Zürich, Switzerland

View of Zürich skyline along the Limmat (35 mm film).

I have visited Zürich twice, most recently on the last day of my honeymoon. The previous time was right after I graduated high school and first studied abroad. That was my first experience with a layover long enough to explore a city – on our way home from Austria, we had an eight hour layover in Zürich and explored as much of the city as we could. Despite less than two days total in this city, I have still been able to see and experience a lot of what it has to offer.

I love Switzerland for its mountains and grandeur, and Zurich covers the classic metropolitan aspect of the country. The city sits on Zürichsee, and the Limmat River runs through its center. The combination of beautiful architecture and the natural environment makes it such a great city to wander through. There are dozens of beautiful churches, including the Church of St. Peter, Fraumünster Church and Grossmünster. For a spectacular view of the city from a slightly higher elevation, Lindenhof offers an elevated overview of the river and the city skyline from a well-maintained park. When you’re sitting along the shores of Zürichsee, you’ll often see hundreds of birds gathered, including dozens of swans. It is the definition of picturesque.   

Zürichsee featuring a variety of gathered birds (35 mm film).

 Shopping

Fitting in with its metropolitan nature, Zürich is a huge shopping destination. There are so many high end shops, and a lot of the streets remind me of walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City, especially Bahnhofstrasse. One of the only things we ended up shopping for and splurging on is…baked goods. They have some of the best macarons at Sprüngli, which I highly recommend. But there are countless cafes and conditerei in Zürich, and I recommend stopping into as many as you can during your visit. There are also, of course, the iconic Swiss watches, knives, and chocolate to window shop for or splurge on.

Food

I will be honest, food in Switzerland is often a challenge for me. The cost of living is quite high, so naturally eating out at restaurants gets expensive. My modus operandi is usually to stock up on meals and snacks at grocery stores, bring food back to our Airbnb, and primarily eat from that. But (aside from all the delicious bakeries), we did find two spots that were super impressive, delicious, and honestly worth whatever cost. The first is Negishi sushi, which is actually a chain because we ate at the same restaurant in Lucerne. The vegetarian sushi options are so delicious, as well as the appetizers. The experience and service was excellent at both locations. The other mind-blowing meal, which we still talk about almost five years later, is the all-vegetarian buffet at Hiltl. We were only in the city for a little over 24 hours, and our last meal before heading to the airport was this buffet. We paid for an all you can eat option that came with drinks as well (tea/coffee and prosecco). I will say, based on how much I am physically capable of eating, it may have been cheaper to just pay by plate/weight – but that was my only regret. The variety of food was immense, so flavorful, and a literal dream come true for my vegetarian heart. And my husband, who is very much not a vegetarian, enjoyed it as much as I did. It was literally the perfect meal as a last hurrah for our honeymoon and as preparation for flying home – filling but not overly so, delicious, and fresh. Highly recommend and honestly this place may be the reason I go back to Zürich someday.

In the Alter Botanischer Garten (35 mm film).

Destinations

Reviewing the list of what we did, it was apparently very focused on wandering the city streets and visiting gardens! When we first arrived, part of our walking exploration of the city was to wander through the Alter Botanischer Garten, which is a free park. It was late October, so not a ton of blooming plant life, but it featured great architecture, a bamboo garden and more. We also took a trip out to the Succulent Garden, which was free and such a cool experience.

As always, the public transportation in Switzerland is an absolute dream. During our time in Zürich, we took advantage of the street cars and buses, and were thoroughly impressed by both. Zürich is a unique metropolitan oasis, and the perfect place to explore as part of a longer trip to Switzerland or even a layover from elsewhere. I look forward to the next time I visit, no matter how brief, and what other gems I may discover.