Why go now?


Spring events include a major new exhibition, Chinese Whispers, which opened on Thursday at the Zentrum Paul Klee and features the work of Ai Weiwei and other contemporary Chinese artists ( until June 19; zpk.org) and the 41st International Jazz Festival (March 12-May 21; jazzfestivalbern.ch), while the city’s famous bears are now back in their refurbished riverside park (baerenpark-bern.ch).


The city’s perennial attractions are its state of preservation (essentially it’s a medieval town overlaid with a baroque veneer), which has earned it Unesco World Heritage status; its manageable size (you can walk the Old Town end to end in 20 minutes); and a laid-back, friendly ambience.









The city’s perennial attractions are its state of preservation






Two towering figures of the 20th century – Albert Einstein and the artist Paul Klee – have Bern connections and sites associated with them attract tourists from all over the world.


Bern is the capital of Switzerland, by the way, though it’s so self-effacing you would hardly know it.

Getting there


SkyWork Airlines (flyskywork.com) flies from London City (via Basel on short stopover) and from Southend direct. Or fly to Zurich and take the train (about 1hr 15 min). Swiss (0845 601 0956; swiss.com) flies to Zurich from LHR, London City, Birmingham and Manchester from ?115 return.




Zurich-Bern return by rail using the Swiss Transfer Ticket (swisstravelsystem.co.uk) costs ?97 in second class, ?156 in first. From the airport, bus No?334 runs regularly to the central bus and railway station.


Any visitor staying overnight in Bern is entitled to a Bern Ticket, which ensures free public transport in and around the city centre (show your hotel reservation on bus to hotel,cheap jordans, then obtain ticket from hotel reception). If your hotel is in the Old Town, you can probably walk from the railway station.

Where to stay

Special treat


The Bellevue Palace at Kochergasse 3-5 (0041 31 320 4545,cheap real jordans; bellevue-palace.ch) is a belle époque extravaganza perched above the Aare River with a view of the Bernese Alps. It’s a haunt of politicians (the parliament building is next door) and visiting heads of state. Doubles from Sfr356 (?255) with breakfast,cheap authentic jordans.









The Bellevue Palace is a belle époque extravaganza perched above the Aare River





Mid-range


The Hotel Allegro at Kornhausstrasse 3 (0041 31 339 5500; kursaal-bern.ch/hotel),http://opdat.jagtservice.dk/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=5506cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, part of a modern business and leisure complex that includes a conference centre, casino and restaurants,http://www13.plala.or.jp/white_roots/gwbbs/gwbbs.cgicheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, is just over the Kornhaus Bridge from the Old Town. Doubles from Sfr198 (?140), excluding breakfast.

Budget


Hotel Goldener Schlussel at Rathausgasse 72 (0041 31 311 0216; goldener-schluessel.ch), a 34-room, family-run guesthouse built above a medieval stable (now the hotel restaurant),Kicksokok.com, is in the Old Town, just a few minutes’ walk from the Clock Tower. Doubles from Sfr175 (?117) with breakfast.

On arrival

5pm


Reach the Zytglogge (Clock Tower – zeitglockenturm.ch) before the 16th-century clock strikes the hour, and watch the drama unfold, including a cock that crows, rotating bears and a golden man who strikes the bell (you will see behind the scenes on a tour tomorrow).









Take a guided tour of the 16th-century clock mechanism in the Zytglogge

Credit: Fotolia






5.15pm


Stroll the arcaded streets around about, pausing for “the best coffee in town” (according to locals) served at Adriano’s at Theaterplatz 2 (adrianos.ch).



6pm


Walk south to the gardens known as The Platform, next to the Minster, with views across the Aare River to the Bernese mountains. Drop down to the riverside by Kirchenfeld Bridge and then walk east along the river. When you reach Nydegg Bridge, cross it and climb the hill on the other side to the Rose Garden (Rosengarten) to watch the sun set over the Old Town and/or panoramic night-time views.

7.15pm


Return across Nydegg Bridge for dinner at Kornhauskeller at Kornhausplatz 18 (0041 31 327 7272; kornhauskeller.ch), a sumptuous vaulted cellar restaurant in the high baroque style with an Italian-Bernese menu – veal escalope with tagliatelle, Sfr45 (?30); black forest roulade, Sfr9 (?6).

Day one

10am


Start at the Einstein House at Kramgasse 49 (einstein-bern.ch), where the great man lived in a high-ceilinged apartment from 1903 to 1905 – when he formulated his special theory of relativity. Open daily, 10am-5pm, Feb-Dec; closed in Jan; Sfr6 (?4). Fortify yourself with a midmorning coffee at the Einstein Kaffee downstairs (einstein-kaffee.ch).

11am


Walk across Kirchenfeld Bridge to the Einstein Museum, part of the Bern Historical Museum (bhm.ch) at Helvetiaplatz 5. It provides a superb overview of Einstein’s life, times and theories. Tues-Sun 10am-5pm, Sfr18 (?12).









This museum provides a superb overview of Einstein’s life, times and theories

Credit: Alamy






1pm


Lunch at L?tschberg at Zeughausgasse 16 (0041 31 311 34 55; loetschberg-aoc.ch), a hipster café and deli selling artisanal breads and cheeses: medium-sized mixed L?tschberg salad Sfr13 (?8.70), homemade iced tea Sfr4.50 (?3).

2.30pm


Take a guided tour of the 16th-century clock mechanism in the Zytglogge (available April to Oct daily; book on 0041 31 328 12 12; citytours@bern.com; Sfr15/?10),http://www.mapsxm.com/search/node/cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg.

3.30pm


Devote the rest of the afternoon to the Fine Art Museum at Hodler strasse 8-12 (kunstmuseumbern.ch), with its superb permanent collection – Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti,cheap jordans online, Rothko and many more. Open Tues 10am-9pm,cheap wholesale jordans, Wed-Sun 10am-5pm, Sfr22 (?15); collection is free until April 7.



5.30pm


Time for an early evening Hemingway (extra-dry) Martini (Sfr17/?11) amid the classic American styling of the Bellevue Bar in the Bellevue Palace hotel (see Where to stay).

7pm


Dine at Verdi, an Italian restaurant at Gerechtigkeitsgasse 7 (0041 31 312 6368; bindella.ch): mozzarella and tomatoes Sfr17 (?11), small prosecco risotto with scallops Sfr25 (?17).

Day two

10am


Visit the gothic Minster (bernermuenster.ch) – highlights are the 15th-century Last Judgment over the main portal and the panoramic mountain views from the top of the tower (if you are able to manage the 300-plus steps). Open Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun,jordans for cheap, 11.30-5pm; free; tower access Sfr5 (?3).









Visit the gothic Minster





10.30am


Take your luggage with you and jump on bus No?12, which terminates at Zentrum Paul Klee (zpk.org), a powerhouse of a museum dedicated to the Bernese artist who became one of the great figures of early 20th-century art. Chinese Whispers,cheap jordans free shipping, the exhibition of Chinese art, is also on through spring. Open Tues-Sun, 10am-5pm, Sfr20 (?15). Grab a quick lunch at the café (“Klee’s sonnenwirbel salad” is good value at Sfr9.50/?6), then return to the railway station on bus No?12 for train to Zürich or airport bus.

City checklist:









Europe's company debt has surged since 2007, while America's has fallen
The eurozone is one shock away from the Japan syndrome, and therefore the danger of exploding debt ratios. As Fed chair Ben Bernanke famously said in his 2002 speech, "Deflation: Making Sure 'It' Doesn't Happen Here", it is unforgivable for any central bank to let this happen. "Sustained deflation can be highly destructive to a modern economy and should be strongly resisted," he said.
Zsolt Darvas from the Brussels think tank Bruegel argues in an excellent report, Euro Area's Tightrope Walk, that debt dynamics are acutely sensitive to the slightest changes in inflation. He warns that the current downward drift risks pushing Italy and Spain into a "runaway debt trajectory". The closer to deflation, the worse it gets.
Mr Darvas says each one percentage point fall in inflation forces Italy to increase its primary budget surplus by an extra 1.3pc of GDP to stabilise debt. Since it is already targeting a surplus of 5pc, this would lift the bar to 6.3pc, a Sysyphean task. No country except Norway (with oil) has pulled this off over the past half century.
Given what happened in February when Beppe Grillo's Five Star movement won the most votes in the Italian parliament's lower house with calls (albeit incoherent) for a return to the lira, and almost 60pc voted for anti-austerity parties, this looks like a tall order. Youth unemployment is already almost 40pc.
Mr Darvas puts his finger on the central contradiction of Europe's debt crisis strategy. The victim states are forced to cut real wages to claw back lost competitiveness against the German bloc through "internal devaluations", yet this frustrates the other objective of controlling the debt. They are damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

The verdict is already in. Italy's debt has jumped from 121pc to 132pc of GDP over the past two years (IMF data) despite a draconian fiscal squeeze and a primary surplus. Spain has jumped from 70pc to 94pc, Portugal from 108pc to 124pc and Ireland from 104pc to 123pc. Such is the curse of the "denominator effect". It is what happens when debt rises faster than nominal GDP. Europe's policy regime is inflicting ultra-austerity without offsetting monetary stimulus. You have to weep.
The same vicious dynamic is at work with private debt, which matters just as much. Jamie Dannhauser at Lombard Street Research says the net debt ratio for big companies has risen by more than 100 percentage points in Italy, Spain, France and Portugal since the crisis began, and spiked even more sharply for small firms. "Distressed corporate sectors have not only added to their debt volumes, they have also run down their liquid assets to stay in business. This is where the rotten heart of Europe is to be found. Japanese-style deflation is a disaster for real assets," he says.
By mistakenly blaming the EMU crisis on profligate states - the morality tale scripted in Berlin, completely false except for Greece - and by imposing a crash diet of fiscal cuts on the wrong countries, they have made the greater problem of private debt even worse. Apart from being brutal, the policy is self-defeating in broader economic terms. While America is deleveraging very fast, private debt ratios have continued to rise in Europe.
Mr Darvas says the only way to break out of the impasse is to let inflation drift up, with rising wages in Germany. The intra-EMU exchange rate gap - arguably still 20pc - could then be closed slowly without forcing the Club Med into a hopeless deflationary spiral. "The ECB should do whatever it takes, within its mandate, to ensure that inflation does not fall below 2pc," he said.
The ECB is instead sitting on its hands, even though the euro has risen 9pc in trade terms this year to $1.38 against the dollar, M3 "broad" money growth has sputtered out over the past four months, and private loans are shrinking at an accelerating rate of 2pc. The ECB is breaching its own M3 and inflation mandate, and its own published guidelines that inflation should be kept high enough to stave off the risk of deflation in any of the vulnerable countries.

As ever, it is the ECB flouting the rulebook for political reasons. You could say it has a chronic German bias. It stoked double-digit money growth to nurse Germany through the slump in the early EMU years, accomodating a dovish Bundesbank, and dooming over-heated Club Med to its fate. This time the Bundesbank is in a hawkish mood, fretting that house prices in Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich are overvalued by as much as 20pc. Perhaps they are, but average rises across Germany have been 2.8pc annually over the past three years, with no signs of a blow-off. Even if there were, Germany could cap rises by clamping down on mortgages.
In any case, Germany's own HICP inflation (at constant taxes) has been almost flat since March. The anti-inflation taskmaster may soon be on the cusp of deflation itself, the ultimate irony, but no less dangerous for that.
As readers know, I have long argued that France, Italy, Spain and Club Med allies should gang up in the ECB's governing council and dictate terms, forcing through the reflation policy that the region so desperately needs. They have the votes. They have the legal and treaty authority to do so. Most monetary theorists around the world would egg them on. Yet they seem paralysed, terrified that Germany will storm off and revert to the D-Mark. They should screw their courage to the sticking plate and call Berin's bluff. Should Germany indeed walk out - and inflict crippling loses on its own banks and insurers in the process - this would at least be a solution of sorts. By lancing the boil, it would open the way for a return to growth.
Instead Europe seems to have abdicated leadership, praying for another decade of global growth to lift them off the reefs. This may happen but it is far from assured, and it is not a grown-up policy for the world's second biggest economy. The cycle committee of the Centre for Economic Policy Research still refuses to rule that Euroland is out of recession. Industrial output has been treading water through the summer.
All it needs is one nasty surprise - and there are many lurking, in China and the BRICS - and Europe will lose its monetary foothold. As the Japanese learned the hard way, once you let deflation lodge in the system, it takes heaven and earth to get out again.
This article was amended on October 24 to reflect that Beppe Grillo won the most votes in the lower house, not the most seats.