Park Gurten


Gurten is a "personal" mountain of the inhabitants of Bern , whose height is 864 meters above sea level. From its top opens a wonderful view of the far away picturesque slopes of the Alps and the Old Town . The well-organized park on this mountain was opened in 1999, it is located eight kilometers south of the Swiss capital.

Things to do?

On the territory of the park Gurten there is a huge choice of entertainment and activities, both for tourists and for the local population. It has a large children's playground, with a spacious picnic area, a swimming pool, a pen with yaks, a concert hall. This is a great place for a passive and active holiday in nature with children .

In winter, vacationers have the opportunity to go sledging or skiing on special trampolines, and in summer use a bicycle track or a route for hiking. You can also play a disc golf (here the Swiss championship is held) or enjoy the wonderful singing of birds and the rich aroma of the forest. For the smallest tourists there is a miniature railway, a rope park, and in the winter toboggans and children's lifts work. There is an opportunity for conferences and seminars.

For the convenience of visitors, a comfortable hotel was opened in Gurten Park, there are cafes and restaurants of national cuisine (elegant "Bel Etage" and democratic "Tapis Rouge"), there is a kindergarten, a modernized observation deck. It is a tower illuminated at night, with a stunning panoramic view of the peaks and valleys of the Alps.

What is the park famous for?

Every year in the middle of July in Gurten Park in Bern the Gurtenfestival music festival is held, which gathers participants from many European countries. His program includes live music concerts and DJ performances with a variety of musical styles - punk, blues, rock, hip-hop, pop and others.

The children's railway is considered one of the most popular attractions in the park Gurten in Bern , which resembles a large-scale toy model. It demonstrates all the branches of the Swiss railways: the train overcomes the mountainous areas with toothed rails, bridges and tunnels, as well as flat areas with the usual ways for us. Two movements are also presented, which, according to sound signals and appearance, correspond to the present. The main feature of the railway is a miniature train that operates on coal and is modeled after the beginning of the twentieth century. The trailers that cling to it also look natural, although they do not have a roof so that small tourists can sit on special seats.

How to get there?

Motorized traffic is forbidden on the slopes of the mountain, therefore it is possible to get to the territory of the Park Gurten by means of a funicular (cost of a round-trip ticket of 10.5 Swiss francs) or on foot. The ascent to the mountain begins in the city of Wabern (Wabern). Funicular is a cable car, which was installed in 1899, but, despite its age, is an absolutely safe mode of transport and functions perfectly. By the centenary, the cabins were changed and modernized, and now the movement along the mountainside has turned into another attraction.

The funicular has transported more than thirty million passengers and was once considered the fastest in all of Switzerland . His work hours: Monday to Saturday from 7:00 am to 11:45 pm, and on Sunday from 7:00 to 20:15. By the way, the funicular stops not only at the top of the mountain, but also in the middle, the stop is called "Grunenboden".

You can get to Waburn by car, tram number 9, bus number 29 or commuter train S3 (S-Bahn) from the central station Bern SBB. The ticket will cost about four francs in one direction, travel less than 10 minutes to the station of Waburn, direction to Thun-Biel.