Joe Shigo

I will be traveling to Zurich (for 4 days)at the end of September...We like to sight see, visit galleries, both fine dine and dine "with the locals". Should we stay in Zurich, how long? Or, Should we visit other areas as well.

John

Depends on what you want to see/do. Personally, I did not enjoy Zurich--too big a city. I preferred the smaller communities such as Luzern or Bern. If you like mountains and hiking, the Berner Overland area might be your ticket. The Ticinese cities of Locarno, Lugano or Anscona might be best if you like lakes, laid-back italian atmosphere and italian food. <BR><BR>You might do a search on this site for other folks' impressions of Zurich (many love it, some of us don't find it our cup of tea) by typing in "Zurich" in the search box and reading their posts. Good luck and enjoy!

Ursula

Joe: If you're interested in galleries, Zurich is 'the' place. <BR><BR>Most tourists don't have or take the time to explore Zurich's gems. I admit it's kind of difficult even for me as a resident. There's so much going on these times and not necessarily in the very city center (Bahnhofstrasse and Niederdorf) where most tourists hang out, but in Zurich-West and other neighbourhoods a little offside.<BR><BR>For fine dining you might want to do a search here. Lots of places have been suggested.<BR><BR>Quite a good site is this one (only up for Zurich though):<BR>http://www.swisstownguide.ch/<BR><BR>Once here, go to the Tourist Office at the train station and get the free 'City Guide Zurich'. Comes out 4x/year and contains most useful information, even for residents.<BR><BR>If you want to explore other cities like Lucerne, Berne or Basel. No problem there. You can daytrip. All are around 1h away only. <BR><BR>Zurich is a great place to live in. Walkable city, on the lake, close to nature and mountains, lots of trendy events going on, pretty safe, not overly touristy like Lucerne, Montreux, etc. Maybe, it's different for tourists. Could be.<BR><BR>Come back, if you want specific information.

Ronda

Ursula, I thought Zurich was a wonderful city! My husband did not want to stay in a big city so we only stayed one night - the night before we left. After we walked around Zurich, I was very upset with him. I did get to see the Chagall windows though.<BR><BR>Lucerne was nice as well but had a smaller feel to it. <BR><BR>

xxx

What mode of transportation will you be using?

nori

Lucerne has a new museum Rosengard opened only since a few months near the railway station, mostly Picasso and Klee but some Cezannem, Monnet and Miro too. Mme Angela Rosengard was a personal friend of Picasso and bought many works directly from Picasso. She donated all to the city of Lucerne in 70's. And of course Lucerne has a Picasso museum too.

whatcity?

If you like galleries or art museums - then DEFINITELY go to Basel (it's got probably the best reputation in Switz. for art; for instance the Beyeler collection doesn't have many equals...). Make it a day trip from Zurich if you don't have the time to split between the two cities (travel time about 1hr. via train, one way).

xxx

OK

Ronda

The Rosengard Musuem in Luzern is a lovely museum but not very large. It had one very large Monet painting which I did enjoy viewing. I don't care for Picasso so I didn't spend very much time in the museum.<BR><BR>What is very interesting, however, is the museum in the old part of Luzern on Picasso's life. I found the photos and his life story fascinating. I bought a combination ticket at the Rosengard.