24 hours in Zurich

Old Nov 30th, 2016, 06:02 PM
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24 hours in Zurich

Zurich is not typically a destination where you plan to spend some significant time in - but due to its convinient location between Germany and France European road trippers like us often include it on the itinerary. On our trip we only spent 24 hours in Zurich and to my surprise I fell in love with it! It is an elegant city of swans and fountains, beautiful old buildings, nicely-dressed people, and many interesting museums.

Here is what we managed to do in our 24-hour stay (for pictures, check out my web site http://celebratetheweekend.com/24-ho...h-love-sight/;

We drove into Zurich from Ettal, Germany (as part of our summer European road trip in the summer of 2015) We arrived in the middle of the day and had 24 hours to spend before leaving for our next stop (Lucerne) the following day.

The center of Zurich is very easy to navigate by foot and tram. If you arrive from Zurich airport, a 10-minute train ride will bring you to main Train Station – which is a very convenient area to start your visit.  (You can pick up free maps at  Zurich Tourism office located inside the Train Station.)

Zurich’s train station is located at the beginning of Bahnhofstrasse – a 1.4 kilometers (0.87 miles) thoroughfare with the Train Station on one end and Lake Zurich (Burkinplatz) on the other.  Bahnhofstrasse houses world’s most fashionable stores and Paradeplatz  – the largest financial transaction site in Switzerland (many Swiss banks have their main offices on here).  From Paradeplatz  you can quickly reach Zurich’s old town.

We love walking tours of the city centers, and in Zurich we joined “Stories of the Old Town” – one of the walking tours offered by Zurich Tourism Office (the tour started at the Train Station).   Our guide Christiana took us on a 2-hour tour through the old town’s many points of interest and shared some lesser known stories of Zurich’s past (like a “hidden” 14thcentury former synagogue, or a flat where Lenin used to live on Spiegelgasse, 17.) I have to say that the group tour moved briskly and there was a considerable amount of stairs to navigate. If you have a limited mobility (or strollers) you may prefer to walk on your own or take a river cruise of the city (we did a lake cruise later in the day).

There are over 50 museums in Zurich and we visited two during our short stay#160;Clock Museum and Zurich National Museum. Zurich being a clock capital of the world, we just had to visit the Clock Museum on Bahnhofstrasse 31 (the fashionable street leading to the Train Station) – and the walk from the old town was only a few minutes. We had exactly one hour before close time there- but it was plenty to explore a 2-room collection of historical and modern day clocks.

After the clock museum, we took a tram from Paradeplatz to the Bürkliplatz.   Bürkliplatz is not only a boat dock, but also a marketplace (several times a week), performance area and a promenade with a view across Lake Zurich to the Alps. After a very casual self-service dinner with a view (Zurich aint cheap!) we took a 7 pm  “short round trip 1.5 hour” cruise took us outside the city and allowed a glimpse into the life of Swiss after hours: we saw kids jumping off the decks, beaches, lots of birds and back yards.

If I functioned like a Swiss clock, I would have now visited a relaxing bath house (I love European water relaxation!) But at this point we were quite beat up and retired to our hotel room (Hotel Leoneck, about 10 minute walk from the Train Station).

Next morning we walked to the Train Station again, but this time our destination was Zurich National Museum right behind the station building. The building itself supposedly looks like Fairytale Castle, but it was covered in construction during our visit so we could not fully appreciate its beauty from the outside. Inside, this Museum houses thousands of fascinating objects of Swiss history and is a great place for history buffs (kids will love it too- there are several kids-friendly “objects” throughout the museum, including a big slide).   It is not that easy to navigate in a hurry, but is still worth a visit.  I wish we had the guide with us! (they may actually provide one if you inquire ahead).

On our departure morning, we also wandered without a purpose for an hour or so enjoying the streets of the old town.  But only for an hour because the plan was to then find our way to Café Schober at Napfgasse 4.  Zurich is one of Europe’s most expensive cities, but I can assure you that you can afford coffee and cake at this beautiful place.  No matter how pressed on time, I do not consider my exploration of a place complete until I have a chance to sit down in a nice coffee shop and try some of the local sweets – while quietly reflecting.  Café Schober is easily the best coffee and cake cafe I have been to.  The decor and the flavors are decadent.

After our 24 hours in Zurich we  continued the road trip to our next stop, Lucerne.
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Old Dec 8th, 2016, 08:39 AM
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Thank you so very much for taking the time to write this report. Made me laugh about functioning like a Swiss Clock.

I too like coffee and cake and my question would be (without distracting you too much from this report) is where have you liked best for your coffee an cake?
stevelyon is offline  
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