Events & What’s Happening
Popular outdoor food festival bringing together dozens of international street food vendors, craft drinks, and live music on the Münsterplattform above the Aare.
💡The Münsterplattform location offers great views and open space for kids to roam while parents sample food from various stalls.
One of Switzerland's most beloved open-air music festivals held on Gurten hill overlooking Bern, featuring international and Swiss acts across multiple stages over four days.
💡Families with children under 12 can enter free with a paying adult; the funicular ride up Gurten itself is a treat for kids.
International street music festival transforming Bern's UNESCO old town into an open-air stage with hundreds of performers from around the world.
💡Entirely free and family-friendly; performances happen continuously across multiple stages so you can wander and discover at your own pace.
Bern's famous 600-year-old onion market held on the fourth Monday of November, filling the city center with braided onion wreaths, crafts, and confetti traditions.
💡Arrive early before 8am to see the market at its best; children delight in the confetti battles that erupt throughout the day.
Bern's beloved Christmas market held under the arcades of the old town and around Waisenhausplatz, featuring wooden chalets with gifts, mulled wine, and seasonal treats.
💡The market under the Münster arcades is especially magical at dusk; look for the children's carousel near Waisenhausplatz.
Bern's vibrant carnival season featuring colorful costume parades, brass bands, and street performances throughout the old town.
💡Children love the costume parades along Kramgasse — bring earplugs for little ones as the drums can be very loud.
Annual spring funfair held on the Allmend with rides, carnival games, food stalls, and live entertainment for all ages.
💡Weekday afternoons are less crowded and easier to navigate with strollers; many rides are suitable for young children.
Twice-weekly open-air market on Bundesplatz and Bärenplatz offering fresh local produce, flowers, cheese, bread, and regional specialties directly from farmers.
💡Tuesday mornings tend to be quieter than Saturday; children enjoy sampling local cheeses and fresh fruit from the stalls.
The larger Saturday edition of Bern's central market on Bundesplatz and Bärenplatz, with an expanded selection of seasonal produce, crafts, and artisan food products.
💡Go before 10am to avoid crowds; the hot chestnuts stall in autumn and winter is a guaranteed hit with children.
The Creaviva children's museum inside the Zentrum Paul Klee offers open creative workshops every weekend where children can create their own art inspired by Paul Klee's works.
💡No booking needed for the open studio; children aged 4 and up can participate independently while parents enjoy the Paul Klee collection nearby.
Bern's iconic free public outdoor pool and Aare river swimming area at Marzili, open daily throughout summer with lawns, paddling areas, and the famous Aare drift swim.
💡The shallow paddling pool near the entrance is perfect for toddlers; the Aare drift swim is suitable for confident swimmers aged 8 and up with adult supervision.
Bern's beloved urban zoo set within the Dählhölzli forest is open year-round and particularly lively on Sundays, with feeding times, a vivarium, and woodland walking paths.
💡Sunday feeding schedules are posted at the entrance; the vivarium reptile house is a great refuge on rainy days and free with admission.
Planning Your Visit
Neighborhoods & Areas
Local Tips for Families
- 💡The Zytglogge clock tower's animated figures only perform four minutes before each hour — arrive by :56 past the hour and stand on the east side of Kramgasse to see the jester, bear procession, and rooster in action. Missing the timing means a full hour wait.
- 💡BärenPark (Bern's riverside bear habitat below Nydeggbrücke) is completely free to visit and the bears are most active in morning feeding hours around 9–10am — visit first thing before the Altstadt fills with tourists.
- 💡Families with Swiss Travel Passes or GA Travelcards get free admission to the Zentrum Paul Klee — confirm this at the desk before paying, as many visitors don't realize their rail pass covers it.
- 💡Buy a family day ticket (Tageskarte Familie) from Bernmobil machines or the SBB app for unlimited tram and bus travel within Bern zones — it is significantly cheaper than buying individual tickets and covers the Gurtenbahn funicular at a discount.
- 💡The Migros and Coop supermarkets in the basement of the main Hauptbahnhof (train station) are open on Sundays when almost all other shops in Bern are closed — stock up on picnic supplies here for Rosengarten or Gurten outings on a Sunday.
- 💡The Rosengarten (Rose Garden) above the Nydegg neighborhood has a café, 200 varieties of roses blooming in June, and the single best free view of the Zytglogge and Altstadt rooftops — it is almost entirely overlooked by tourists and never crowded even in peak season.
- 💡The Marzilibahn funicular (the short one connecting Bundeshaus to the Aare valley) is free to ride — it is not widely advertised but is a legitimate public funicular with no ticket required, and children absolutely love it.
- 💡At the Natural History Museum on Bernastrasse, admission is free on the first Sunday of every month — plan your museum day around this if your dates align, as the whale hall and big-cat dioramas are top draws for kids aged 3–10.
- 💡Einstein's actual apartment at Kramgasse 49 — where he developed special relativity in 1905 — is open to visitors for a small fee (about CHF 6 adults, CHF 4 children) and is genuinely interesting for older kids; the original rooms are small and atmospheric, not a large museum.
- 💡For the Aare river float popular with locals (floating downstream from Eichholz or Marzili back on the current), rent a bright orange Bern-issue dry bag called an 'Aaresäckli' from the Marzili kiosk to keep clothes dry — do not attempt this with children under 10 or without experience, and always check the Aare water level app (Hydrodaten) as the current varies significantly.