Explore a bit of Zurich. Switzerland, the first stop on a month long adventure.
Why start in Zurich?
For starters, I’ve always wanted to visit Switzerland. However, Switzerland is super expensive for a European country, at least for hotels. So, I’ve waited until now. Plus, I got a good air miles deal to fly into Zurich and back to the US via Munich. So, Zurich it was.
Zurich was a whole lot more adorable than I thought it would be. It had a lot of older buildings and some winding streets. Even though Switzerland is a very modern country, it still has a lot of charm even in the bigger cities. It did help that the country avoided WWII for the most part. There were a few “accidental” bombings during the war, though.
Since I flew into Zurich from the United States, I was extremely tired on my first day. That didn’t stop me from walking around for a good six miles. I took a very expensive (the trains are also expensive, almost as bad as the UK) day trip to Bern on my second day (next post). I continued my explorations of Zurich again on the third day.
Zurich is pretty chill for being Switzerland’s largest city. It sits on the north side of the finger lake-like Lake Zurich (Zürichsee). The city was founded by the Ancient Romans about 2,000 years ago. Germanic tribes would later settle in the area, which is why a German dialect is spoken there today. Huldrych Zwingli would start the Swiss Protestant Reformation in the 1520s in the city’s main church.
Now for a bit of exploration of Zurich’s Old Town.
Jana Irving The Limmat divides Old Town Zurich. The river is so clear that you can see the bottom.
Jana Irving View of the Limmat in the other direction.
Jana Irving Grossmünster (“great minster”) dominates the skyline of Zurich. It’s kind of a weird building. It was built partially on a hill, making it appear even grander. There is no front entrance to the church; you enter via a side door. The top portion of the towers are around 300 or so years younger than the bottom.
Jana Irving It was a bit confusing on how to get up here.
Jana Irving Grossmünster is now a fairly plain Protestant church.
Jana Irving This is one of the least weird stained-glass windows.
Jana Irving Just up the street is the gothic Kulturhaus Helferei, a cultural venue.
Jana Irving Cute little Spiegelgasse Platz.
Jana Irving A narrow shopping street.
Jana Irving I may have eaten lunch next to that fountain.
Jana Irving A random blue cow painted with a Zurich scene on a balcony. No idea why.
Jana Irving Back along the river, just looking in the opposite direction.
Jana Irving A cute riverside building.
Jana Irving More river side buildings.
Jana Irving Now on a rather wide bridge, the Rathausbrücke, with the Rathaus (Town Hall), built in the late 17th century, on the left.
Jana Irving Another fantastic Zurich fountain.
Jana Irving Another view of the Rathaus.
Jana Irving Another one of Zurich’s prominent steeples, Fraumünster.
Jana Irving The Fraumünster overlooks the plaza that holds the annual Christmas market.
Jana Irving The Fraumünster used to be part of a monastery. It was later pulled down and replaced with the Stadthaus (some sort of government building) in 1898. However, they did build a small ornamental cloister between the buildings.
Jana Irving The Limmat meets Lake Zurich at the Quaibrücke, where you can catch a scenic boat ride or, maybe, a ferry?
Jana Irving The Quaibrücke also has a great view in the other direction, as well.
Jana Irving Now for Day 3 (went to Bern on Day 2). It was a drizzly morning.
Jana Irving The west side of the Limmat is super adorable.
Jana Irving It took me a few tries to get this photo. First, it was recycling day, so there was paper and boxes piled everywhere. Then, a delivery van was filling up with flowers. Finally on my third time through, I was finally able to get the shot.
Jana Irving Another little plaza with a fountain. Zurich seemed to have a lot of those.
Jana Irving Very cute.
Jana Irving Another a fountain. Not a surprise, but this one has a quite a view.
Jana Irving The Lindenhof is a large, leafy plaza that overlooks the city.
Jana Irving An interesting corner near the river.
Jana Irving I spent at least a couple of hours at the very neo-Gothic Swiss National Museum.
Jana Irving The museum has a bunch of period rooms that you can enter. This room is a combination living/dining/bedroom from Wiggen Castle from 1582.
Jana Irving Another room had a ridiculously large tiled heating stove, also from the 16th century.
Jana Irving After the Swiss National Museum, I went to the Kunsthaus (art museum), which was having a free day. I may have this Van Gogh on a pillow.
Jana Irving I still had a bit of time before headed out of town, so I took a walk along Lake Zurich.
Jana Irving It was super windy out on what is called the Zürichhorn, a little bump of land that sticks out into the lake.
Jana Irving As I was heading back, I found this lovely little Chinese garden.
Jana Irving Unexpected and cute.
Jana Irving A surprising fantastic find at the end of the day.
Zurich was a lot cuter than I expected it to be, especially since it’s one of the largest cities in Switzerland. I only visited a small fraction of the city and the area. I honestly wouldn’t mind going back. It was also not as expensive as I thought it would be. Lodging was still stupid expensive though. Well, for Europe, not for the US.
Check out my next update where I explore the Swiss capital of Bern!
