Where TGVs now roar past Friedrich Dürrenmatt was once inspired for his book «The Visit of the Old Lady»: Ins railway station. Here many visitors now unload and reload their bikes for a cycling tour around the vegetable fields of Grosse Moos.

The Grosse Moos is a particularly fertile area, with almost black soil, in the Bernese Seeland in the triangle of three lakes, the Bielersee, Murtensee and Lac de Neuchâtel. Ins gained today’s prominence as an agricultural centre with the correction of the Jura waters, a project which lowered the Grosse Moos water table and curbed regular flooding.

Over 60 types of vegetables are grown and harvested here. Tours of the vegetable fields can be made from May to mid-October, on two signposted routes of different lengths between Ins and Kerzers railway stations, by bike, on skates, on foot or even on horseback.

Another well-known native of Ins is met in many living rooms through his paintings, even if most are only prints: painter Albert Anker was born in Ins in 1831 and spent many years living and working here. His house is now an Anker Museum and event venue.

More experiences in and around Ins include the Eisser Weg (four signposted routes through Ins), the Papiliorama near Kerzers, the modern arched wooden bridge over the Broye Canal and the bird sanctuary and nature watching area on the southern shores of Lac de Neuchâtel.

Highlights

• Bike hire - and not just in Ins and Kerzers! Bikes can be hired for tours of one or more days at numerous railway stations and other rental points throughout Switzerland - a chance to get mobile...
• Papiliorama Swiss Tropical Gardens Kerzers - butterflies and other inhabitants of the Tropics, as well as a petting zoo with local animals. A treat for the whole family.
• Pont Rotary - modern arched wooden bridge over the Broye Canal between Ins and Sugiez, for cyclists, pedestrians etc. Span width over 60m.