Guide Zurich
Zurich (Züri) is the largest Swiss city. It covers almost 92 square kilometers, with a population around 390,000 inhabitants. It is a major financial and banking center, there's Stock Exchange and headquarters of FIFA (International Football Federation) and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation).
Accommodation in Zurich
Given the fact that Zurich is a city of commerce and bankers, the accommodation here mainly consists of hotels from three to five stars. You can find here hotel chains such as Sheraton (Zurich Sheraton Hotel), Sofitel, Ambassador, Novotel, Holiday Inn, Marriott (Courtyard by Marriott Zurich North, Zurich Marriott Hotel), as well as five-star hotels Renaissance and Hyatt. Most luxury hotels are located in the Old Town, a short walk from the Bahnhofstrasse shopping street, Lake Zurich and the ETH. Nevertheless, if you are looking for low cost option, we will be more than happy to book one to two-star hotels, hostels, guesthouses and apartments.
Location and weather Zurich
Zurich is situated on the banks of the Lake Zurich and Limmat River, about 30 kilometers from the Alps. It is surrounded by several hills, the climate is humid continental, with four seasons. The coldest month is January, the warmest July.
History of Zurich
The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, in the Bronze Age. In the year 15 BC, the Romans founded here a city “Turicum”, that served as a customs house for goods traveling along the Limmat River. In the 14th century, the Zurich joined the Swiss Confederation, where it remained until the 18th century. From that time it was occupied by French. This ended in 1859, when a contract of the independence of Switzerland was signed.
How to get to Zurich
Zurich Airport is located about 10 km from the city center. You can reach the city center by tram in about 12 minutes. Trams depart every 10 minutes at rush hour, early in the morning or evening the intervals are longer.
Travelling around Zurich
In Zurich, public transport is absolutely reliable and very popular among the locals. It consists of trams, buses, boats and cable cars that provide transportation to surrounding hills. In case, that you are planning to use local transport regularly during your trip and you also love museums, consider buying ZurichCARD. This card allows you to a free use of public transport as well as free admission to all museums in the city. Another option is to travel around the city on bike or skateboard. Those can be rented at one of several rental in the city.
Sights, attractions and activities in Zurich
The city center is called Old Town and you can find here all the main attractions. They are located near the river between the main station and the Zurich lake. Zurich is not only a city with important historical buildings, but you can also find here Bahnhofstrasse - the headquarters of banks and luxury shops. The remains of the original Romanesque settlement can is situated at the Lindenhof hill, that also offers breathtaking views of the city. In the city, there are many significant churches, for example Fraumünster, Grossmünster, Wasserkirche, Peterskirche or Predigerkirche. Furthermore, there are many interesting museums, ie. The House of Art, Design Museum, Museum hours, but the most important is the Swiss Museum that has a collection of objects associated with Swiss history.
Swiss watches in Zurich
Switzerland is well known for its high quality and reliable watches and also for its delicious Lindt chocolate. In Zurich, you can find stores of all major Swiss brands of watches - eg. Swatch, Mondaine, M-Watch, Alpina, Breitling, Certina, Festina and also famous Omega, Rolex and Tissot, as well as Raymond Weil or Tag Heuer - favorite brand of celebrities and Piaget - that used to wear Jackie Kennedy.
Gastronomic specialties in Zurich
From the local gastronomic specialties we can mention cheese and meat fondue and raclette.
Universities in Zurich
There are two very important universities - ETH Zurich and University of Zurich in the city. In the first one, incredible 21 Nobel laureates used to study or work there. In the University of Zurich lectured Tomas Garrigue Masaryk in 1915.
Famous personalities of Zurich
The most famous natives of the city are: writer Max Frisch, psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, writer Hugo Loetscher, painter Antonio Ligabue, economist Raynold Kaufgetz or hockey player Tobias Stephan. Many famous personalities lived here, for example Albert Einstein and his first wife Mileva Maric Einstein, singers Udo Jürgens and Tina Turner, writer Thomas Mann or politician Vladimir Lenin.
Sport in Zurich
In the city, there are two major football clubs - Grasshopper Club Zurich and FC Zürich, also hockey club Schlittschuh Zürcher Lions Club (ZSC Lions). Each year, Zurich hosts the Diamond League athletics meeting.
Streetparade in Zurich
Each August is in Zurich held Streetparade - Europe's biggest open air techno rave festival that regularly attracts more than a million visitors.