center of the main street was a tram running on tracks and cables. There were also old fountains in the center of the streets here and there. Of course one of the main attractions is the clock tower. On the hour there is a bit of a show the clock creates along the line of cuckoo clocks. Most Swiss cities seem to have a clock tower like this.

One unusual feature was the underground stores. Unfortunately, since most of the stores were closed, we didn’t get to experience this. It took a while for us to realize what they were. Walking down the street we saw what looked like boxes raised at a bit of an angle. It turns out these are doors that open to shops below street level. We peered into one that was open and wished we could have seen more. The doors are visible on the right in the picture below.

Berne has a number of churches, and since Switzerland was one of the significant places for the protestant reformation, not all of them are Catholic. They have some interesting architectural features, but muted colors.

While we were there, there was a demonstration that crossed the bridge into town near one of the large churches for a rally. We weren’t quite sure what it was about, but it seemed to be about unity of people in some way, perhaps supporting gay rights.

Since it was my birthday, we did find a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. However, the waiter spoke little English. My wife wanted a glass of water to drink. When she tried to get that, she ended up with a bottle of water which we had to pay for. We thought maybe that’s just the way it was until another group came and sat near us.The waiter served them water in glasses. Somehow the communication just wasn’t working for us.

The next day we visited the town of Stein am Rhein. We had wanted to visit a small town that had more of the country feel of Switzerland. In doing research this town came up. Our train there was not as direct; we had a stop and had to transfer trains. When we got to Stein am Rhein we were at the end of the line.

Stein am Rhein is on the Rhine River which downstream creates the border with Germany so the German influence is strong here. One thing to understand about Switzerland is that they have no Swiss language. The nearby countries influence the different regions. Therefore the people will speak either German, French, or Italian, and all three are official languages. Most people will speak at least two of these languages. In Stein am Rhein we were definitely in German territory.

When we got to the train station, we managed to get confused about where the town was and started walking in the wrong direction along a road. For some reason we get stubborn about these things, and we walked much farther than was probably necessary before turning back. Once we turned back, it was amazing to discover how close the town was to the train station.

We crossed a bridge over the Rhein River, and then entered the town. There was a large main square with shops and restaurants around it. What makes this town unusual is the painted walls of the shops around the central square. Unlike the pale walls of Bern, the walls of Stein am Rhein are brightly painted and colorful. In places it looked like the paintings were telling a story. There is quite a bit of detail in the art work.

Walking beyond the main square we found a nearby church and the graveyard next to it. Flowers grew up over the neatly lined up graves. It was very different than cemeteries one finds in the United States.

The weather was not particularly favorable to us here. The rain surprised us by turning to snow for a bit. We quickly sought shelter in a nearby supermarket as we bought some things for lunch. We hadn’t expected to encounter snow in April, but residents told us that April’s weather in Switzerland is unpredictable. Lesson learned.

One of the more interesting things for me in the town was the St. Georgen Monastery. This is no longer an active monastery, but is an historic building one can tour. It was right on the river. Established in the 11th century, the building itself has been changed and remodeled over the years most profoundly in the 14th century. Parts of it were quite simple and plain. Other rooms were quite ornate with a lot of detail. The banquet hall has some remarkable art work in it. The ceilings in some of the rooms were quite unique. The green tiled stove is worthy of a visit.

Behind the monastery is a simple garden with nice views of the river. The monastery closed in 1525 as the protestant reformation took hold in Switzerland. Today it is owned by the state. It is different than the rest of the town, but quite interesting in its architectural details.

Before we left town, we wandered back to the main square and had some coffee and a sweet to warm ourselves up. We managed to catch the train back to our hotel without incident. These two towns were both so unique. While Berne was much larger, it had a very plain feel to it. Stein am Rhein had a lot more charm with its painted and decorated buildings. Both towns were pretty quiet when we were there. It might be interesting to visit them again when there is more activity.

So have you visited any Swiss towns? I’d love to have you share your adventures in the comment section below. I always enjoy hearing other traveler’s experiences. I’d also love to have you join my mailing list. Don’t miss another post. It’s easy to subscribe.

Credit: Photos of me on the train taken by Silvette Lee