Venue
The 20th ISSPD Congress meets in Bern from 5 to 7 July 2027. Here is how to get there, find your way around, and spend your free time in a city full of art and history.
Most visitors fly to Zurich or Geneva and take the train. Swiss trains are frequent, punctual and step-free on most routes. They arrive at Bern main station, right next to the Old Town.
About 1 h 15 min
Direct trains to Bern run several times an hour.
About 2 hours
Trains run along Lake Geneva and through Lausanne.
About 1 hour
Basel EuroAirport is another option.
Bern Airport, in Belp, has a small number of flights. Check which routes run in July 2027 before you book.
Bern has good rail links to Germany, France, Italy and Austria. Many routes need one change or none.
Free for hotel guests
Stay at least one night in a hotel or other registered accommodation in Bern, and local public transport is free for your whole stay.
All accommodation inside the City of Bern must give you the ticket. Some hotels just outside the city also offer it, so check before you book.
Book early. July is high season in Switzerland, and hotels near the Old Town fill up fast.
Best if you want to walk everywhere in the evening.
Best for short mornings. [Add the neighbourhood once the venue is confirmed.]
Often cheaper. Check that your hotel offers the Bern Ticket.
Congress hotel rates: [Hotel names, booking code and deadline]
Bern and psychiatry
Adolf Wölfli was a patient at the Waldau clinic near Bern from 1895 until 1930. There he began to draw, write and compose.
His psychiatrist, Walter Morgenthaler, saw him as an artist, not only a patient. Today Wölfli is a key figure in Art Brut, and his work is kept in Bern.
Bern packs world-class art and science history into a small, walkable centre.
Plan ahead: many Swiss museums close on Mondays, and the congress starts on a Monday.
Art
The world’s largest Paul Klee collection: around 4,000 works, about 40 per cent of everything he made. Klee grew up in Bern and took a keen interest in art made by psychiatric patients.
Art
Switzerland’s oldest art museum, with works from the Middle Ages to today. It also houses the Adolf Wölfli Foundation.
For our field
A small museum on the Waldau clinic grounds, founded by Morgenthaler in 1914. It traces psychiatric care in Bern from the Middle Ages to today.
History
Einstein lived in Bern from 1902 to 1909 and published special relativity here in 1905. The museum fills a whole floor of the Bern Historical Museum.
Visit the Einstein Museum Visit the Einstein House on Kramgasse
History
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, on a bend of the turquoise Aare. Look out for:
Day trip
Trains from Bern reach Thun in about 20 minutes. Its old town sits where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun, with the Alps behind it.
About 4 hours on foot and by bus. Check closing times first.
Start near the station. Allow about 1.5 hours.
Walk past the Einstein House and the Zytglogge.
Cross the Nydegg Bridge, then walk up for the view.
Take bus 12 if you have time left.
Switzerland uses the Swiss franc (CHF), not the euro. Contactless cards work almost everywhere.
Swiss sockets are type J. Bring an adapter. Many two-pin European plugs also fit.
Tap water and most public fountains are safe. Bring a refillable bottle.
The Bern Museum Card gives free entry to many museums for 24 or 48 hours.
Locals swim in summer, but the current is strong. Only swim if you are confident, and follow local advice.
Trains, trams and buses are mostly step-free. Some Old Town buildings have steep stairs and no lift.