Six kilometers / four miles of arcades border this UNESCO World Cultural Heritage-listed city and invite you to indulge in a very special shopping experience. The famous arcades have also given Bern one of the longest covered shopping promenades in Europe. What's more: whilst other luxury shopping streets have long since succumbed to international chains, many local shops still continue to thrive amongst Bern's arcade stores.

The Mediterranean ambience of the street cafes and restaurants invites visitors to linger and soak up the atmosphere. Bern's cellar shops constitute another special feature of the city: in the Middle Ages, the architects of old Bern provided for storage cellars on both sides of the wide alleyways. Today, these cellars are home to fashion boutiques, art galleries and wine dealers.

On Tuesdays and Saturdays, colorful markets with fresh vegetables, flowers and meat products are held on the Bundesplatz (Parliament Square) and the Münsterplatz (Minster Square). Standing in marked contrast to this is the Westside Leisure and Shopping Centre. Opened in 2008, this Daniel Libeskind-designed complex offers a world of shopping experiences across 23,500 square meters of floor space that can only be described in superlatives. But Bern also has much more to offer: the Einstein Museum, the traditional Zibelemärit (Onion Market), the redesigned Bahnhofplatz (Station Square) and the Zentrum Paul Klee to name only a few highlights.