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Biel/Bienne is the heart of the Swiss watch-making industry. Trademarks such as Swatch, Omega, Rolex, Bucherer, Candino, Century, Festina, Perrelet, Leroy, and many others are closely associated with the city of Biel, The Swatch Group has its worldwide headquarters in the tree lined "Seevorstadt", in the previous building of ASUAG.
The city has a small and beautiful historic centre, with a gothic church (15th century), impressive guild halls and fountains decorated with flowers. Outside the historic centre, the tree-lined "Seevorstadt" goes to the lake and its beautiful shoreline. On the way the visitors pass the Biel "Cultural Quarter" with the Neuhaus and Schwab Museums and the CentrePasquArt.
The Jura mountains are easily reached by funicular railway from Bienne, with both the Biel/Bienne-Leubringen/Evilard funicular and the Biel/Bienne-Magglingen/Macolin funicular linking the city with the foothills. It takes just seven minutes to reach Macolin (the location of the Federal Sports School) and from where numerous walking paths start in every direction. Macolin, Evilard, Preles and the year round resort of Les Prés-d'Orvin offer sensational views of the Alps on a clear day. The highest viewpoint is Chasseral (1607 m a.s.l). The steep gorge of Taubenloch also offers a spectacular scenery.
The port of Bienne is the starting point for scenic river and lake cruises, which can take the visitors to the city of Solothurn, St. Peter's Island and the Lakes Neuchatel and Morat (Three-Lake-Tour). The experience is at its best during the autumn harvest and when the wine festivals are held against a background of autumn colours. Other culinary specialties of the Biel region include perch and whitefish filets and the marc sausage.
Biel also makes the ideal starting point for cycling tours. Sporting cyclists can measure themselves against the Jura foothills or more, while day-trippers can opt for the routes along the waterfront, where restaurants and cafés are on hand to help top up energy reserves. The lakeside Seeland has kilometres of paths. The "Vegetable Route" provides information panels along the way on the more than 60 varieties of vegetable cultivated in the area.
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