Zurich and other cities to visit?
Jan 27th, 2015, 05:18 AM
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Zurich and other cities to visit?
Hello: Looking at booking a trip this coming Summer/Fall to Zurich. Wondering what other cities/countries anyone recommends. Will probably have 10 days travel time. Open to changing hotels and staying each place maybe three days per so looking overall for maybe three cities and/or countries. Thank you!! Denise
Jan 27th, 2015, 05:32 AM
#2
No one can answer such a vague question.
Where do YOU want to go? Where have you dreamed of visiting. That is even broader than asking "I have 10 days in the United States, where should I go?"
Do you have any guide books to get you started?
Where do YOU want to go? Where have you dreamed of visiting. That is even broader than asking "I have 10 days in the United States, where should I go?"
Do you have any guide books to get you started?
Jan 27th, 2015, 05:56 AM
#4
Zurich.... well apart from the Cathedral stained glass I struggle to know why anyone would go there. Other cities, well anywhere that is not Switzerland makes sense. I like France, Italy, Austria and Germany.
Not sure if that helps, but it is an odd place to want to go to, why there?
Not sure if that helps, but it is an odd place to want to go to, why there?
Jan 27th, 2015, 06:44 AM
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Most folks who come to Switzerland want to see the picture of Switzerland drenches in most folks eyes - the wonderful Alpine regions - the highpoint of any visit to Switzerland for me and many is the Jungfrau Region around Interlaken - hole up in a cozy hotel in an Alpine village like Wengen or Grindelwald and have sheer glacier-girdled peaks rising thousands of feet above lush meadows in front of your hotel balcony.
A myriad if mountain-climbing trains and aerial gondolas go off in all directions - hiking or walking paths for all levels of abilities - stay heer for say 4 days - so so much varied things to do - and
Lucerne is also a favorite place of many - 3 days there - include a boat ride on Switzerland's loveliest lake IMO and go to Bern, one of Switzerland's most unheralded cities for a day.
and spend a few days in Zurich with friends but most find Zurich a modern rather boring city though it does have its pluses - again do a boat ride on Lake Zurich.
Trains are the best way to get around in the Alpine areas and Switzerland in general - for loads of great stuff on trains check out these IMO superb sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com. check out a Swiss Pass that covers not only trains but lake boats, city trams and buses, postal buses and gives free entry to 470 Swiss museums.
A myriad if mountain-climbing trains and aerial gondolas go off in all directions - hiking or walking paths for all levels of abilities - stay heer for say 4 days - so so much varied things to do - and
Lucerne is also a favorite place of many - 3 days there - include a boat ride on Switzerland's loveliest lake IMO and go to Bern, one of Switzerland's most unheralded cities for a day.
and spend a few days in Zurich with friends but most find Zurich a modern rather boring city though it does have its pluses - again do a boat ride on Lake Zurich.
Trains are the best way to get around in the Alpine areas and Switzerland in general - for loads of great stuff on trains check out these IMO superb sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com. check out a Swiss Pass that covers not only trains but lake boats, city trams and buses, postal buses and gives free entry to 470 Swiss museums.
Jan 27th, 2015, 08:28 AM
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Or how about heading north to Germany - direcgt trains from Zurich to Munich and Stuttgart in a few hours you'll be in Germany where the sticker shock is a big less!
For example:
Zurich to Munich - base there for 3 days - day trip to Dachau and or Mad Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle or just dwell on this fascinating city
Go by train to the Rhine/Mosel valleys area - 3 days in say Cochem - a picture-postcard town that most dreamof staying in but rarely do - use it as a base to take boats on the Mosel - to me and many Germany's most beautiful river valley and another day on the Rhine - taking the popular K-D boats thru the gorgeous Rhine Gorge (www.k-d.com).
Then trake the train to Amsterdam - one of Europe's most beautiful cities - great for another three days - fly into Zurich and fly out of Amsterdam - so-called open-jaw ticket.
Note if driving renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another can often result in unfathomably steep drop-off charges fornot returning it in the country you picked it up in.
From Zurich you could also take a direct train to Italy - to the famous lake district - and go elsewhere in Italy flying home from say Rome or Venice.
For example:
Zurich to Munich - base there for 3 days - day trip to Dachau and or Mad Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle or just dwell on this fascinating city
Go by train to the Rhine/Mosel valleys area - 3 days in say Cochem - a picture-postcard town that most dreamof staying in but rarely do - use it as a base to take boats on the Mosel - to me and many Germany's most beautiful river valley and another day on the Rhine - taking the popular K-D boats thru the gorgeous Rhine Gorge (www.k-d.com).
Then trake the train to Amsterdam - one of Europe's most beautiful cities - great for another three days - fly into Zurich and fly out of Amsterdam - so-called open-jaw ticket.
Note if driving renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another can often result in unfathomably steep drop-off charges fornot returning it in the country you picked it up in.
From Zurich you could also take a direct train to Italy - to the famous lake district - and go elsewhere in Italy flying home from say Rome or Venice.
Jan 27th, 2015, 10:00 AM
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flying open jaw - into Zurich and out of another city gives you oodles of possibilities - you could easily take the 4 hours or so TGV bullet train ride from Zurich to Paris - spend 4 days there - then go via Bruges, Belgium - 2 days (one of northern Europe;s most old-looking romantic cities a huge favorite of many - then take the train to either London or Amsterdam for the final 4 days.
Oodles and oodles of possibilities!
Oodles and oodles of possibilities!
Jan 27th, 2015, 04:52 PM
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.. the old town, the fancy shop windows, the location by the lake and river, boat tours on the lake, an excellent zoo, views from the hills around, several old churches not just one, the university terrace, countless options for day trips over half the country. I really do not understand why Zürich gets such a bad press, to me it is a very interesting city.
Jan 27th, 2015, 05:36 PM
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I spent only a few hours in Zurich last spring while staying in Freiburg - only a 2.25 hr bus ride each way. Zurich was pretty cool to wander around. As it was a rainy day, Zurich didn't seem like a bad place to visit for a few hours, especially as I had never been to Switzerland. Given the weather, finding some quaint town with a picturesque view probably would have been a waste of time.
Jan 27th, 2015, 08:44 PM
#15
Zürich is boring.
Pleasant, clean, but boring.
It is also one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The prices in the shops on the Bahnhofstrasse would turn Kanye West pale.
Are you staying at the Baur au Lac?
Thin, knows Zürich
Pleasant, clean, but boring.
It is also one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The prices in the shops on the Bahnhofstrasse would turn Kanye West pale.
Are you staying at the Baur au Lac?
Thin, knows Zürich
Jan 28th, 2015, 04:05 AM
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I would only stay for the event and do as Pal suggest and go to Germany or Italy. I can't afford Switzerland myself, maybe you can but if on any sort of budget I would get on a train and head to Germany or Italy.
Open jaw ticket would be perfect.
Open jaw ticket would be perfect.
Jan 28th, 2015, 04:43 AM
#18
I spent 3 nights in Zurich in 2011 and didn't find it boring either. It gets a bad rap for no good reason.
I, too, didn't do any shopping. My itinerary was:
- See Old Town
- Self-Guided Walk - takes about an hour:
Train Station - big blue angel overhead is Guardian Angel of travelers, station sits over huge underground shopping center
Bahnhofstasse - turn around to see arch façade of train station
Pestalossi Park
Police Department - go in to view amazing waa and celing painting by Augusto Giacometti
Schipfe Street
Lindenhof
St. Peterskirche - Dating from the early 13th century, Zürich's oldest parish church has the largest clock face in Europe. A church has been on this site since the 9th century. The existing building has been considerably expanded over the years: styles range from a Romanesque choir to a Baroque nave. The tower, for example, was extended in 1534, when the clock was added.
Roman Bath and Weinplatz
Rathausbrucke
Conditorei Schober
Grossmunster (Great Church) - Romanesque and Gothic cathedral. Executed on the plump twin towers (circa 1781) are classical caricatures of Gothic forms bordering on the comical. The core of the structure was built in the 12th century on the site of a Carolingian church dedicated to the memory of martyrs Felix and Regula, who allegedly carried their severed heads to the spot. Charlemagne is said to have founded the church after his horse stumbled over their burial site. On the side of the south tower an enormous stone Charlemagne sits enthroned; the original statue, carved in the late 15th century, is protected in the crypt. In keeping with what the 16th-century reformer Zwingli preached from the Grossmünster's pulpit, the interior is spare, even forbidding, with all luxurious ornamentation long since stripped away. The only artistic touches are modern: stained-glass windows by Augusto Giacometti, and ornate bronze doors in the north and south portals, dating from the late 1940s.
"Fraumunster (Church of Our Lady) - Stainedglass windows by Marc Chagall -
Of the church spires that are Zürich's signature, the Fraumünster's is the most delicate, a graceful sweep to a narrow spire. It was added to the Gothic structure in 1732; the remains of Louis the German's original 9th-century abbey are below. Its Romanesque choir is a perfect spot for meditation beneath the ocher, sapphire, and ruby glow of the 1970 stained-glass windows by the Russian-born Marc Chagall, who loved Zürich. The Graubünden sculptor Alberto Giacometti's cousin, Augusto Giacometti, executed the fine painted window, made in 1930, in the north transept.
"
Paradeplatz
Lake Zurich
Great view of city Take the Polybahn funicular to the ETH terrace
Wasserkirche (Water Church) "One of Switzerland's most delicate late-Gothic structures, this church displays stained glass by Augusto Giacometti. Both the church and the Helmhaus once stood on the island on which martyrs Felix and Regula supposedly lost their heads.
"
Rathaus (Town Hall) "Zürich's striking Baroque government building dates from 1694-98. Its interior remains as well preserved as its facade: there's a richly decorated stucco ceiling in the banquet hall and a fine ceramic stove in the council room.
"
Steamboat to Rapperwil Lakeside town at southern tip of Lake Zurich, Rose gardens, promenade, lovely town with pedestrian town square, castle, and parish church with deer park, known as the town of Roses for its gardens (especially on the Cappuchin Monestary grounds)
Botanischer Garten Filled with works of the Impressionists
Uetliberg View Zurich from above, take the excursion train that climbs from main train station to this little mountain peak, high atop the city and the lake "View is particularly striking at sunset.
From Uetliberg station, moderately steep 10 minute walk to a hotel and observation tower."
Friedhof Fluntern (Fluntern Cemetery) James Joyce's grave
Day trip to Basel See where 3 countries meet at the Rhine?
Day trip to Heidiland (Maienfeld) Doesn't sound worth it - it's a fictional story and requires a change of trains with a steep hike up a hill to see a fountain and 'grandfather's house'.
On way to Lucerne from Zurich Einsiedeln, 22 miles south of Zurich Has monestary housing the 'Black Madonna', beautiful baroque abbey, 4:30pm vespers daily
Siftung E.G. Buhrele Museum - Zurich Cezanne, Manet, Degas, Monet
I, too, didn't do any shopping. My itinerary was:
- See Old Town
- Self-Guided Walk - takes about an hour:
Train Station - big blue angel overhead is Guardian Angel of travelers, station sits over huge underground shopping center
Bahnhofstasse - turn around to see arch façade of train station
Pestalossi Park
Police Department - go in to view amazing waa and celing painting by Augusto Giacometti
Schipfe Street
Lindenhof
St. Peterskirche - Dating from the early 13th century, Zürich's oldest parish church has the largest clock face in Europe. A church has been on this site since the 9th century. The existing building has been considerably expanded over the years: styles range from a Romanesque choir to a Baroque nave. The tower, for example, was extended in 1534, when the clock was added.
Roman Bath and Weinplatz
Rathausbrucke
Conditorei Schober
Grossmunster (Great Church) - Romanesque and Gothic cathedral. Executed on the plump twin towers (circa 1781) are classical caricatures of Gothic forms bordering on the comical. The core of the structure was built in the 12th century on the site of a Carolingian church dedicated to the memory of martyrs Felix and Regula, who allegedly carried their severed heads to the spot. Charlemagne is said to have founded the church after his horse stumbled over their burial site. On the side of the south tower an enormous stone Charlemagne sits enthroned; the original statue, carved in the late 15th century, is protected in the crypt. In keeping with what the 16th-century reformer Zwingli preached from the Grossmünster's pulpit, the interior is spare, even forbidding, with all luxurious ornamentation long since stripped away. The only artistic touches are modern: stained-glass windows by Augusto Giacometti, and ornate bronze doors in the north and south portals, dating from the late 1940s.
"Fraumunster (Church of Our Lady) - Stainedglass windows by Marc Chagall -
Of the church spires that are Zürich's signature, the Fraumünster's is the most delicate, a graceful sweep to a narrow spire. It was added to the Gothic structure in 1732; the remains of Louis the German's original 9th-century abbey are below. Its Romanesque choir is a perfect spot for meditation beneath the ocher, sapphire, and ruby glow of the 1970 stained-glass windows by the Russian-born Marc Chagall, who loved Zürich. The Graubünden sculptor Alberto Giacometti's cousin, Augusto Giacometti, executed the fine painted window, made in 1930, in the north transept.
"
Paradeplatz
Lake Zurich
Great view of city Take the Polybahn funicular to the ETH terrace
Wasserkirche (Water Church) "One of Switzerland's most delicate late-Gothic structures, this church displays stained glass by Augusto Giacometti. Both the church and the Helmhaus once stood on the island on which martyrs Felix and Regula supposedly lost their heads.
"
Rathaus (Town Hall) "Zürich's striking Baroque government building dates from 1694-98. Its interior remains as well preserved as its facade: there's a richly decorated stucco ceiling in the banquet hall and a fine ceramic stove in the council room.
"
Steamboat to Rapperwil Lakeside town at southern tip of Lake Zurich, Rose gardens, promenade, lovely town with pedestrian town square, castle, and parish church with deer park, known as the town of Roses for its gardens (especially on the Cappuchin Monestary grounds)
Botanischer Garten Filled with works of the Impressionists
Uetliberg View Zurich from above, take the excursion train that climbs from main train station to this little mountain peak, high atop the city and the lake "View is particularly striking at sunset.
From Uetliberg station, moderately steep 10 minute walk to a hotel and observation tower."
Friedhof Fluntern (Fluntern Cemetery) James Joyce's grave
Day trip to Basel See where 3 countries meet at the Rhine?
Day trip to Heidiland (Maienfeld) Doesn't sound worth it - it's a fictional story and requires a change of trains with a steep hike up a hill to see a fountain and 'grandfather's house'.
On way to Lucerne from Zurich Einsiedeln, 22 miles south of Zurich Has monestary housing the 'Black Madonna', beautiful baroque abbey, 4:30pm vespers daily
Siftung E.G. Buhrele Museum - Zurich Cezanne, Manet, Degas, Monet
Jan 28th, 2015, 05:08 AM
#20
Affordable accommodation in Zürich:
Pension St. Josef
Gets a Thin's Thumbs Up!
However, let us not be disingenuous here.
Zürich is NOT a place for budget travellers.
Even a simple lunch at Hiltl will set you back about $25-30 US.
Thin
Pension St. Josef
Gets a Thin's Thumbs Up!
However, let us not be disingenuous here.
Zürich is NOT a place for budget travellers.
Even a simple lunch at Hiltl will set you back about $25-30 US.
Thin
