7 Best Sights in Zürich, Switzerland

With a varied and high-quality permanent collection of paintings—medieval, Dutch and Italian Baroque, and impressionist—the Kunsthaus is Zürich's best art museum. The collection includes some fascinating Swiss works; others might be an acquired taste. Besides works by Ferdinand Hodler, with their mix of realism and stylization, there's a superb room full of Johann Heinrich Füssli paintings, which hover between the darkly ethereal and the grotesque. And then there's Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, and Edvard Munch, all satisfyingly represented. A breathtaking modernist expansion of the museum by British architect David Chipperfield was added just across the street in 2021; the two buildings are linked by an underground tunnel. The new wing houses contemporary works and installations. Don't leave before seeing the fabled collection of Cézannes, Manets, Monets, and Degas that Zürich industrialist E. G. Bührle put together in the 1950s in the space of a decade, purchasing the finest offerings from the world's most prestigious art dealers. A whopping 175 pieces from his collection are on long-term loan at the Kunsthaus.

The impressive collection of the Federal Institute of Technology includes a vast library of woodcuts, etchings, and engravings by such European masters as Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Francisco Goya, and Pablo Picasso. Pieces from the permanent collection are often arranged in thematic exhibitions.

Changing exhibitions of contemporary, often experimental, art by Zürich-based artists are hosted at this museum, the open court of which once served as a linen market. In spring the museum hosts an exhibition of works from the city's annual competition for young artists.

Set in West Zürich, this is one of two major modern art venues on the top floors of a former brewery. The gallery hosts exhibitions presenting new local and international artists, and works are always cutting-edge: you can say you saw it here first.

One floor below the Kunsthalle, this airy, white loft has the same focus—up-and-coming contemporary artists—but is privately funded by Switzerland's largest department store chain, Migros. Shows of recent work are interspersed with exhibitions from the extensive Migros collection, which includes works by Andy Warhol. The museum sponsors regular discussions with the artists.

The main repository for Switzerland's important legacy in graphic design, posters, and applied arts, this vast collection has been rehoused in a fully renovated former milk-products factory. The museum was originally envisioned as an academy devoted to design and applied arts, and while it has a robust series of education programs, it remains primarily a museum. Innovative temporary exhibitions focus on architecture, poster art, graphic design, and photography. This location also allows visitors, with a reservation, to admire not only the exhibitions but also the museum's collection of product and packaging design, graphics, and poster art (500,000 pieces). The core of the collection is in a freestanding high-bay warehouse on two floors, which operates as a display storage area.

Housed in a former electrical substation set by the River Sihl—an impressive 1930s modernist architectural statement in its own right—this collection traces the history of constructivist art, which became one of the vogues of the 1930s and ’40s and had a big following in Switzerland (especially among its trailblazing graphic-art designers). The showpiece is the Rockefeller Dining Room, a 1963 salon designed by Swiss artist Fritz Glarner and looking very much like a pop-up Mondrian painting. Over the years the collection has broadened to include minimal art, concept art, and Neo Geo work. During the year there are several temporary shows.