BearPark

A must-visit — even without seeing the bears! I visited Bear Park hoping to see its famous residents, but unfortunately didn't spot any bears this time (they might have been hiding, or perhaps it wasn't the right time of day). However, that didn’t ruin the experience at all! The view of the city from here is simply breathtaking and makes the visit completely worthwhile. You get a magnificent panoramic view of Bern’s Old Town, the curve of the Aare River, and the bridges. It’s honestly one of the best viewpoints around. The park itself is very well-kept, green, and has nice walking paths along the river. It’s a peaceful and atmospheric spot—perfect for photos, a relaxing stroll, or just sitting on a bench and taking in the scenery. Tip: Even if you don’t see the bears, definitely come up here for the picture-perfect views. And if you’re lucky enough to see them, it’ll be the perfect visit. Overall: A lovely, clean park with a fantastic viewpoint. Highly recommended when in Bern!

Landmark & Scenic Bear Park La fosse aux ours! This is a great place to come and visit. Really representative of the city of Bern. Always a great sight to see those bears in the water. The kids enjoyed it and so did we. Not so much around but you can always go back to the bridge to eat.

I recently visited the Bear Park in Bern and it was such a delightful experience! Nestled along the scenic banks of the Aare River, the park offers a peaceful and natural environment where bears roam freely in spacious enclosures that mimic their natural habitat. The bears looked healthy and well cared for, and it was heartwarming to see them play, rest, and interact with their surroundings. The park is free to enter, which makes it a wonderful stop for families, nature lovers, or anyone looking to enjoy a relaxing moment in the city. It’s also just a short walk from the old town, so it’s easy to include in a day of sightseeing. Overall, Bear Park is a beautiful blend of nature, education, and conservation. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Bern!

Bear Park is a wonderful place to visit with kids and family. The whole area is clean, well-maintained, and very easy to walk around. You get to see the bears in a natural and spacious environment, which makes the experience even more special, especially for children, who usually get very excited watching them play or relax by the river. The park is free to enter, which is a huge plus for families, and there are plenty of viewing spots where everyone can safely observe the animals. The surrounding area is beautiful as well, perfect for a relaxed stroll, pictures, and enjoying nature. Overall, it’s a great outing for all ages, educational, peaceful, and fun. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in Switzerland!

Nice place, free entry, free parking nearby available. Unfortunately didnt find any bears during our visit in December, coz they might be in den and sleeping more in the cold months

An amazing experience and a chance to see some brown bears in real life. Great for kids but also adults who miss their childhood. Right next to the river, the park is both scenic and entertaining.

We went to bearpark today in hopes of seeing the bears, although we went in with super low expectations because it’s winter and they are known to be in hibernation. Even the sign says they are hibernating. However, to our pleasant surprise, when we were walking back to the old town, I saw some movement and Lo and behold, it was a European brown bear - Ursina (name of the bear). She was super cute, and walking around the enclosure, while her parents were hibernating. Learned so much about this lovely bear family from the friendly park keeper. How blessed we are that we could see her during the winter and it made our visit to Bern so much more memorable.

It's a really cool place for a Tourist to visit. The view is beautiful, the River crossing the city is awesome and the Bears have a large space to live in.

This was my favorite part of Bern. There are four bears in total, but I didn't see all of them. The 5,000 square meter park is located at the end of the old town. The land slopes down toward the bank of the River Aare. If you don't want to take the stairs, there is an inclined lift that connects the upper viewing platform with the Aare promenade. Many people were dipping their feet into the river and relaxing. FYI- The bear is a symbol of the city and is featured in their coat of arms.

You can bears right from the middle of the city of Bern from these exhibits near a bridge. Although it's probably not much different than an exhibit in a zoo, it's far more convenient since you can find them right there without having to enter a zoo and maybe pay an admission fee (it's free after all).

My fave place in Bern. We visited here last month. Just a few minutes from the Rose Garden is the Bear Park. Bern has been a home to bears since 1513, and the city has gone to great lengths to showcase these wonderful animals. From what I learned in 2015 the city opened a renovated BearPark which now includes an area for bears to swim, fish and relax. There are 3 bears and I saw them eating, playing and swimming. The area is well- maintained and clean. Lots of trees and bushes and a small waterfall to make the place very liveable for the bears. It's located just outside Old Town and you can take their new inclined lift to get a unique view. If you are hungry, restaurant are close by. There is also a small visitors center located next to the BearPark. This is a must visit. There is a tour you can take as well.

The Bears!!! If winter they hibernate of other times of the year you can find them roaming. Just look for a hoards of people looking over the railing and you're bound to spot them. Saw all three of them. Such a sight. They are usually near the river. Also go down into the pit and read a little history... Ots very interesting. Happy bear sightings!!

This was one of our highlights of Bern. A bear park near the river. Much history about the park with the original pen still intact. It has become an attraction and as that goes, there is a restaurant and brewery attached. After we watched the bears, then they went to go eat because they disappeared past this one gate, we went to the restaurant to sample their beer. Great sampler of their three beers. I liked the third one the best. It had a slight caramel finish. We didn't try the food, though it did look good. Some tables stared at us cause we were speaking English...LOL! Definitely a great place to stop at.

Love the free-ranged bear in a nature zoo. It is located on the other bank of the river, there are bars, restaurants and snack vendors near by, so you can enjoy the city view and have a nice meal. There are 3 bears, we only saw two (it was mid day, so the third one is on lunch break). It was really fun seeing a "wild" bear roaming around. After you are done, you can sit by the river and relax.

What a wonderful concept, a brewpub-restaurant and visitors centre just behind the Bern bears tourist attraction! For the restaurant you walk by the old bear enclosure. My impression was due to anti-zoo activists they probably expanded the bear enclosure to give them more space on the side of the hill to roam up and down and have a nice swim in the water next to the river! It's much more space for these bears to have fun and play in. On the day we went they were sleeping at first, then wrestling with each other and playing on the water. I kept shouting "come on come on pin him"! To one of the bears but many of the Swiss did not understand me! We caught a lunch here at the restaurant-brewpub. My local relatives mentioned that Rösti is the local dish to try. It's a potato based hash brown dish with cheese and apple sauce. So I ordered a speck (bacon) Rösti! It came out on a generous serving and we enjoyed one of their seasonal beers to wash it down. The Rösti was the real deal good. Creamy, cheesy and filling! The beer was light, cereal tasting and refreshing on a humid day! A great restaurant to come pit stop for lunch, dinner or a few beers! It was a tad expensive but hey, this is Switzerland so it was par for the course!

Bärengraben was a must-see on my day trip to Berne. After all, the bears are founders of the city...right? Just at the edge of town sits a large, stone, walled-off pit which is home to the brown bears of Berne. I must admit, I had mixed feelings about Bärengraben. The giant bears are confined to a relatively small pit and put on display for tourists like me. I guess Bärengraben isn't really any different than a zoo, but still, I felt sorry for the bear. Bärengraben is open year round and can be visited any time of the day, however the bears are only out at certain times. I watched one of the bears lumber around, climb the rocks, then head over towards the wall of tourists who fed him pieces of fruit (which are available for purchase at a kiosk.) It was awfully adorable watching the bear sit on his bum and catch food in his mouth. The bear was very tame and would approach the people feeding him. Of course, he was no where close enough to actually touch the tourists. If you're visiting Berne, definitely plan a stop at Bärengraben. It's one of the highlights of the city, and the brown bears are just so darn cute! Cost: Free

Bears hibernate in the winter so note in colder months there will be no bears there! This is probably common sense but I just didn't think about it at all and no reviews advise you...so, I thought I do my part for fellow yelpers. I'm going out on a limb to give this place 5 stars because it looks like an awesome attraction. It's along the river and along the bridge. There are places for them to play in trees, in pools and other grassy areas. There is a nice little brewery along side of the gift shop. The views of the city from the beige are also top notch.

I thought this was a great place. The bears were nice to see running around in their big habitat. The baby loved seeing and watching them. The bus 12 goes right to the stop so it is easy to get to. The main building behind that has a loo and a baby changing area.

Bern is one of my favorite places to hang out. One reason, is the Bear park. From the train station, you walk through town, across the bridge, and the best part is waiting for you at the end, the bears! When I first moved to Switzerland in 2010, the 2 youngest bears were just cubs. They were tiny bundles of fur rolling in the grass, and playing with each other. I went back to visit in summer 2011, and the cubs, no longer looked like something I wanted to pick up and hug. They were grown bears, but their play-fullness still remained. The park is free. You can walk in and down the stairs to the viewing platform on the river. You can see the bears close up and personal. The mom is with the 2 younger bears, and the male bear is sectioned off in his own space. Poor guy looks really lonely over there. The tourists are all watching the fun young bears, and he is at the end of the platform, and really doesn't get much love. If you go, be sure to walk all the way to the end, and say hi to the lonely fellow. In reading the signs, I could ascertain that recently the park was renovated, and that the bears originally were in these small horrible stone pits. I couldn't even imagine how they could have kept the bears in those confined places! They have moved up in the world now, and have front row seats to a wonderful view of the river and Bern. The Bear park also surprisingly has a nice restaurant. We eat their once, and were not expecting anything wonderful, and the food was surprisingly good. We saw people buying and ordering a special beer, and it appeared that they had some type of special brewery, and you could buy kegs of it there. They also have a cafe section, were you can order food at a counter, and take it away with you to a table and eat.

The times of the old Bärengraben as described before are definately over. It has been replaced by a top modern, state of the art bear park, where the bears are free running, have plenty of space and can even go for a swim in the river!

The Bärengraben is a MUST SEE place for all the visitors from a foreign country. at this moment they fitment the place, so it's not really a great place. but in one year (2010) the Bärengraben, new called Bärenpark will be a really great place. At the moment just 4 stars.

The formerly small Bärengraben has now been transformed into a big park. I guess the bears feel much better in there than in the hold they used to be. A nice place to visit in Berne, especially with kids.