After arriving in Bern, I headed straight to my hostel, changed into my swimsuit, and headed towards the river Aare. I love floating in the river Aare so much. This time, I skipped the bridge jump and just entered upstream from Freibad Marzili at the Campingplatz Eichholz, which is about 1 km.
In between floats, I had French Fries for dinner. I was really hungry and it was supposed to be a snack but the serving was enormous and delicious! This made my second float a little late and kind of quiet, which was nice in its own way. I think I prefer the bustle of more people at the height of the day. Fewer gnats and yes, safer from a swimmer’s perspective. Overall, I took four floats down the river this trip and it was awesome!
The hostel was nice. I was in the newer building and bunked with three other women. I was barely there, but they seemed very nice. Logistically, it wasn’t the best set-up since one woman came in very late (Spanish) and one woman left very early (American- me, haha) but hopefully everyone’s earplugs worked. I had set everything out and there was a small common area/bathroom compartment that had a door to divide it from the bedroom so hopefully I wasn’t too disruptive. I was trying to save money since I was solo traveling but I think I’m aging out of hostels, slowly but surely.
I took the Bern Marzili funicular during my stay, which was a nice way to avoid climbing a steep hill with my bag. The ride is quite short, but nice to take. Also, covered by the Swiss Rail Pass! At the base of the hill, you look up and see the Bundeshaus, which is quite stately. SMS and I had wandered briefly through the historic city on our last visit but it really does deserve more attention. Maybe another trip!
Beautiful!
Would you believe I’ve never stayed in a hostel?! My husband did this a lot before we met and got married. I didn’t really do much travel before we met. And then we got married and I had a baby less than 2 years later…and after all those big things were behind us, hotels made a lot more sense. But I always get a little pang of regret I’ve not done a hostel stay. I suppose there is lots of travel potential in my future and I might just add “stay at a hostel” to my bucket list? 🙂
I simultaneously endorse this and also think, “Eh, at this point, you’re not missing out!” But it may be a really good option if you travel to Europe with your whole family and want a less expensive room option! Also, if you ever get to Japan, I would totally recommend staying at a capsule hotel although it would be best for solo travel since they are gender separated (and I’m guessing not kid friendly at all, but I don’t know this for a fact). My husband and I have each stayed at a capsule but it was when we were traveling independently. He was visiting a classmate in Osaka and I was stopping in Osaka as I was traveling back to the Tokyo area from the south.