Best things to do in Zurich

The church was built from the middle of the 9th century on the opposite side of the river to the Grossmünster. Today, many visitors are attracted by the five stained glass windows prepared by Marc Chagall in the 1960’s as well as by the the rosette in the south transept. Another significant glass window is "The Heavenly Paradise" (1945) by Augusto Giacometti, the uncle of the famous Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti, in the north transept.

With 5793 pipes, the organ in the Fraumünster Church is the largest in the Canton of Zurich. A cycle of frescos by Paul Bodmer depicts the legend of the founding of the monastery and of the city's patron saints Felix and Regula.

The Uetliberg is particularly popular in November, as its summit is often above the blanket of fog that can cover the city at this time of year. In the winter, the hiking trails to the summit are converted into sledding runs.

In summer, there’s plenty to discover on well-marked hiking routes, a mountain bike route, and on the Planet Trail. This hour-and-a-half to two-hour walk from Uetliberg to the Felsenegg cableway in Adliswil takes you on a fascinating tour through a model of our solar system.

Directions: The S10 line of the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Railway SZU runs from Zurich main station to Uetliberg station, ten minutes walk from the summit.

Strung along it like pearls on a necklace are department stores, boutiques and jewellery shops; the further you stroll towards the lake, the more exclusive the shops become. The Paradeplatz is the heart of the Bahnhofstrasse and serves as an important tram junction close to Lake Zurich. Since the major Swiss banks set up their headquarters here, the Paradeplatz has made a name for itself as Switzerland’s biggest money-handling centre. Along the way, alleys such as Rennweg and Augustinergasse lead off into the picturesque Old Town.

With everything from substantive legacies of art and crafts to ordinary everyday objects, the museum reveals the life of the Swiss, from prehistory to the present. Special exhibitions focus on socially relevant issues, offering a temporary change of perspective. Gustav Gull built the Swiss National Museum in 1898 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first federal constitution. The museum building, set between the main train station and the Platzspitz Park, is reminiscent of a fairytale castle.

Temporary exhibitions can regularly be seen at the Swiss National Museum. They pick up on historical, cultural or socially relevant topics and are supplemented with debates, lectures, readings or workshops. The museum offers e-guides, electronic quizzes and mobile tables where objects can be touched.

E-guide

The e-guide is available in the “National Museum” smartphone app or on a special device you can hire from the Welcome Desk. It guides you to selected exhibits in German, French, Italian, English, Mandarin or Russian. The app is also available in Swiss-German sign language for people with hearing impairments.

In the first half of the 16th century, the Grossmünster served as the starting point of the Reformation under Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger. The characteristic tops of its neo-Gothic towers were added by Johann Caspar Voegeli and John Hagge Mille from 1781 to 1787. Between 1913 and 1915 the interior renovations were completed by Gustav Gull and Hermann Fietz.

Particularly worth seeing are the glass windows by Sigmar Polke, the Romanesque crypt, the Romanesque capitals in the church and cloister, the stained glass windows by Augusto Giacometti (1932), the bronze doors by Otto Münch (1935 and 1950), and the Reformation museum in the cloister. Guided tours are available.

The so-called Karlsturm is one of the two Grossmünster towers of this famous Zurich landmark. 187 stairs lead from the nave up to the tower vantage point – from where visitors have bird’s-eye views over the Zurich rooftops and lake as well as majestic Alpine summits on the horizon.

The Zoo Zürich is a zoo located in Zürich, Switzerland and is considered as one of the best zoos in Europe. Opened in 1929, it accumulated a collection of 2,200 specimens of 300 species by its seventy-fifth year. It is located on Zürichbergstrasse, on the lower reaches of the Zürichberg in the Fluntern quarter.

One of its popular events is the penguin parade, which is performed daily after noon if the outside temperature is below ten degrees Celsius.

The most famous attractions are the Asian elephant exhibit and Masoala Hall, which are inside of a large dome. Guests can even view elephants from underwater. They are also known as the only and first European institution to successfully breed Galápagos tortoises. Over the course of the years, the Zürich attraction has sent the baby tortoises to more than two dozen other zoos. In 2005 the zoo discovered that the seven lemurs caught in Andasibe thought to be mouse lemurs were actually a new species later named Goodman mouse lemur.

The zoo made international headlines in July 2020 when a Siberian tiger mauled a zookeeper to death in front of members of the public.

Lake Zürich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zürich or Zürichsee can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Seedamm at Rapperswil, whilst the part upstream of Rapperswil may be called the Obersee or Upper Lake.