24 Hours in Zurich, Switzerland

Although we only had 24 hours in Switzerland’s largest city, we did our best to make the most of our time. We arrived bright and early in the morning to begin exploring the beautiful lake city, so let’s take you though our jam packed 24 hours in Zurich!

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Got steppin’ on a walking tour:

Since we were on a time crunch and still wanted to see the majority of Zurich’s main attractions, we decided to throw on our sneakers and do a morning walking tour. Free Walking Tours Zurich runs 1.5 hour tours everyday at 11am. It’s the perfect way to see the city and learn a little bit of the history that made Zurich into the city it is today. We saw some of the most famous sights including: Paradeplatz, Fraumünster, Lindenhof (incredible view of Zurich), Grossmünster, and Niederdorf. The tour ends at Grossmünster, a 12th century Protestant church, where you can climb 180+ steps to get a birds-eye view of the city.

 

People watch and picnic at Lake Zurich:

While on our walking tour, our guide explained to us that Lake Zurich is the pulse of this vibrant european city, and should absolutely be visited during our short time in Zurich. To kill two birds with one stone, we grabbed a little food (well maybe a lot of food :)) from a local supermarket and had an impromptu picnic while enjoying the views around the lake. It’s a beautiful area of Zurich and it’s also easy to check out the Opera House after walking around for a bit.

Also, the 11th Zurich Film Festival was taking place while we were visiting, so of course we had to stop and pose on the green carpet ;).

 

Shop underneath Zurich’s railway viaduct at Im Viadukt:

After strolling around Lake Zurich we hopped on the tram and made our way to do some shopping in a very unique place (we took Tram 4, but there are other options), Im Viadukt. Located in Zurich-West, Im Viadukt has repurposed railway viaducts (hence the name) into 30+ fashion boutiques, cafes, creative workspaces, bars as well as a place to unwind and just enjoy life! Front and center at Im Viadukt is Markthalle, an indoor market that focuses on brining the best local and imported foods to the area. If you want to find some one-of-kind things while visiting Zurich we’d suggest spending a little time wandering in and out of the shops within the railway viaducts.

 

Don’t mind if we fondue for dinner:

After shopping and exploring the city of Zurich, we could only think of one thing to eat… fondue. If you haven’t heard, the Swiss are famous for their cheese, chocolate and fondue, so we grabbed our tiny forks and headed over to Swiss Chuchi. Swiss Chuchi is located in the busy area of Niederdorf and is definitely one of the top spots to go when you’re on the hunt for some good fondue. The place was packed, so we strongly suggest reservations, and we had to do a bit of rearranging on our small table to fit all the food when it arrived, but it was worth it! Every dunk of bread and potatoes into the boiling cheese was perfect!

 

Retreated back to our hotel to rest after exploring Zurich:

After running up and down we happily kicked back and relaxed at Sheraton Zurich Hotel. Located in Zurich-West, this newly opened Sheraton has made it’s home in a very up-and-coming area. With it’s out of the box exterior, the hotel is designed perfectly to fit into this area’s embracement of creativity. Zurich-West has grown into a trendy, modern area flourishing with new restaurants, a lively nightlife, and is giving locals and visitors a unique look into Zurich’s future.

The Sheraton Zurich is easily accessible as the tram stop is only hop, skip and jump from the front door making it easy to get around the city (about a 20 minute tram ride to get into Old Town). With only 24-hours in Zurich, we made the most of our time and enjoyed relaxing by the fireplace in the lobby, which was much appreciated as it was getting brr, brr cold out. While escaping the cold we spent some time taking in the views from our cozy room overlooking this incredible area of Zurich. The hotel is also home to the restaurant Route Twenty-Six, which focuses on Swiss cuisine and serves dishes that are specific to the 26 cantons throughout Switzerland.

At the end of the day our feet may have been a little sore, but we can now say that we wandered around Lindenhof , climbed to the top of the Grossmünster, enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of Lake Zurich and stuffed our faces with Switzerland’s famous fondue.

Thank you Sheraton Zurich Hotel for hosting us during our 24-hours!

As always, our opinions are our own as we Talk Travel.