Bear Park

The bear is the symbol of Bern, and bears have been kept on this site since 1857, initially in a two-part enclosure known as the Bear Pit. Bear Park opened in October 2009 as a 6,000-square-metre space on the banks of the Aare, at the lower end of the Old Town, just past the Nydegg Bridge. The old pit remains part of the area the bears roam freely, and the smaller pit is open to visitors. Admission is free and the park has no set opening hours. From the city centre, the park is reached on foot by walking down Kramgasse and Gerechtigkeitsgasse, from where the path continues uphill to the Rosengarten.