'''Bienne''' (Biel in German) is a small city on the northern edge of the canton of Berne in Switzerland. Famous for watchmaking, and home to '''Rolex''' among other famous makers, Bienne/Biel sits astride the linguistic divide between French and Swiss German. Both languages plus English are spoken widely in the city.

Get in

Biel/Bienne, as the official Name is, has train connections to Lausanne, Geneva, Berne, Basel, Olten [http://www.olten.ch/de/portrait/portraitinfoenglish/] and Zurich To Olten- Zurich and Berne trains run every 30 minutes, everywhere else they run hourly.

Get around

See

Do

Go swim in the Lake Biel (Bielersee) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielersee] Take a look at the old town (Altstadt). In the summer, there is a music festival at the old town. Pick up a bike and take a ride around the lake. If you can, take a look at the wineards: you_Lre gonna find many middle-age constructions and some good restaurants serving fish from the lake and local wine. In august 1st, there is the national day of Switzerland, and watching the fireworks in a boat is a good experience.

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

  • Elite Art Deco**** Swiss Quality Hotel. 4, rue de la gare, CH-2501. 66. 5. ail@hotelelite.ch. 41 (0)32 127 77 70. Located in the city center, only 200m from the train station Biel/Bienne but 110km from the airport Zurich. Great hotel bar "Baramundo". Single room from 205CHF, double room from 297CHF (rates from february 2009). <br />www.hotelelite.ch www.SwissQualityHotels.com

    Get out

  • Berne
  • Geneve
  • Neuchatel