Wow! Where do I even begin? I started listing all the best places in Zurich and I realized I came up with a lot! So this blog post is my attempt to try and organize all of my favorite Zurich spots. Since we aren't there to guide our friends from out of town or out of the country around, I thought it was time to write the post! I asked a lot of my friends from Zurich about recommendations as well and included them. I hope you like them and that you get some ideas to discover new things in and around Zurich!

I sorted all the places by sights, food & drinks, shopping, activities and seasonal events.

Zürich from Waid — Zurich seen from Waid

Sights

Sit and eat by Limmat — Sit and Eat by Limmat (Blattspitz)

Waid, a restaurant on top of Käferberg with an amazing view on the city. Also worth going there for some good photos even if you are not hungry. I wrote a blogpost about it here.
Limmat, The river Limmat starts by Lake Zurich, through the city to Baden and then later flows into Aare. There are plenty of things you can do:
- Limmat Boat Tour (from April – October) Very picturesque views on the old town, tickets are included in the city ticket (around 5 Franks) Start by Landesmuseum)
- Sitting by Limmat (by Landesmuseum and Blattspitz you can sit on the wall, dangle your feet above the water and eat your snacks.)
- Böötle (boating) in Summer you can enter the river by Wipkingerpark and float down with a rubber boat or a float. (Explained more detailed below under activities)
- Along both sides of the river you can go on long walks and enjoy nature and city
Blattspitz, a beautiful park to relax and stroll, hard to believe that it used to be the drug capital of Switzerland!
Lake Zurich, swim, relax, go on a boat ride, use your SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard)... all the beautiful things you can do at a lake

Grossmünster The landmark of Zurich, a church with two big towers, you can see the inside for free, to go to the tower you pay 5 Franks.
Fraumünster Another really important landmark for Zurich, the church with the blue tower.
Niederdörfli The old town of Zurich, there are lots of little shops and restaurants in that area. The cobble stone and the old buildings make that area of town very charming.
ETH Polyterrasse + Polybahn We like to take our visitors up to the terrace because you get a nice overview of the city. The Polybahn (a cable car) is included in the city ticket and is fun to ride. From up there you can see the impressive ETH building and the city from above.
Swiss National Museum The museum is located right next to the main train station and offers a great overview on the history of Switzerland and its culture.
Lindenhof A little open area between buildings, located near Niederdörfli, you also get a very nice view on the city and Limmat.
Opera House A very impressive building with a huge open space in front of it! If you like operas or ballet, it is definitely worth going inside as well!
Bellevue Bellevue is the area where the city meets the lake. There are lots of benches to enjoy the nice view and to sit and relax.
Botanical Garden The gardens have a big outside area and the futuristic looking greenhouses have a big assortment of cacti and exotic plants, free entry.
Stadtgärtnerei Similar to the botanical garden but smaller. I wrote a blogpost about it here.

Food & Drinks

Drinks – a list of great places to have a fantastic drink
- Prime Tower Clouds Go to the tallest building in Zurich (second/third tallest in Switzerland but that’s another story) and get an amazing view over the city while drinking a delicious drink!
- Old Crow A bar that pops up on almost all recommendations, famous for their whiskey selection, they serve delicious drinks and the atmosphere is great. I love their leather menus.
- Tales Another great bar that's on many lists! Very passionate bar staff and every drink tells a story. Incredible atmosphere.
- Widder Bar Legendary bar attached to the Widder hotel with an amazing restaurant, located in Zurich old town. They have a huge assortment of drinks – ranging up to 2000 Franks for a shot! They also offer normal priced items!

Food
- Riithalle A restaurant with an amazing atmosphere! It's in an old horse stable that got turned into a restaurant. The food tastes and looks amazing. In summer you can eat outside in the garden by the river, highly recommended!
- Blinde Kuh Oh boy, what a special place for a unforgettable adventure. You eat in complete darkness and all your food gets served by the blind servers. You can get a mystery menu or you order the meal you want before entering the darkness. Make sure to reserve a table.
- Zum Frischen Max An outside bar/restaurant right by Zurich Oerlikon train station. We loved to grab a drink there and enjoy the warm summer nights.
- Frau Gerolds Garten Similar to Frischer Max, also an outdoor bar/restaurant. There are usually several food trucks to order food from and plenty of outdoor seating. In winter they serve Fondue in heated tents. There is also a Gelateria di Berna in the garden for delicious ice cream. In spring they have a few days with designer market stands.
- Les Halles A place with several different food stands from all over the world. It gets quite busy in the evenings for drinks as well.
- Spaghetti Factory A great location if you enjoy a good plate of pasta, great atmosphere.
- Black Tap A burger/fries and shakes restaurant originally from NYC they made it to Zurich and it's suuuper popular. You might have to wait in line for a bit around dinner time, but it usually clears quickly. Make sure to try one of the crazy massive shakes.
- Burgermeister A great burger place, the nicest restaurant is by Kaserne in Zurich. I love their Chicken burger with the crispy chicken in it.
- Hiltl The oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world with huge buffets with lots of different dishes and desserts to choose from, it is also inside the old post building which creates a great atmosphere.
- Waid As mentioned above, this is a nice restaurant on top of Käferberg with an amazing view of the city – more on my blogpost here.
- Raclette Factory If you want to try raclette flavors you've never had before, this is the place to go! You can mix and match different types of cheeses and get the full Swiss experience.
- Santa Lucia There are several locations of this great pizzeria around town, baked in a stone oven.
- Fusio Italian restaurant in Zurich with crazy pizzas!
- Vulkan A very popular Indian restaurant.
- MAME Josef A very popular cafe, they roast their own coffee beans.
- Bank Inside an old bank building there is this amazing restaurant. They serve everything from breakfast until dinner and drinks.
- Gelateria di Berna An amazing ice cream store with several locations around town. It's very popular in summer, don't be intimidated by the lines! It's well worth it!
- Bon Maman Delicious cupcakes in all shapes, forms and colors!

Breakfast and Brunch
- Prime Tower Not only can you enjoy amazing drinks at the bar in the evening, they also have a crazy amazing brunch place up on top of prime tower. Make sure to reserve a table early, so you can sit by the windows. The buffet is amazing, they have everything from traditional breakfast foods to steak, an entire fish and a chocolate fountain!
- Babu’s Babu's is one of the most popular breakfast places in Zurich, that now has several locations around town. They bake all their own bread. Make sure to reserve a table ahead.
- Bank Inside an old bank building there is this amazing restaurant. They serve everything from breakfast until dinner and drinks.

If you want to eat some traditional food from Zurich, here is a list of things you should try:

Zürigschnetzlets Sliced veal strips with a creamy white wine sauce, sometimes comes with mushrooms or kidneys, available in most traditional restaurants.
Tirgel Oh you are in for a treat! The rather hard but sweet honey flavored cookies are a must! You can find them in Berg und Tal Market Store or Globus or even Migros.
Wiedikerli A very delicious type of sausage originally made by Metzgerei Keller.
Luxemburgerli Famous as macarons, these little sweet hamburgers are the most delicious ones of their kind. They are sold at all Sprüngli confectionery.

Shops

Europaallee A street right by the main train station with very modern buildings. There are a lot of unique shops to discover from clothing and jewellery to furniture and vinegar and liquors.
Viadukt A viaduct is a type of bridge with stone arches. In the Viaduct in Zurich they built shops into the arches, lots of different artsy places!
Rennweg Rennweg is a side street off of Bahnhofstrasse. It has my favorite stores like Sostrene Grene (decor and home goods), Zumstein (a stationary store), Apple Store.
Fabrikat The store is described as a „working goods“ store. They mostly have stationary goods but a lot of it is very vintage looking. Joshua and I both love to discover what they sell every time we go.
Kinderbuchladen If you have kids, or someone just had a baby and you're looking for a great kids book, this is the place to go. They have a huge assortment of kids books and their staff is very knowledgeable. The upstairs has lots of materials for teachers.
Rien ne va plus A small boardgame store with games and puzzles. The guy knows every game! His personal collection had several hundred games! He can help you find a good one for you.
The White Panter GmbH A beautiful decor store, wish my house looked like that.
Paul Ullrich If you are ever looking for the perfect bottle of wine or you need some special trinket for your drinks, this is the place to go.
Comics-Shop Keller A comic and book store.
Movie Art Zurich A fun little store with lots of posters from famous movies.
Zeit Zone Should you ever have to repair your watch, it can be overwhelming to find a good shop since there are so many in Zurich. We liked to go to Zeit Zone, since it is a small store with a passionate staff and the owners know everything about their business.
Vom Fass A store with their own liqueurs, oils and all kinds of different vinegars. We love the sweet date one with some cheese.
Leibundgut A big craft shop in old town Zurich. They have a huge collection of beads and material for almost every type of craft.
Berg und Tal Market A small shop in Niederdorf and Viadukt with local specialities. Perfect for a gift from vacation.

Activities

Uetliberg Hike on the mountain right next to the city and get a great view on the area! There are several trails going up the mountain or you can take the train to the top. If you want to hike along the „ridge“ (not exposed at all) you can take the Felsenegg cable car to the top and walk to Uetliberg. There is also a restaurant on top.
Panoramapath on Züriberg Walk from Seilbahn Rigiblick to Zurich Zoo along the forest edge and enjoy the beautiful view on the area.
Böötle (boating) Enter the river by Wipkingerpark and float down the river with a float. After about 40min leave the river by Werdinsel to get around the water power station. Jump back into the water right after. You can float all the way to Schlieren! (about 3h) Check the map
Hike along Lake Zurich Enjoy a stroll or hike along the lake. More about that on this blogpost
Zoo Zurich A very big, modern Zoo. They are modernising many of the older exhibits and now have a huge elephant house, a rainforest hall and a savanna area with zebras, giraffes and rhinos in one place.
Chinawiese The big open lawn right by lake Zurich is very popular to hang out in summer. You can go into the lake from there.
Letten The upper and lower Letten are both areas to swim in the Limmat river. Very popular and sometimes a bit crowded in summer.
Ice Skating Dolder Dolder is a sports center in Zurich and they have one of the largest ice skating rinks i Europe.
Boat ride on lake Zurich or Limmat Hop on a boat on Lake Zurich and enjoy the city and area from the water. You can also take a flat boat to go on the Limmat river from April to October.
Comedy Open Mics Watch a Comedy open mic in English at these spots: Comedy Kiss (Auer), In your Face Comedy, American Stand Up Show, or for a more intimate show check out the open mic Joshua helped start: Front Row Comedy Zurich (Yaman Cafe Bar)
Fox Trail A fox trail is a scavenger hunt planned by the company Foxtrail. You can choose several different types and lengths and areas of the town. It's a great way to see more of the city and to get to know other areas.
WOW Museum A museum with lots of optical illusions. Make sure to reserve a time slot online and bring your phone.
Boda Borg A type of escape room but with lots of physical activity. It was very popular among my students (12 year olds) but is also great for adults.
Galaxy Golf Play a unique kind of mini golf at a location with blacklight.
Lägern Lägern is the mountain range from Dielsdorf to Baden (State of Zurich to State of Aargau) There is an amazing hike along the mountain ridge – I am describing it more in detail on this blog post.
Ride the bike along Limmat A bike ride by the river? Not much more to say other than it is beautiful!

Seasonal Events

January:

February: Art on Ice (A figure skating gala)

March:

April: Sechseläuten (A traditional parade in the heart of Zurich. Read more here. Research the exact date because it changes every year but always on a Sunday and Monday)

May: Zürich tanzt (a dance festival around town)

June: Opera for all (free opera live stream on Sechseläutenplatz), Afro-Pfingsten (Transforms the city of Winterthur into an intercultural melting pot with music, markets and plenty of food)

July: Zürifäscht (Every 3 years on the first weekend of July (next one in 2026))

August: August 1st (Our national holiday, lots of little events around the city, no big fireworks), Zurich Openair

September: (Lange Nacht der Museen (Museums like the Zoo or the observatory and lots of museums are open at night), Knabenschiessen (A large cultural event where kids practice target shooting. Aside from that there is a big fair with lots of rides and booths)

October: Zurich Film Festival

November:

December: Illuminarium (Light show by the national museum), Christmas Markets (Europaallee, Christmas Village by Sechseläutenplatz, Niederdorf), New Years Eve fire works

General Info about Zurich:

Stores are closed on Sundays!
The city is very walkable and you can see the most, if you explore on foot. However, some of my tips are a bit out of the way or they include a boat ride:
Buy a city ticket for public transport. It should cost 9.20 Franks for a full ticket, second class. Like that you can ride the train, tram, busses and boats around the city for 24h. (Zone 110)
Most stores accept credit cards.

A Guide for Zurich from a Local