Zurich is often mistaken for the capital of Switzerland. While Bern holds that title, Zurich is the largest city in the country. Most people tend to remark on how expensive Zurich is, but after traveling through northern Norway, I didn’t find the prices quite as shocking! The city is built around the Limmat River, which flows through the heart of Zurich and is surrounded by restaurants, museums, historic buildings, and some of the city’s most famous landmarks.
I spent a few nights in Zurich, so I often found myself walking along the Limmat River. Above is a photo I took during the day from one of the many bridges crossing the river, while below is the same area at night. It’s an incredibly picturesque part of the city and probably even better during the spring or summer than at the end of winter when I visited. Hotels in the center were also expensive, so I stayed a little farther out in the suburbs and used public transportation to get around.
This photo was taken at Paradeplatz, one of the most famous squares in downtown Zurich and the heart of the city’s financial district. Several major Swiss banks have historically had a presence around the square, and the surrounding streets are also filled with luxury shops and some of the most expensive real estate in the city.
Paradeplatz and the surrounding shopping streets are home to extremely high-end fashion stores, jewelers, and art galleries. I wasn’t exactly shopping in this price range, but walking around and looking at some of the price tags was entertaining enough. Clothing, handbags, and artwork could easily cost thousands of dollars.
This photo is from one of the art businesses in downtown Zurich. Things were so expensive that it was hard for me to imagine there being a constant supply of customers. I remember seeing a small piece of artwork that looked like a golden snail decorated with jewels, and its price tag was more than $3,000.
One of the most interesting museums I visited was the Swiss National Museum, or Landesmuseum. The museum itself is an impressive building that almost resembles a castle. I hadn’t even planned on visiting it, but happened to see it from a distance and my curiosity led me inside.
The Swiss National Museum covers an enormous range of Swiss history. There are artifacts, tapestries, paintings, weapons, and countless other historical objects on display. One room was beautifully decorated with large stained-glass windows, while other exhibits covered much darker subjects such as religious persecution, witch trials, and methods of torture used during Europe’s past.
One of the best dioramas I’ve ever seen was here at the Swiss National Museum. It depicts the Battle of Morat, fought in 1476 between the forces of Charles the Bold of Burgundy and the Swiss Confederacy. Charles suffered a devastating defeat against the Swiss, one of several setbacks that helped bring an end to his ambitions in the region. The amount of detail in the enormous battle scene made this one of the museum exhibits that stood out most to me.
It’s impossible to cover more than a small part of the museum, but another display that caught my attention depicted the story of Felix and Regula. According to Christian tradition, Felix and Regula were persecuted for their faith and eventually executed in Zurich. Legend says that after being beheaded, they picked up their own heads and walked to the place where they wished to be buried.
Back in the heart of Zurich you’ll find the Grossmünster, one of the city’s most recognizable churches. Construction began around the 12th century, and the church later became especially important during the Swiss Reformation. Its twin towers remain one of the defining landmarks of Zurich’s skyline.
The Grossmünster is the most famous church I saw in Zurich, but this church above also caught my attention while I was passing by on a train. Known as Kirche Enge, it sits prominently on a hill and stood out because of its architecture and elevated location overlooking the surrounding neighborhood.
I really loved the architecture in Zurich. Many of the buildings seemed remarkably consistent, with narrow multistory structures painted in different shades of white, blue, and other light colors. Even ordinary streets had the clean and picturesque appearance I had come to associate with Switzerland.
In many large cities, the attractive architecture disappears once you leave downtown, but Zurich seemed different. I stayed several tram stops away from the center in a residential neighborhood, and even there everything seemed well maintained and picturesque. I took this photo one morning while looking from my room across the rooftops of the neighboring houses.
Since I stayed south of downtown, I regularly used Zurich’s trains and trams to get around. Switzerland has an excellent public transportation system, and getting between my neighborhood, downtown, and eventually the airport was easy. While walking through the city I also spotted the Fondue Tram below, which combines sightseeing with one of Switzerland’s most famous foods.
I visited Zurich in March. It definitely wasn’t warm yet, but temperatures were comfortable enough for people to begin eating outside again. Zurich certainly has no shortage of expensive restaurants, but I also found plenty of casual places where you could grab a sandwich or meal without completely destroying your travel budget.
Of course, Switzerland is famous for its chocolate. I’ve bought chocolate and truffles while traveling through Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland, and Zurich has no shortage of shops where you can try them.
I did a free city tour organized through my hostel and met another American traveler there. After the tour we continued exploring Zurich together when we suddenly heard yelling and chanting nearby. Around the corner we found a large demonstration filling the street with banners, signs, and even some pyrotechnics.
I saw images of Barbara Kistler being carried by some of the demonstrators. Kistler was a Swiss left-wing activist from Zurich who later became involved with a communist organization in Turkey, where she was killed in the early 1990s. Some people in the demonstration carried communist symbols and banners connected to left-wing political causes. It was certainly one of the more unexpected things I came across while wandering through Zurich.
Tesla cars were still a relatively new sight when I visited Zurich, so seeing a showroom caught my attention. At the time, the large touchscreen and minimalist interior seemed extremely futuristic compared with most cars on the road. Switzerland seemed like a natural market for electric vehicles given the country’s wealth and interest in environmentally friendly technology.
A definite must-visit place in Zurich is Uetliberg, the mountain rising just outside the city. It’s easily accessible by train and provides a completely different perspective of Zurich. Above is the city viewed from Uetliberg. Zurich is exceptionally beautiful at street level, although from a distance on a gray winter day it admittedly looked a little less dramatic!
Uetliberg reaches about 2,851 feet (869 meters). Even though Zurich itself was free of snow when I visited, there was still plenty covering the mountain. My friend and I hiked around the area for a while, although I was still somewhat limited by a hip injury from several months earlier. There are plenty of trails around Uetliberg, and after our short hike we stopped at a restaurant on the mountain for a well-earned beer.
One of the highlights of Uetliberg is the observation tower at the summit. The top is where I took my photo overlooking Zurich, but even more impressive are the views toward the Swiss Alps. At the time I had no plans to climb any of those mountains, but just six months later I returned to Switzerland and attempted to climb the Matterhorn, one of the most recognizable mountains in the world.
While exploring Zurich at night with my friend, we came across the Zurich Opera House. Outside were about a dozen expensive cars sitting with their engines running and lights on, apparently waiting to take guests away after a performance. Neither of us knew exactly what was happening, but it seemed like an appropriately luxurious scene for Zurich. The opera house itself dates back to the late 19th century and remains one of the city’s major cultural landmarks.
