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June 17, 2025

German-speaking Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the major financial and cultural hub of central Europe. It is considered one of the world’s most livable cities because of its booming economy, beautiful old town and natural setting, and variety of cultural attractions. English is spoken everywhere.

It is a pleasure to wander around Zurich’s well-preserved Old Town with its beautiful medieval 12th-century buildings. There are wonderful restaurants, shops, cafes, and iconic sites such as the Grossmünster and Fraumünster churches built more than 800 years ago. Zurich’s Old Town is picturesque, bordered by a beautiful river and lake and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. This beautiful city center is very walkable and has an excellent public transportation system.

Zurich’s very walkable compact city center offers great shopping including international luxury brand stores on its main street Bahnhofstrasse. It is often called one of the world’s most expensive shopping street. Bahnhofstrasse stretches from the train station to Lake Zurich and is the perfect walk for shopping, lunch, cafes, and restaurants. Window shopping alone is fun. There are also old historic Swiss stores along this shopping street. We liked Cafe Sprungli at #21 Bahnhofstrasse for wonderful chocolate, macarons, and gourmet sandwiches. If you want to step back in time, at #28, Zeughauskeller, originally built in 1487, serves hearty Swiss cuisine in a traditional vintage ambience.

Rennweg and Augustinergasse are two beautiful streets that lead off from Bahnhofstrasse to Zurich’s Altstdt Old Town. We particularly liked Augustinergasse street starting across from the Cartier store on Bahnhofstrasse. It is a very picturesque cobblestone lane full of quaint boutiques and good restaurants. It is wonderful to wander around the Old Town Alstdt around St. Peter’s Church and its picturesque square St Peterhofstatt, with its small winding lanes, tall church steeples, and charming squares. There are many boutique shops and restaurants at every turn.

Lindenhof is a quiet park located in the Altstdt. Its elevated position provides a nice view of Zurich’s charming old town and the Limmat River. It is a good place for a leisurely stroll or a relaxing picnic beneath the many trees. Across the river from Bahnhofstrasse, the pedestrian Niederdorf area surrounding Niederdorf street is nice to wander with charming cobblestone streets and interesting boutique stores. Niederdoftstrasse street is a popular nightlife spot with numerous restaurants, bars, and pubs. One of the nicest squares in Niederdorf is Hirschen-Platz with many outdoor seating cafes.

On a nice day, it is a pleasure to stroll along the Limmat River on the Limmatquai Riverfront. You can take in the stunning views of the river and Lake Zurich, with the Rathaus and Grossmünster in the background. When wandering Zurich’s Old Town, be sure to ‘get lost’ in some of the beautiful side streets and alleys full of unique boutique shops.

Trendy Zurich West also has many dining options from traditional Swiss dishes to international cuisine. The real partying happens on Langstrasse street in West Zurich, where you will find nightclubs with well-known DJs and great bars. If you like funky hang-out places with a fun vibe and good food and drinks, give Frau Gerolds Garden a try. It is about a 45-minute walk from Zurich’s city centre so you may want to use local transportation or Uber. The nearby Viadukt features many locally owned artistic shops, cafes, and a food hall in a unique enjoyable atmosphere – no big brand names here.

Zurich’s main churches are located close to each other in the Old Town. Fraumünster Church, dating back almost 1,200 years, has beautiful stained glass windows. Münsterhof square in front of Fraumunster is a good place to relax and watch the world go at one of the cafes with outdoor seating. St. Peter’s Church (Peterskirche) is one of the city’s oldest churches dating back to the 9th century. Its most distinctive feature is the giant 13th-century tower clock face that is the largest in Europe at 29 feet in diameter. You can see this clock from many places in Zurich’s Old Town. The twin-towered Grossmunster Church with its large clock face has an interesting history. According to legend, Charlemagne discovered the graves of the city’s patron saints, Felix and Regula, and had a church built in the 16th century as a monastery. It was the starting point of the Swiss-German Reformation. The theological college, then annexed to the monastery, started what is now the University of Zürich. Climbing the 187 steps up the tower yields a fantastic view across the city and Lake Zurich.

When exploring Zurich, enjoying a good German-style beer garden is a treat and the Bauschanzli offers a nice experience. Located near the lake boat docks (Burkliplatz) where Lake Zurich joins the River Limmat, Bauschanzli is a miniature island in the river with a cozy beer garden under large chestnut trees. It has great views of the Old Town and river. The food and drinks are good.

The Opera House along the lake is one of Zurich’s best-known landmarks offering a range of music from traditional opera to the modern music of today. Every year it has large open-air performances, such as “Opera for All” and “Ballet for All”. Many events are held in the large plaza, Sechselauten-Platz, in front of the Opera House including a Christmas market, fairs, concerts, and a circus. Most notably, the spring Sechseläuten festival, that includes a traditional burning of the Boogg snowman to see how hot summer will be. When you visit, there might be some going on there. Zurich’s Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum), located behind the train station, is reminiscent of a fairytale castle. Inside you will find a large modern building. It has the largest collection documenting the cultural history of Switzerland (handicrafts, everyday objects, sculptures, and paintings from prehistory to the present day). It is full of interesting multimedia presentations and interactive displays taking you from the ancient origins of Switzerland to modern days. Audio guides in multiple languages are available on a rental device or via the ‘National Museum’ smartphone app. If you want to go straight to modern history that covers the world wars period, go to the “History of Switzerland” exhibition.

Zurich is located on the north end of Lake Zurich and the Limmatt River cuts through the old town so water is a big feature of Zurich city. Doing a boat cruise is a great relaxing way to see some of the city and surrounding areas. Located right in town, Lake Zurich is one of the easiest lakes in Switzerland to access. You can enjoy a boat cruise choosing from different tours (some include dining cruises) viewing the beautiful shoreline and villages.

Boarding behind the National Museum (Landesmuseum), you can do an hour-long Limmat River boat cruise viewing some of Zurich Old Town’s picturesque sites mentioned above as well as charming riverside villages. The Limmat River Cruises operate between April and October. We enjoyed the Short Lake Cruise operating from the lake boat docks at Burkliplatz where you can purchase tickets. It is a 90-minute loop around the north end of Lake Zurich going past beautiful landscape, lakeside villages, and pretty Swiss buildings. You can hop on and off the boat at any of the stops. You can also combine this cruise with a visit to the Lindt Home of Chocolate at the Kilchberg ZH stop. Meals and drinks are available on board. In addition, there is a 2.3-hour boat cruise to the historical town of Rapperswil.

We enjoyed a day excursion to beautiful Rapperswil where you can wander car-free quaint alleys of its well-preserved medieval old town, explore the medieval 13-century Schloss Rapperswil Castle, and take pleasure seeing and smelling the 15,000 rose plants in the public gardens. The boutique stores were wonderful. We enjoyed having lunch at Caffe Klatsch in the main square. Rapperswil is aptly named the ‘City of Roses’. You will find roses everywhere… do stop and ‘smell the roses’. You can find a delightful rose garden by taking Kluggasse street to the Restaurant Quellenhof next to the rose garden. We visited Rapperswill with a 36-minute train ride from Zurich train station. It can be combined with a boat cruise and train ride.

While in Zurich, Chocolate lovers should not miss the Lindt Home of Chocolate. The museum has interactive displays and tours highlighting the history and production of Lindt chocolate. It has the largest chocolate store in the world selling many types of chocolate not sold in the U.S. – bet you won’t be able resist. You will see a fantastic 30-foot-tall chocolate fountain with over a ton of chocolate being pumped throughout the day! You can also watch chocolate being made and sample some for free. Lindt Home of Chocolate is a very popular excursion in Zurich so you should book reservations well ahead. It is located about 4 miles from downtown Zurich. In addition to the lake boat cruise mentioned above, Swiss Railways offers a train to Fitchburg ZH every 15 minutes and there is a bus from Burkliplatz every 30 minutes.

For art and history, Zürich has more than 50 museums and 100 art galleries making it an attractive place for appreciating past and contemporary art. The Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum) showcases art and artifacts with pieces from Monet to Picasso. There is more to see at Kunsthaus Zurich offering one of the most important collections of art in the Switzerland as well as special exhibitions. In 2021, it opened a new wing making it Switzerland’s largest art museum.

For an adventure, consider a trip out of town to Uetliberg Mountain, a small mountain on the southwest edge of Zurich city that offers panoramic views of the city and the lake. On clear days, you can see the Swiss Alps. There are well-marked scenic hiking trails. You can take the 25-minute S10 train ride from Zurich main train station to the Uetliberg station. A 10-minute walk from this station leads to the summit, where you will discover the hotel and restaurant Uto Klum.

In summer, Lake Zurich is a paradise for sunbathers along Lake Zurich. The outdoor bathing facilities at Wollishofen, Mythenquai, Utoquai, and Tiefenbrunnen are popular. There are other spots along the lake to take a refreshing dip. For a unique experience, you can float down the river at the Oberer Letten swimming area. This official swimming area has changing rooms, toilets, food, and lots of places to lounge along a long stretch of the Limmat river.

Zurich has over 1,200 drinking fountains throughout the city allowing you to stay hydrated wherever you go and eliminating the need for single-use plastic water bottles. You can join the free walking tour of downtown Zurich which starts at Paradeplatz at 11AM. This tour is in English and gives a great overview of the main sights. Tip the tour guide at the end. In August, Zurich hosts one of Europe’s largest street carnivals, the Street Parade. Food Zurich food festival is held in early June. On Tuesdays and Fridays from 6-11, you can visit the farmer’s market at Zürich Bürkliplatz, right near the lake. It’s a great place to see local residents and seasonal produce.

Switzerland has long been known for its fine chocolate and cheese. The Swiss chocolate industry produced over 200,000 tons of chocolate worth $1.7 billion in 2018. It goes mostly to Switzerland, Germany, UK, France, and Canada. The Swiss chocolate brands make up around 40% of the world’s global chocolate production. Alpine milk sets Swiss chocolate apart. It is sourced from high-altitude farms in the Swiss mountains. Due to it being denser and less aerated, alpine milk gives Swiss chocolate a rich fragrance and an extremely milky texture. I liked Läderach Chocolate with stores in many Swiss cities, including Zurich.

Zurich is a city that combines natural beauty and cultural richness – a place that captivates and stays in your heart.

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Wayne Dunlap

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