Bern

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Bern is the de-facto capital of Switzerland.

Hitching out

Direction north (Basel, Zürich, Biel, Luzern)

Option 1

From the train station, take the bus #11 to Neufeld P+R to the last station (You can use a short distance ticket for 2,- CHF.). Walk 5 minutes to a roundabout with a nice hard shoulder. You should use a sign, as there is a lot of local traffic.

Option 2

From the train station, take the bus #20 to the station Wyler (buy a ticket 'zone 1-2' for 3.80 CHF). Walk 200m on the left side of the street (on your right you see a huge stadium, then cross the big crossroads. Right there you see a bus stop (Bus #28) where there is enough space for cars to stop. Use a sign! Cars driving past there can go to Zurich, Basel, Biel, Luzern,... You can take any lift to get onto the highway (A1), right after Bern (3min) there is the service area "Grauholz" where you can change quite easily.

Sleeping

Bern seems to have only one hostel, which is located in the town center, 5 minutes walking from the parliament building. Prices are about 30 CHF per night. Check out their website.