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Travel information

The meeting will be held at the UniS building of the University of Bern. It is located directly above Bern central station. Here we provide you with some information that may be of interest in planning your visit.

In case you should get lost on your way, you may contact us under

Urs: +41 31 684 86 22, +41 78 826 31 55

Albert: +41 31 684 88 78, +41 76 796 30 48

Esther: +41 31 684 86 31 (secretary).

The secretary's office is located in room 123 on the first floor in the building Exakte Wissenschaften that houses the Institute for Theoretical Physics. It is the modern building with various contraptions on the roof next to the main building.

How to get to the institute by public transportation

By plane

There are several international airports from which Bern can be reached quickly. These include

Bern-Belp is obviously closest to the city of Bern, but provides only a few affordable connections. However, the low-cost operator SkyWork has recently started servicing the airport and provides flights to a few major cities, including Barcelona, Berlin, Hamburg, London and Rotterdam. For flights from and to other cities, Geneva and Zurich are probably your best bets. Both airports are serviced by EasyJet and most of the traditional airlines. Basel is a destination for EasyJet as well, but has no train connection and may therefore be a less convenient choice.

Bern-Belp has a direct shuttle connection to Bern Hbf (CHF 5.80, 25 minutes).
Shuttle busses connect Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg to Basel SBB (CHF 4, 20 minutes), from where trains can take you to Bern Hbf in little under an hour (CHF 38 each way).
From Geneva Airport, a direct train will take you to the capital in two hours (CHF 52 each way).
From Zurich Airport, trains go directly to Bern Hbf in about 80 minutes (CHF 52 each way).

Train tickets can be purchased from vending machines and paid for using Swiss francs, euro banknotes, debit cards with the Maestro logo and all major credit cards.

By train

Switzerland has got a dense and well-connected railway network. Bern is connected to destinations in Italy via Brig and Milan, to destinations in Germany via Basel and to France via Geneve or Basel. High speed or night connections to Berlin and Paris may make for an attractive alternative to flying. Special offers on tickets will often get you a significant discount, but you will probably need to book early. Check with your national or favorite train company for availability and prices. Keep in mind that the same tickets may be offered at different prices by different companies.

Within Bern

Regardless of the way you arrive in the city, you will end up at the hub that is Bern Hauptbahnhof. Fortunately, it seems to have been constructed for the convenience of visiting physicists! When arriving by bus, go down into the central area of the station and turn left into the underpass towards the platforms. If you arrive by train, walk along the platform you find yourself on to the same underpass. Signs will point you in the direction of 'Universität Länggasse' and you will arrive at the end of the underpass where any of the three elevators will take you up to a park called Grosse Schanze. Turn right around the elevator exit and you will face the main university building. On the far right hand side, there is a modern building with various contraptions on the roof. This is the building of Exakte Wissenschaften, that houses our institute. (Note also the turquoise guideposts: Our building is number 5 'Exakte Wissenschaften').

To get more information about the location have a look at the detailed map. For more information on public transport within the city of Bern, the home page of Bernmobil is your (German speaking) friend.

How to get to the institute by car

If you come by car, it is best to leave the motorway at the exit 'Bern Neufeld' or 'Bern Forsthaus'. The routes from the motorway exits to the Institute are described in detail below. Be sure to have a parking disk with you, though. You will need it in order to park in the so called 'blue zones', which include pretty much all of the city. However, parking in blue zones is usually limited to one and a half hours. Longer lasting parking permits (4 hours / 24 hours) within these areas are available from any Bernmobil ticket machines at for CHF 8/15. Using a public multi-storey car park is possible and quite convenient, but expect to be paying for the privilege!

From exit Bern Neufeld, drive in the direction Zentrum on the Neubrückstrasse until you reach a roundabout. Take the first exit off this roundabout onto the Mittelstrasse. After three blocks, turn left onto the Gesellschaftsstrasse. The building straight ahead is the Exakte Wissenschaften building. Please note that a multi-storey car park exists right at the exit 'Bern Neufeld': Park + Ride Neufeld.
From exit Bern Forsthaus, drive in the direction Tierspital on the Bremgartenstrasse until you reach a roundabout. Take the third exit off this roundabout onto the Länggassstrasse. After about 800 meters -- you will have just passed the building Uni Tobler on your right -- turn left on a traffic light onto the Mittelstrasse. After one block, turn right onto the Gesellschaftsstrasse. The building straight ahead is the Exakte Wissenschaften building.

You may also want to have a look at the detailed map of the area.

External Information - Some other useful websites

Here are some other pages useful in the present context: