Bern is the rare capital city that feels like it has nothing to prove. The Old Town — a UNESCO World Heritage site — sits on a peninsula formed by a loop of the Aare River, its sandstone buildings and six kilometers of covered arcades creating a streetscape that has not fundamentally changed since the fifteenth century. The Zytglogge, a medieval clock tower with an astronomical dial and mechanical puppet show, chimes on the hour and has been doing so since 1530.
The city’s cultural weight is quiet but real. Einstein developed his theory of special relativity while working at the patent office here — his apartment on Kramgasse is now a small museum. The Kunstmuseum holds the world’s largest collection of Paul Klee’s work. But Bern’s greatest pleasure may be its simplest: on summer days, locals change into swimsuits at lunch, walk to the riverbank, and float downstream in the Aare’s turquoise current, climbing out at a ladder half a kilometer later and walking back to the office. It is civilized, joyful, and quintessentially Swiss.
When to go: May to September for Aare swimming and outdoor markets under the arcades. November for the famous Onion Market — a one-day folk festival dating to the fifteenth century.