21 Greatest Issues To Do In Zurich

Europe SwitzerlandFebruary 15, 2023

Zurich is Switzerland’s most populous metropolis, located within the north of the nation. 

It’s a world monetary hub, set alongside the shores of the gorgeous Lake Zurich and surrounded by hills and mountains. 

It’s an energetic metropolis, the place folks embrace nature and spend time amongst it.

It has a wonderful historic coronary heart, with excessive finish outlets, prime eating places and the peace of thoughts that nature is inside strolling distance.

Nevertheless, regardless of its repute as a centre of worldwide finance, don’t be fooled, it actually isn’t purely strait laced.

It’s a cool, inventive, buzzing and youthful metropolis – with a superb foods and drinks scene, full of life nightclubs and creative edge.

With good museums, galleries and a packed occasions calendar, it’s a metropolis which is bound to maintain you busy.

It’s additionally ideally positioned, with excellent transport connections to take advantage of the remainder of Switzerland, a lot of which might be accessed in a day journey. 

Be a part of us as we spotlight the most effective issues to do in Zurich. 

21 Greatest Issues To Do In Zurich

#1. Lake Zurich

The shores of the gorgeous Lake Zurich run straight up into the guts of town. 

It’s a focus for folks within the city all year long, however is a buzzing hive of exercise throughout the hotter months of the 12 months particularly. 

It’s an exquisite place to take a break from town’s streets, with actions for all of the household – stretching 40 kilometres lengthy and three kilometres huge, surrounded by hills and mountains. 

A should is the gorgeous promenade known as Utoquai, proper subsequent to town centre, which is lined with beautiful cafes, eating places and bars.

In the meantime, many individuals take to the lake itself – swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding and renting a ship or pedalo – even within the winter months. 

There are various peaceable parks on the metropolis finish of the lake, which make nice spots to have a picnic or sunbath.

And there’s a huge array of ferry shuttle providers, which result in different villages and cities alongside the banks of Lake Zurich. 

The lake is a serious attraction in itself and can at all times hold you busy. 

#2. River Life

We talked about that Zurich has nature at each flip and it isn’t simply Lake Zurich which attracts folks of their hundreds. 

The river which runs off the lake is a unbelievable spot to chill and chill out in the summertime months. 

An space known as The Letten is lined with picket decking and has quite a few nice bars, the place folks sunbath and funky off with dips into the close by river. 

There are quite a few spots to dive off, a waterside skatepark, basketball courts and loads of tasty eateries.

A big authorized graffiti wall additionally attracts artists in large numbers, the place you may see artwork being created as you chill out by the water.

You may as well catch DJs taking part in at a few of the native bars in the summertime months, which all collectively creates one of many coolest vibes within the metropolis. 

This space is certainly one of our favourites, significantly in summer season, nevertheless it’s additionally a pleasant spot to amble throughout the winter months too.

# 3. Historic coronary heart 

Zurich has some gorgeous historic structure and it’s throughout the community of cobbled streets across the Altstadt space the place you can find the vast majority of it.

The neighbourhood spans two sides of the Limat River, close to its mouth with Lake Zurich, filled with medieval buildings, spectacular church buildings, cute cafes and engaging eating places serving native delicacies. 

It’s unbelievable place to wander and get misplaced amongst a labyrinth of tight streets. 

The world can be residence to town’s fundamental purchasing districts, crammed with high-end outlets, cocktail bars and enjoyable squares. 

Amongst a few of the must-see websites within the space are town’s Grossmünster and Fraumünster church buildings, the Lindenhof hill, which rises up on the jap financial institution of the River Limmat, and the luxurious outlets alongside Bahnhofstrasse. 

#4. Industriequartier 

Zurich’s Industrial Quarter, simply north of the principle railway station, couldn’t be extra totally different to the historic coronary heart in Altstadt. 

That is town’s cool and artistic district, filled with road artwork and outdated warehouses which now home eating places, nightclubs, bars and exhibition areas.

One of many coolest spots within the space is the spectacular field park known as Frau Gerald’s Garten – a set of transport containers in an enormous open plan backyard filled with bars, road meals eateries, small inventive outlets 

From DJ occasions and Christmas markets to dwell bands and artwork exhibitions. 

Subsequent door you’ve one of many metropolis’s coolest nightclubs, known as Hive, which attracts main names in digital music from around the globe.

Close by you may surf on a artifical wave pool, proper within the coronary heart of town, whereas subsequent door you drink beers in a bar the place you may also play a sport of badminton. 

I feel you’re getting a really feel for the world now – it’s an eclectic mixture of extremely cool companies.

One other prime choose on this space is the Markthalle IM VIADUKT – a lined market corridor below the railway line, which has many road meals eateries, bars, eating places and gourmand meals stalls. 

Wandering across the artwork lined space you’ll additionally discover many glorious craft beer breweries, espresso roasteries, eateries and different smaller gallery areas.

It’s a spot to not miss. 

#5. Store till you drop

We briefly touched upon it earlier, Zurich is a magnet for luxurious purchasing.

Town is crammed with high-end outlets, from the style manufacturers like Louis Vuitton and Gucci, amongst a whole bunch of others, to luxurious jewelry producers, automobile producers and galleries promoting superb artwork.

Town’s Bahnhofstrasse, in Altstadt, has been named as one of the costly and unique purchasing streets on earth, operating greater than 1 kilometre from Lake Zurich to town’s fundamental railway station.

In the meantime, elsewhere within the metropolis, you can find 100s upon 100s of different smaller style boutiques and lots of excessive road names promoting extra reasonably priced gadgets.

It’s actually price bringing your purse and pockets out with you on a wander round Zurich’s metropolis centre.

#6. Go mountain climbing 

The Swiss are obsessed with their mountain climbing. 

The nation is a hiker’s paradise, with infinite pure magnificence, gorgeous excessive peaks and dense forest.

You don’t must enterprise removed from Zurich’s metropolis centre to seek out lovely strolling territory. 

There are hills and mountains surrounding town, and the remainder of Lake Zurich, with routes for all skills. 

One among our favorite areas is Uetliberg, a mountain to the south of Zurich, which rises as much as 868m proper out the again of residential neighbourhoods. 

#7. Uetliberg

Zurich’s Uetliberg mountain is a superb escape from the busy metropolis streets. 

As we talked about, it’s tremendous accessible, rising straight as much as the south of town, solely a 15 minute stroll from the busy purchasing streets and the shores of Lake Zurich.

The entire mountain facet is criss-crossed with many kilometres of fantastic mountain climbing trails, which meander their means by dense woodland, rising as much as the highest of the mountain.

From the highest of Uetliberg you’ve panoramic views throughout the entire metropolis, Lake Zurich and the encircling mountains.

It’s a wonderful spot, with cafes and a bar on the prime, and in winter the snow-covered mountain climbing trails are remodeled into sledding tracks – so you may whizz down the mountainside. 

From the highest you may then hike additional south throughout the hills to smaller villages behind town.

And in the event you can’t handle the hike up, don’t fear, there’s a prepare which runs to the highest from Zurich’s central railway station (Zurich HB).

#8. Catch a ship

The shores of Lake Zurich are lined with boats of all sizes and shapes – from large public ferries which result in different villages and cities, to smaller pleasure crafts to lease on a summer season’s day.

We advocate going out and getting on the lake, taking a visit to one of many close by villages or having a spin across the lake in a rental boat or on a guided tour. 

There are various spots to lease boats, proper subsequent to the guts of town centre. 

It’s a stunning strategy to get a really feel for the remainder of Lake Zurich and see town from a distinct perspective. 

You may as well discover one of many metropolis’s greatest currywurst stalls, proper subsequent to the ferry port. 

#9. Artwork & Museums

Zurich is without doubt one of the inventive hearts of Switzerland and has a vibrant cultural scene. 

One spot, which might’t be missed, is town’s Kunsthaus, the biggest artwork museum in Switzerland, which has works by the likes of Monet, Picasso and Van Gough. 

It additionally hosts many non permanent exhibitions all year long, showcasing extra trendy items. 

The Swiss Nationwide Museum can be an awesome place to go to to get a grasp of Swiss historical past by the ages.

In the meantime, in the event you’re in search of a extra trendy cultural twist, then the Migros Museum of Up to date Artwork is a superb spot– it’s garnered a global repute for its ahead pondering and ever-changing collections. 

#10. Summer season surf within the metropolis

Though Zurich may be very a lot landlocked, it has a sizeable browsing neighborhood and town has its very personal artifical wave within the Industriequartier, known as City Surf.

It’s solely open in the summertime months, nevertheless it’s a superb place to hone your browsing expertise or simply chill out with a beer as you watch folks take to the wave.

There’s an onsite café and you may lease tools on the surf centre. 

An effective way to spend a summer season’s afternoon and the encircling space is stuffed to the brim with nice locations to eat and drink. 

#11. Go to a badi 

Water is massively vital to many individuals in Zurich, which you may anticipate with an unlimited lake on the metropolis’s door. 

The entire metropolis is crammed with public swimming spots and swimming pools, some which you need to pay a small quantity to make use of and others that are free. 

From lakeside amenities, with diving boards into the lakes, to public lidos within the coronary heart of town’s busy neighbourhoods, they actually nail public swimming areas in Zurich. 

We’ve already talked about certainly one of our favorite spots, alongside the river, however there are a lot of others.

Strandbad Mythenquai, on the southern shore of Lake Zurich, is a superb spot to get pleasure from a summer season’s day, with a soothing park, numerous diving boards, paddleboard rental and lots of beautiful dipping spots. 

Strandbad Tiefenbrunnen on the northern facet of Lake Zurich is one other glorious spot – it has an awesome park to sunbath in, waterslides, pontoons out within the lake and lots of different nice amenities. 

Those we’ve talked about is barely scratching the floor, you’ll find spots of all sizes and shapes everywhere in the metropolis. 

#12. Go biking

Regardless of Switzerland’s mountainous repute, Zurich is definitely a largely flat metropolis. 

Town is nicely set-up for biking, with a superb protected lane infrastructure and safe lock-up amenities.

It’s a great way to get frequented with town correctly too, relatively than sticking simply to public transport, and there are many locations to lease bikes for reasonably priced costs.

The shores of Lake Zurich are additionally lined with nice cycle lanes, a great way to get some train in and see extra of town. 

#13. Ice hockey

Zurich has its very personal skilled ice hockey crew and a brand-new stadium, the place town’s Zürcher Schlittschuh Membership Lions play their matches.

The facet’s residence matches aren’t to be missed, with excessive octane motion and a buzzing surroundings. 

The membership play their matches on the Swiss Life Area, within the north-west of town, close to Altstetten station, with the season operating between September and March. 

#14. Soccer tradition 

Soccer has an enormous place in Zurich too. 

Town has two skilled soccer golf equipment, who play their matches on the Stadion Letzigrund.

FC Zurich and Grasshoppers not solely function within the native home prime division, however generally function in all-European competitions too.

The native derbies are video games which it is best to leap on the probability of seeing, with passionate native followers organising vibrant shows, full with fireworks earlier than matches.

Town can be residence to the FIFA Museum, which drew 400,000 soccer followers to it in 2022, to see its huge collections of soccer memorabilia, interactive soccer video games and lots of different soccer associated exhibitions. 

#15. Avenue artwork 

Zurich has a rising road artwork scene, with an rising variety of giant scale murals adorning the edges of buildings. 

The scene is most vibrant across the hip Industriequartier, the place you may’t go far with out seeing an instance of town’s creativity on the partitions. 

There are additionally a variety of authorized portray places, the place you may commonly see graffiti artists taking to the partitions, significantly alongside the banks of the river across the Letten.

A lot of town’s streets, across the extra trendy areas, are adorned with vibrant work and there’s a neighborhood road artwork tour, which affords a guided expertise that will help you perceive town’s portray tradition.

#16. Snowboarding & snowboarding 

Switzerland is within the coronary heart of the Alps and is a rustic filled with monumental mountains.

You may attain unbelievable snowboarding areas from Zurich in an hour and a half on the prepare.

It means you may hit the slopes in a easy day journey and make it again to get pleasure from dinner within the metropolis. 

Few European cities have such great entry or transport connections to prime notch snowboarding territory.

It isn’t uncommon to see folks on native trams in Zurich metropolis centre sporting their snowboarding or snowboarding gear.

#17. Massive occasions

Zurich has a packed occasion’s calendar, with main occasions during the 12 months.

Listed below are a few of our favourites:

#18. Christmas Markets 

Zurich actually nails Christmas, with a lot of enchanting Christmas markets, filled with regionally produced festive items, glorious meals and festive bars. 

There are quite a few markets dotted across the metropolis over the festive interval. 

#19. Zurich Avenue Parade

Each August greater than 1 million folks go to Zurich for an unlimited techno and digital music occasion by town’s streets. 

It often runs on the second Saturday of August with DJs from around the globe taking part in to very large crowds across the metropolis. 

#20. Züri Fäscht

A big 2 day music pageant in July, with greater than 2 million music followers visiting town to observe bands and DJs across the metropolis.

It’s accompanied by giant fireworks shows and different occasions.

#21. Zurich Marathon

Each April tens of hundreds of runners, together with the world’s greatest, come to town to tackle town’s marathon.

The 26.2 mile loop takes in a big a part of town and across the lovely Lake Zurich. 

Closing Ideas

Zurich is a wonderful and full of life metropolis in an unimaginable setting. 

There are few European cities which supply such glorious entry to nature, with mountains, forests, lakes and waterways throughout.

But the place additionally affords a lot buzzing metropolis life too – with unbelievable outlets, museums, nightlife, eating places and a full of life occasion’s calendar. 

Zurich is much from a uninteresting monetary hub, it’s an unimaginable thrilling and numerous metropolis, with luggage of creativity and tradition.

We love Zurich and hope to see you by the lake, within the hills or on town’s streets quickly.