Biel is the only city in Switzerland where you can order a coffee in either German or French and nobody blinks, because it is officially bilingual: street signs come in pairs, schools teach in both languages, and conversations switch mid-sentence. Bienne in French, Biel in German, it is a working city of about fifty thousand people at the north-east end of Lake Biel, and it has a confidence and a grittiness that sets it apart from the polished cities of the Swiss plateau.
The city made its fortune from watches. In the nineteenth century, watchmakers from the Jura settled here, and Biel became one of the centres of the Swiss watch industry, home to Omega, Rolex's movement maker and, since the 1980s, Swatch, whose headquarters is a striking timber building by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. The industry nearly collapsed in the 1970s, when cheap quartz watches from Asia flooded the market, and Biel suffered, but the revival brought by the Swatch has helped it bounce back. The old town, on a hill above the modern centre, is small and lovely, with a square called the Ring, fountains and arcaded houses.
From the edge of the city, a funicular climbs to Magglingen, Macolin in French, the home of the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport, on a terrace above the lake with views over the Seeland to the Alps. For riders, the road up there and over the Jura is a good escape: a winding climb through forest with tight hairpins, then onto open pasture. Just north of the city, the Taubenloch gorge is a narrow cleft in the limestone, with a walkway through it beside a rushing stream, and the road through the Vallon de Saint-Imier, toward La Chaux-de-Fonds, follows the watchmaking country deep into the Jura.
Biel is a city, with city traffic, so expect congestion, traffic lights and speed cameras. Once you are out, the lakeshore road toward La Neuveville is pleasant, though often busy. The city covers every practical need, from fuel and workshops to hotels and plenty of restaurants. In summer, the lakeside is lively, and boats run across the lake to St. Peter's Island and along the Aare to Solothurn. The local wines from the vineyards on the north shore of the lake, mostly Chasselas, are light and refreshing, and best enjoyed after the day's riding is done.