Avenches & Roman Aventicum
Half-day visit to the capital of Roman Helvetia: the best-preserved amphitheatre in Switzerland, a Roman museum inside a medieval tower, and a walled town of 20,000 people that has never been that big again.
From
$42.97
per person
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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts
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Book ahead
This experience is popular — reserve early to secure your spot.
From
$42.97per person
Free cancellation
Cancel up to 1 day in advance for a full refund
Reserve now & pay later
Book your spot and complete payment at checkout.
Duration 4 hours
Check availability to see starting times
Meet on location
Children must be with an adult
Ages 6 and older
Where you'll go
Open in Google MapsHighlights
- Best-preserved Roman amphitheatre in Switzerland
- the gold bust of Marcus Aurelius
- the Cigognier column
- 5.5 km of Roman city wall
What to expect
Before Zurich, before Bern, there was Aventicum. Under Rome it was the capital of Helvetia: perhaps 20,000 people, a forum, baths, a theatre, and 5.6 kilometres of wall studded with 73 towers. Vespasian raised it to a colony around AD 72 - his father had lived there. Then it was sacked, abandoned and quarried for its stone, and a small medieval town grew on the hill above the ruins. What remains is unusually legible. You can walk the Roman city in an afternoon and see where each piece of it stood. The amphitheatre held around 16,000 and was built in two stages, the second enlarging it as the population grew. A medieval tower sits on its entrance and now houses the Roman Museum, whose collection includes a gold bust of Marcus Aurelius pulled from a drain in 1939 - among the finest pieces of Roman goldwork ever recovered. Beyond the walls stands the Tornallaz, the last column of the Cigognier sanctuary, crowned for generations by a stork's nest. Forty minutes by rail from Bern. Level walking on grass and gravel, so leave the thin soles at home after rain.
What you get
- Return rail transfer from Bern
- licensed guide (EN/FR)
- Roman Museum admission
- amphitheatre and open archaeological sites
- Meals and drinks
- Avenches Castle interior
- festival tickets
- gratuities
Trip essentials
Pack this
- Comfortable shoes for grass and gravel, which stay soft after rain
- a sun hat - the site is open with no shade
- water
- a light rain layer
Check before booking
- Able to walk on grass and gravel across an open site
- no shade, so guests sensitive to heat should consider a morning departure
- children under 16 accompanied by an adult
Leave behind
- Climbing on the Roman walls, the amphitheatre tiers or the Tornallaz column
- metal detectors and any form of digging or collecting - this is a protected archaeological site
- drones over the site
- picnicking inside the monuments
Meeting point
Bern Hauptbahnhof, main hall, 09:00 (rail transfer to Avenches)
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