Switzerland Guide
Zürich
Not so long ago, Zürich was famed chiefly for being the cleanest, most icily efficient city in Europe: apocryphal stories abound from the 1970s of the calm and order of the midweek lunch hour in the financial district, of tourists embarking on efforts to find a cigarette butt or an empty crisp packet discarded on the streets – and drawing a blank every time. Things have changed. If you live in a big city yourself and are tiring of Switzerland's picture-perfect country towns, visiting Zürich will be like coming home: finally you can walk on crowded, multi-ethnic streets, buy a kebab, get a drink after midnight and feel a lived-in urban buzz.
Zürich hosts the world's most important market for trading gold and precious metals, and boasts the fourth-largest stock market, after New York, London and Tokyo. Exceptional affluence tends to define the area these days and yet, despite its wealth and status as Switzerland's biggest city (population 360,000), Zürich is not a flashy place at all. The ghost of the bible-thumping Reformer Huldrych Zwingli still stands at the shoulder of the bankers, industrialists and business people who live and breathe the city's ingrained Protestant work ethic – yet it's the freedom of thought that Zwingli encouraged which continually bubbles to the surface. Wry Zürchers like to make much of how apt it is that you have to tut, purse your lips and clear your throat just to say the city's name (tsoorikh in dialect), but they're deliberately pandering to a long-outdated stereotype.
You're likely to find plenty to keep you occupied in this most beautiful of cities, poised astride the River Limmat, adorned with over a thousand medieval and modern fountains, and turned towards the Zürichsee, a lake so crystal-clear the Swiss authorities have certified its water safe to drink. The medieval Old Town, characterized by the steep, cobbled alleys and attractive, small-scale architecture of the Niederdorf district, comprises a substantial part of the city centre and is perfect for exploratory wanderings. With a handful of medieval churches to take in, including the mighty Grossmünster and graceful Fraumünster, the superb Kunsthaus art gallery and the most engaging café culture in German-speaking Switzerland, you could easily spend days here.
Highlights
1 Grossmünster Zürich's "Great Minster", from where Zwingli preached the Reformation.
2 Kunsthaus World-class gallery of art, unmissable if only for the vast array of works by Alberto Giacometti.
3 Chagall windows Marc Chagall's breathtaking stained glass in the lofty choir of the Fraumünster will have you spellbound.
4 Uetliberg Steep-sided ridge rising above the city, with stunning views and wooded walking trails.
5 Zürich West Hotbed of the city's counterculture, centred on the buzzing Langstrasse.
6 Café Schober Lacy, old-fashioned confectioner and tearoom that could bring out the little old lady in anyone.
7 Blinde Kuh Quirky, highly successful restaurant where you eat in complete darkness.
8 The Zürichsee An easy escape from the city is by boat for the short trip to the "City of Roses", Rapperswil.
Uetliberg
One of the best short trips out of Zürich is to the hill of Uetliberg, a twenty-minute train ride away and a favoured getaway for the locals to do a spot of sledding (winter) or picnicking (summer). Uetliberg – popularly known in dialect as "Üezgi" – is also one end of a popular hiking route, running about two hours south along a forested ridge overlooking the lake to Felsenegg, from where a cable car can deliver you 300m down to Adliswil village to catch a train back to Zürich. Swiss Pass and ZürichCARD holders travel free; otherwise, press *131 on the ticket machine for an all-inclusive day-pass ("AlbisTageskarte") or 8138 for a ticket to Uetliberg only.
From Zürich HB, S-Bahn trains depart at least every half-hour to Uetliberg. At the tiny end station, an information hut stocks a free hiking map of the area identifying plenty of trails. The trail which begins at Uetliberg station is dubbed the Planetenweg (Planet Path), and features models of the planets on a scale of 1:1 billion, with the distances between them also to scale. From the station, it's about a ten-minute walk uphill to the summit.
From the top of the summit's 30m viewing tower, which boosts your altitude to 900m, there are terrific 360-degree views over Zürich, the whole curve of the lake and, on a clear day, east into Austria and as far southwest as the Jungfrau. Also on the summit is the Uto Kulm hotel and restaurant, a handy spot for refreshment. The panoramic walking route from Uto Kulm to Felsenegg and beyond passes another couple of restaurants. A cable car (daily: May– Sept 8am–10pm; Oct– April 9am–8pm) runs every fifteen minutes between Felsenegg and Adliswil, from where it's less than ten minutes' walk to Adliswil train station.
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