Zurich

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48 amazing things to do in Zurich

Every guide to Zurich opens with the same landmarks, and the big ones do earn their spot. But these 48 are the places I'd actually walk you to: the icons worth your time, plus the quiet corners and viewpoints that never make the lists.

GrossmünsterFree · tower CHF 5 · 1 hour★ Tip: The church is free; only the Karlsturm climb is ticketed. 187 steps, and the view over the old town roofs and the lake is the one every Zurich photo is taken from. Directions
LindenhofFree · 30 min★ Tip: It is free, never crowded and open all hours. Come at the end of the afternoon, when the light hits the far bank and the chess games are still going. Directions
Lake ZurichFree · 2 hours★ Tip: The short round trip from Bürkliplatz is covered by a normal ZVV day ticket, so you do not need to buy a boat excursion. Sit on the right heading out for the mountain side. Directions
Get TicketsOld Town Walking Tour2 hoursTwo hours through the Altstadt with a guide: the guild houses, the Reformation, the money, and why a city this small ended up mattering this much. Directions
Old Town (Altstadt)Free · 2 hours★ Tip: Cross the river and do both banks. The right bank around Niederdorf is where people go out; the left bank around Augustinergasse and Lindenhof is where it is quiet and prettiest. Directions
FraumünsterCHF 5 · 45 min★ Tip: Photography is banned inside, which is why the room stays quiet. Go late morning when the sun is behind the choir and the windows are lit from outside. Directions
UetlibergFree with transport ticket · 3 hours★ Tip: It is on the normal ZVV network, so a day ticket covers it and there is no mountain-railway price. Take the S10 up and walk the Planetenweg ridge to Felsenegg, about two hours, then the cable car down. Directions
Get TicketsE-Bike City Tour3 hoursZurich on an electric bike, which flattens the one thing that makes the city tiring: the hills up to the terraces and out to the lakeshore. Directions
Skip the lineKunsthaus ZürichCHF 24 · 2 hours★ Tip: Wednesday is free for the permanent collection, which is one of the few genuinely free things in Zurich worth planning around. Directions
Get TicketsSwiss National MuseumCHF 13 · 2 hours★ Tip: It is a two minute walk from the main station, which makes it the right move for a long layover or a wet afternoon. Free for under-16s. Directions
BahnhofstrasseFree · 1 hour★ Tip: Walk it once for what it is and do not shop. The interesting streets are one block either side, especially Augustinergasse and the lanes climbing towards Lindenhof. Directions
ZürichhornFree · 1 hour★ Tip: Walk out along the shore from Bellevue rather than taking the tram: it is 25 minutes, entirely on the water, and it is the walk that explains why people live here. Directions
Skip the lineLindt Home of Chocolate★ 4.5 · CHF 15 · 2 hours★ Tip: The tour ends at a tasting room where you help yourself, which is the part everyone talks about. Bus 165 from Bürkliplatz gets you there in 20 minutes on a normal transport ticket. Directions
Rote FabrikFree entry · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The lakeside bar is free to sit at and is where the city's evening looks least expensive. Check the programme before going out there, it is a fifteen minute tram ride from the centre. Directions
Alter Botanischer GartenFree · 45 minutes★ Tip: The palm house is warm and open on weekday mornings, which makes this one of the better rainy-day stops in the centre. The hill under it is one of the last pieces of Zurich's old fortifications you can still walk on. Directions
BalderenFree · 15 minutes★ Tip: This is the payoff of the Planetenweg ridge walk, about 45 minutes on from the summit. If you do not want the full two-hour ridge, walk out from Uetliberg, take the view here, and turn back. Directions
BürkliplatzFree · 20 minutes★ Tip: On a clear day the Alps sit at the far end of the lake, straight south. Late afternoon is when the light lands on them; at midday the whole view flattens out and people wonder what they were supposed to be looking at. Directions
Cabaret VoltaireCHF 12 · 1 hour★ Tip: Lenin lived at Spiegelgasse 14, about thirty seconds up the same lane, at the same time the Dadaists were shouting downstairs. Walk up, read the plaque, and decide for yourself what to do with that coincidence. Directions
ChinagartenCHF 4 · 45 min★ Tip: It closes for the winter, roughly late October to March. Four francs is the cheapest ticket in Zurich and the lake path outside is free all year. Directions
FelseneggCHF 8 return · Half day★ Tip: Walk it Felsenegg to Uetliberg, not the other way round. You finish at Uetliberg where trains run every half hour, instead of finishing at a cable car with a timetable and a last departure. Directions
Skip the lineFIFA MuseumCHF 26 · 2 hours★ Tip: It is two tram stops from the main station at Enge. Worth it if football matters to you and skippable if it does not: this is not a museum that converts anyone. Directions
Flussbad Oberer LettenFree · Half day★ Tip: Walk up the deck to the top, get in there, and let the current carry you back down. The water sits around 20°C in high summer and moves faster than it looks, so keep hold of children. Directions
Frauenbad StadthausquaiCHF 8 · 2 hours★ Tip: Open roughly May to September. Bring cash and a towel, and if you are coming for the bar in the evening, the no-shoes rule is not a suggestion. Directions
Haus KonstruktivCHF 16 · 1 hour★ Tip: Entry is free on the first Sunday of the month. The reconstructed Fritz Glarner Rockefeller Dining Room is the piece to see even if the temporary show is not your thing. Directions
MoulagenmuseumCHF 5 · 45 minutes★ Tip: It opens only a couple of afternoons a week, usually Wednesday and Saturday, so check the hours before crossing the city for it. Not a stop for squeamish company. Directions
MünsterhofFree · 20 minutes★ Tip: The two grand buildings on the square are guild houses, Zunfthaus zur Meisen and zur Waag, and both work as restaurants. You can walk into the Meisen courtyard for free to see the 18th century facade close up. Directions
Museum für GestaltungCHF 12 · 1-2 hours★ Tip: The Schaudepot at the Toni-Areal is the better half for most people: it is open storage, so you see thousands of chairs, posters and objects at once instead of a curated handful. Directions
Museum RietbergCHF 18 · 1.5 hours★ Tip: The park is free and open even when the museum is not, and it is one of the quietest places in the city. Tram 7 drops you at the gate. Directions
NiederdorfFree · 1-2 hours★ Tip: The interesting parts are the side alleys, not the main drag. Spiegelgasse, Rindermarkt and Neumarkt are quieter, older, and where the bars worth your evening actually are. Directions
Opernhaus ZürichFree outside · 30 min★ Tip: Last-minute standing tickets are sold cheaply on the day, and students get a large discount. Even with no ticket, the square and the lakefront behind it are the nicest place in the centre at dusk. Directions
Pavillon Le CorbusierCHF 12 · 45 min★ Tip: It opens seasonally, roughly May to November, and is small enough for 45 minutes. From outside it is free and photographs beautifully, which is what most people come for anyway. Directions
PlatzspitzFree · 45 min★ Tip: Ten minutes from the main station and almost nobody goes. Worth knowing the history before you walk it, because the calm is the point. Directions
Polybahn and PolyterrasseCHF 1.60 · 30 minutes★ Tip: The terrace is public and never closes, so it works as a sunset spot long after the funicular stops for the night. Walk back down through the university quarter instead of riding: the stairs come out near the Niederdorf. Directions
Prime TowerFree · 45 min★ Tip: You do not need a reservation to stand at the bar, and a drink there costs less than most paid viewpoints in Europe. Go before sunset and stay for the lights. Directions
Rathaus ZürichFree outside · 20 min★ Tip: The best view is from the Gemüsebrücke bridge, looking along the water at the facade. Inside is open only on occasional public days, so treat it as a five minute stop on the riverside walk. Directions
RechberggartenFree · 30 minutes★ Tip: It sits directly on the walk between the Polyterrasse and the Grossmünster, so adding it costs you nothing but the turn. Late spring is when the roses are out. Directions
SechseläutenplatzFree · 30 minutes★ Tip: The stone steps along the lake edge are where locals eat lunch. Buy something at the Bellevue kiosks and sit facing southeast, which is the direction the mountains show up in. Directions
St. PeterFree · 45 minutes★ Tip: The church inside is free, but the tower is not open to the public. The best look at the clock is from the Münsterbrücke on the far bank, where the face and the Grossmünster towers line up in one frame. Directions
Get TicketsSwiss Finance MuseumCHF 5 · 1 hour★ Tip: Five francs, which in this city is close to free, and it explains more about Zurich than any church will. It sits by the Börse, a short tram ride from the centre. Directions
ThermengasseFree · 20 minutes★ Tip: Free, open at all hours, and almost nobody stops. Come after dark when it is lit from below, and read the panel at the Weinplatz end first so you know what you are looking down at. Directions
Uhrenmuseum BeyerCHF 10 · 45 minutes★ Tip: The entrance is easy to miss because it sits under a working shop: go into the Beyer store at Bahnhofstrasse 31 and take the stairs down. Weekday afternoons only. Directions
Urania SternwarteCHF 20 · 1 hour★ Tip: Viewings only run on booked evenings and only with clear skies, so check before crossing town. If the forecast is bad the bar upstairs is open anyway, and the view over the rooftops does not need stars. Directions
WasserkircheFree · 30 minutes★ Tip: Go in for the Augusto Giacometti stained glass, then walk two doors down into the Helmhaus. Entry there costs nothing and its top-floor windows look straight up the Limmat. Directions
Zoologisches MuseumFree · 1 hour★ Tip: There are drawers you are meant to pull open and audio stations that play animal calls, which makes this one of the very few genuinely free things in Zurich that holds a child's attention for a full hour. Directions
Zunfthaus zur MeisenFree outside · 20 min★ Tip: It sits beside the Fraumünster, so it costs you nothing to see the two together. The riverside terrace here is the best spot for a photograph of the Grossmünster towers. Directions
Zürich HauptbahnhofFree · 30 min★ Tip: The Christmas market inside the hall is one of the best in Europe. The rest of the year, the underground shopping level is the only place in Zurich open on a Sunday. Directions
Zurich ZooCHF 29 · 3 hours★ Tip: Masoala is hot and humid by design, so leave the coat in a locker. The Dolderbahn funicular up the hill is covered by your transport ticket and is the nicer way in. Directions
Zürichsee Boat TripFree with a day pass · 1-2 hours★ Tip: The short round trip (kleine Rundfahrt) is on the ZVV network, so a day pass already covers it and you pay nothing extra. The long cruises and the historic paddle steamers are separate tickets, and worth it only if you actually… Directions