I live in Biel since 4 years now, just behind the main station and the lake, on the river side, giving the location a proximity to city center, train station and the "peacefulness" of the nature on the other side. I have been traveling a little in the past and spent altogether years abroad. I understand that for most of you Biel looks more like a village than a real city :- and I perfectly understand it. What i find exciting about Biel is it's bilingualism and the open-mindness of people here.
You pretty much talk french everywhere, if people don't speak a correct french they'll answer in german without any tension. It does work the other way round too. BTW you'll find plenty of english speakers here too, watch making business gets talent from all over the world, and Swiss people usually end up talking in english if they don't speak each other language.
I love the old town, it's small shops and saturday market, I love the lake side too, i love the quality of some small restaurants down here but sometimes missing the diversity you can find in bigger villages ;- We are planning to move to the countryside at some point but i'll be missing Biel for sure.
If you want good addresses feel free to ask, enjoy your stay here. I am happy to have read all your comments on it But there are lots of alternative lifestyles, cultural diversity, and happenings in public places Plus cheap calzone and chinese food, a relative rarity the cheap part in Switzerland. I think Biel is a cool place. The fact that it has a lot of immigrants gives it some spice, and we know variety is the spice of life. I'm an irishman but I've connect with some of the Africans, very friendly and welcoming people!!!
Especially the Cameroonians!! The mix of Swiss French and German's is an interesting dynamic and it's a great place to learn both languages. The Jura is a big wall of mountainous forest that surrounds Biel, a great spot to get into nature, go cylcing, wander into the Jura, and also to go to Macolin which is where the Swiss institute of sport is based. But yeah it's a bit boring but looking at other Swiss cities, I wouldnt say it's half as pretentious as most. It's got something edgy about it whether that's good or bad is down to perspective.
