The first weekend of May, I met my travel partner in crime Sarah in Zürich, Switzerland for a 3 day weekend. Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland. Zürich is primarily German-speaking. Zürich has two dots over the U and as you will see I tried really hard to make sure I used it every time I typed “Zürich” in this post.
Switzerland has four official languages (and none of them are “Swiss”). The languages are German, French, Italian and Romansh. In Zürich and other parts of Switzerland, they actually speak a dialect of German called Swiss German but write in Standard German (High German). Since all I know is “Guten Tag”, thankfully English is widely spoken as well.
They use the Swiss Franc (CHF) and not the Euro, which I managed to avoid until my last few hours in Zürich when I rented a bike and needed to put down a 20CHF cash deposit. And the smallest denomination the ATM would give me was 50CHF. I tried to spend the cash with what little time I had left but still went home with some of it.
Our first day in Zürich was a clear, mild day. We arrived early Friday morning and signed up for a city tour with the front desk of our hotel when we checked in. Normally I like to take the hop on hop off buses in new cities, but this is one of the few cities I’ve been to that doesn’t have this type of bus. But this 4 hour city tour and guide via Best of Switzerland is well worth the money. The tour takes you through the Old Town, and then down through the affluent Gold Coast of Lake Zürich, across Lake Zürich, and up to Felsenegg, which is a vantage point that overlooks the valley below, the lake, and in the distance, the Alps.
Along the way we stopped for photos and learned fun facts such as why Swiss cheese has holes and that Tina Turner currently lives on the Gold Coast and is a Swiss citizen. The bus then drove onto a ferry which traveled across Lake Zürich to the town of Horgen. The ferry trip was only about 10 minutes long but we all got off the bus during the short trip to take pictures.
On the other side of the lake, the bus drove us to a cable car lift, where we took the gondola up to Felsenegg and took in the beautiful views of the Alps and the city below. Thankfully, it was a clear day so we could see the Alps clearly. There was also a small cafe to enjoy a beverage or food outside on the patio, unfortunately we did not have enough time to sit for very long so I had to smuggle my small bottle of wine back to the bus, although it wasn’t really necessary to smuggle it, as our tour guide was supportive of this decision. Then the bus took us back and the tour was over. All in all well worth the time and money.
In general, Swiss people seem to be very polite and patient. Most cars immediately stop for you as soon as you look like you’re about to cross the street. People wait patiently for you to take a photo before walking past. On my way back to Barcelona, the security agent at the airport was very nice when my suitcase had to be inspected, and offered me some paper towels to clean my suitcase after I had wheeled it down the street in the drizzly weather. I have never met a more pleasant airport security agent. TSA should take notes!
The food is delicious and for the most part healthy. Over the course of our trip we ate fondue at Walliser Kanne, ate at two different cafeteria style buffets (Manora Restaurant and Hiltl), and had an amazing fine dining experience at Ecco Zürich. It’s a 2 Michelin star restaurant and is delicious. We also got to meet the chef and see the kitchen.
Buffets/salad bars seem to be a thing here, but unlike many American buffets, they are healthy and delicious, are not all-you-can-eat and, like most everything else in Zürich, expensive. Manora Restaurant is at the top floor of the Manor department store, on Banhhofstrasse, the main shopping street. The items you put on your tray each have a price, and there is a wide selection including salad, a juice and coffee bar, hot food, desserts, etc.
Hiltl (which is actually a chain, they have several locations in Zürich) is a restaurant in a converted post office, near the far end of the train station. It’s a cool little building with old fixtures from the post office still present. This buffet is all vegetarian with a lot interesting options (for example the Sellerie Salat, a salad of celery root, pineapple, walnut and yogurt). Hiltl doesn’t charge per item but rather you put everything onto a plate (or two) and then they weigh everything. But one piece of bread is free! It’s the little things in life.
Travel Tips:
– If you are staying in Old Town take the train from the airport. You can get on a train to the main Zürich train station for about $7 USD and in about 15 minutes. The train is clean and efficient much like the rest of Zürich. The train station is huge and has a ton of shops and restaurants.
– You can rent a bike for free at the train station, just outside the station near track 3. This is what I did my last few hours in Zürich, after Sarah had already left. You just need an ID (my California driver’s license worked fine) and 20CHF cash deposit, which you get back when you return the bike. I only kept the bike for a couple of hours but you can keep it all day. There are a ton of bike lanes in the city and the drivers seem to be generally relaxed so it is an enjoyable experience to ride a bike here.
All in all Zürich made for a fun weekend trip!
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