Due to our earlier visit in 2013, Swiss cities weren’t on our priority list this time. We realised our hearts lie in the Alps. Second time around they gave as an even more sense of deja vu. They looked like any other city in Northern Europe. A river winding through the middle, churches with their iconic steeples dotted on either side, flanked by expensive restaurants and cafes. Zürich was no different. So, this time around it was just a little more than a stop for lunch. 

Zürich is the capital of Switzerland and its largest city. It has been continuously inhabited for over 2000 years. It’s also home to a ton of financial institutions and has the largest train station and airport in the country. It’s no wonder it was the most crowded place we have been to in Switzerland.  

• Lindenhof
• Augustinergasse
• Bahnhofstrasse
• Kailash Parbat
• Fraumünster & Grossmünster
• DIY Walk – route and map

We had stayed overnight at scenic Wildhaus in the Appenzell region after visiting Liechtenstein. We had a late start on the last day on our trip and reached Zurich just around midday. The city was bustling with office workers and tourists. The bustle that you can only see in large cities in Europe that boasts of headquarters of some of the large financial institutions. We arrived on a Tuesday afternoon, parking up at the Urania car park and walked down to our first stop, the Lindenhof.

Lindenhof

It is one of best kept secrets of Zürich. Or may be not. This little park tucked away on one of the hills in the city gives a lovey view of the river, Limmat, the Grossmünster and the row houses along the river. There’s also a fountain and a playground to burn away some of the energy. This park was still quiet by European standards though we ran into a bus load of Asian tourists who moved away after taking several pictures, each.

We walked down the steps on the other side to retrace our steps from our visit 11 years ago. Then we had no clue what we were going to see or do but this time I had planned a walking route ahead to see the highlights.

Augustinergasse

We then walked through some pretty fountains and squares to Augustinergasse, a street lined with colourful buildings, flags and a number of restaurants. The city was pretty much quiet until we arrived here! This street was getting busy with lunch time crowds and tourists. 

Bahnhofstrasse

We then continued to the Bahnhofstrasse, the main through fare linking the Zürich train station to the rest of the city centre. This was an even busier street lined with high end branded stores, some with exquisite displays, trams plying up and down and a lot more people, both working professionals and tourists. 

Kailash Parbat

Admiring the bustle, something that we rarely saw since we lived in London many years ago, we walked down to our lunch spot. We hadn’t been away for long enough to miss Indian food but Kailash Parbat, being a well known chain of restaurants in India and with no presence in the UK, lured us into splurging a bit. The food was extremely good but the service, just meh. It appeared understaffed. We saw a lot of people getting take away so I guess it was a popular lunch spot in Zürich.

Fraumünster & Grossmünster

After a hearty lunch we walked over to Fraumünster. The green steeple of this church is an iconic landmark. We had parked our car right outside this church when we visited in 2013, something that I consider lucky to this day! 

Right across the bridge on the other side of the river is the Grossmünster with its iconic twin towers.  We did consider going inside one of the churches but the 5CHF entry per person and our limited time argued against it.

We then returned to our car by walking along the Limmatquai and passing the Rathaus. 

DIY Walk – route and map

This walk takes about an hour with stops. The city centre between the river and Bahnhofstrasse with fountains and narrow streets is beautiful enough to wander and even get lost! Click on the map to take you to Google maps with directions.