The district at the rightside of Limmat River is the financial area of the city, with the dark grey Stock Exchange ( the forth of the world), some skyscrapers and the Bahnofstrasse, the centre of the shopping area with luxury brands and the unfailing Swiss jewelries. A quiet place close to the Stock Exchange, that seems to be a protected area far from the city chaos is the Old Botanic Garden with also this curious water polo pool.
Walking along Bahnofstrasse then you reach the area of Lindenhof, a sort of big terrace good to take some nice pictures
and especially the most famous cathedral of Zurich, Grossmunster.
From Lindenhof you get to the oldest church, St. Peter, with one of the largest clocks of the world, built in 857.
The big surprise was to find in such an old church Baroque decorations:
After that you cross a district with little streets and coloured houses
to reach another important landmark, the Fraumunster church, originally a monastery for women, and now property of the city, with its kloister.
Then you get to the Burkiplatz, where the Limmat river flows into the Zurichsee…unfortunately the weather was not that good otherwise the sightseeing would have been fantastic (lake, hills and mountains).
Impressive the number of swans and ducks…
Before crossing the Quaibrucke, my digital camera battery was down so I had to take some pics with my fiel mobile phone, the Samsung BT-G3410…but also the mobile phone battery was almost down too and I could not take so many pics. It was a real pity as I was getting to the most beautiful part of the city. The first thing you can see is the Operahaus, the theater.
Going from the Opera towards the main station you find little streets like this
and then the Romanesque Grossmunster cathedral with the famous two neogothic towers,
the church on the water (Wasserkirche) and the Town Hall (Rathaus).
The Oberdorf district is plenty of old aristocratic and medieval houses
Map: click on the top left to see the days and/or on the top right to enlarge the map.
Where to sleep:
- Budget accomodation: Walhalla Guest House, located really close to the central railway station, breakfast included, prices around 140 Euros per night per double room. Please consider that Switzerland is expensive and the prices are higher than other European countries.
- If you prefer spend less, you can consider an hostel like the Youth Hostel Zurich, not so central but you can easily take the tram 7 and reach the real heart of the city in 10 minutes. Prices in a 4 bed dorms are around 40 Euros per person.
- Medium budget: Hotel Marta, nice hotel at just 5 minutes walk from the central railway station, breakfast included, prices around 165 Euros per night per double room.
- Luxury accomodation: Hotel Schweizerhof Zurich, located along the exclusive Bahnhofstrasse, soundproofed rooms with electrically adjustable beds, breakfast includes, prices from 360 Euros per night per double room.
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Enjoyed the article, Marco. A decade ago I wrote an article on the perception of Zurich as a dull business center, when actually it's really charming.Mike Quane
Hi Mike! thanks for your comment! Before visiting the city, I was expecting what was your perception…and I realized that Zurich is not only a cold business center. Especially the leftside of the city is really lively and charming. A guy from Bern, that lived in Zurich, told me they are investing to make it even more attractive and plenty of events.
Suiza, muy muy bonita, pero muy cara, expensive