Zürich

Introduction

Zurich

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Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and is considered the cultural and commercial centre of the country. Set up as a tax collecting town during the 1st century AD of the Roman Empire. The city slowly grew into a major center and in 1351 it joined the Swiss Confederation, although it was expelled from the federation from 1440 to 1451. The city kept growing and was spared most of the savages of both World Wars because of Swiss neutrality.

Today the city is home to great churches, museums and stunning culture. There are several city wide festivals that are worth checking out. From 2006 to 2008 this global city was named one of the best cities to live because of a great quality of life.

Districts

• Altstadt is the 1st district and is around the old town, which crosses both side of the Limmat River.
• District 2 is on the west side of Lake Zürich.
• Wiedikon is District 3
• Aussersihl is District 4
• Industriequartier is District 5
• District 6
• District 7
• Riesbach is District 8 and is on the eastern side of Lake Zürich
• District 9
• District 10
• District 11
• Schwamendingen

Sights and Activities

Grossmünster

The Grossmünster is an amazing Romanesque-style church and was extremely important place during the Protestant Reformation. The church was built in its present from in 1220 to add to the cities impressive architecture. In 1520 Huldrych Zwingli started the Swiss-German Reformation at this church and set the president for many changes for the church, such as the abandonment of lent, replacement of the Mass, disavowal of celibacy, eating meat on fast days and a band on church music.

Other Churches

• The Fraumünster Abbey was originally built in 853 with several additions added later. The distinctive tall bell tower and the 5 Marc Chagall windows cannot be missed.
• St. Peters is a wonderful church that is home to the world's largest church clock face in the world.

Museums

• Museum Barengasse is a museum dedicated to the 17th history legacy of the city.
• Kunsthaus Zürich is one of the best art museums in Europe and has a great collection ranging from the Middle Ages to Contemporary Art.
• Museum Rietberg is an art museum dedicated to the arts of Asia, Africa, America and Oceania.
• Museum Bellerive is dedicated to fasion, architecture and design. The musuem is located on a villa on the beach of Lake Zurich.
• Kunsthalle Zurich -
• Migros Museum is dedicated to modern and avant-garde international art.
• Museum of Design Zurich -
• Swiss National Museum is a history and art musuem.
• Johann Jacobs Museum is a history museum dedicated to fine colonial food and coffee.
• Johanna Spyri Museum -
• Haus Konstruktiv is dedicated to constructive, concrete and conceptual art and design
• NOMAN is the North American Native Museum and will reopen February 8th, 2009.
• Museum of the History of Medicine
• Uhrenmuseum Beyer is dedicated to the hisotry of timekeeping and timekeepers.

Other Sights and Activities

• Lindenhof is the site of a Roman and medieval castle.
• The Guild Houses are located along the river downstream of the Grossmunster.
• The Old Town is a great place to explore on both sides of the river
• Bahnofstrasse is the main shopping street in Zurich.
• Parade-Platz is a stunning plaza and the centre for financial activity in the country.
• Lake Zurich is a wonderful lake and great green space.
• Fluntern Cemetery
• Zurich Opera House is a wonderful opera house and one of the most famous in the world.

Events and Festivals

• The Zürich Street Parade is one of the largest street parades in the world and a popular attraction for techno music fans.
• Sechseläuten is a large festival sponsored by the guild houses. The festival is held every year in April and features the burning of the Böögg.
• Zürcher Theater Spektakel is an international theater festival.
• Kunst Zürich is an international contemporary art fair.

Weather

The warmest months are June to August with most of the rain happening during these months. Temperatures are between 23 °C and 25 °C. The coldest months are from November to March, between 2 °C and 5 °C during the day, -3 °C at night. Zurich is wetter than many other parts of the country, with especially much rain in summer. Some snow is possible in winter.

Getting There

By Plane

Zürich Airport (IATA: ZHR, ICAO: LASZH) is also known as Kloten Airport and is located 10 kilometres from the city. It is Switzerland's largest airport and hub for Swiss International Air Lines. It is possible to fly to every major and minor airport in Europe and most international destinations from here. There is a train station located under the airport making for quick and easy connections to the city.

To/from the airport
Zürich Airport railway station is located underneath the terminal. There are trains to many parts of Switzerland. There are frequent S-Bahn Zürich services on the lines S2, S3 and S16 and of the Glatttalbahn (Zürich tram line 10). Also, there are direct InterRegio and InterCity services to Winterthur, Bern, Basel, Brig, Sankt Gallen, Lucerne and Konstanz in Germany. It also has EuroCity services to Munich in Germany. By changing trains at Zürich Hauptbahnhof most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours.

By Train

The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) website has more details about schedules and prices.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof is the main train station in Zürich and handles more then 2,700 trains daily with more then 340,000 passengers a day. The station was originally opened in 1847 and has only grown. Tram lines 4, 11, 13 and 14 have stops at this train station. The large mall underneath the train station is a good place to go on sundays because it stays open and busy while the rest of the city tends to shut down.

Drink

For the best nightlife hit up the area of Niederdorf in the oldtown and Lanstrasse in the 4th and 5th district. Areas that are becoming more popular are Zürich West in the 5th district near the Escher-Wyss swuare and S-Bahn Station of Hardbrucke.

Sleep

Budget

Learn

• University of Zürich was founded in 1833 and has over 24,000 students. It is an excellent university and great place to study.
• Zürich University of Applied Sciences

Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Swiss Post is the national postal service of Switzerland and has fast and reliable services. For more information about prices to send postcards, letters and parcels, both domestically as well as internationally, they have a very useful Price Calculator. Domestically, there is priority mail (arriving the following day) and economy mail which takes 2-3 days to be send within Switzerland. Stamps can be bought at the post offices or from shops and kiosks that also sell postcards. In general, post offices are open from 8:00am to noon and 2:00pm to 5:00 or 6:00pm, with a lunchbreak in between. Opening times on Saturdays are usually only during mornings. Larger cities and central post offices might keep longer hours and skp the lunchbreak.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website
• Zürich Tourism Website