Zürich, Switzerland Trip Planner: Essential Things You Need to Know

Did you know that Zürich, Switzerland is home to the largest church clock in Europe? Or Europe’s biggest techno street party? Or that it has a museum dedicated to nothing?

We love us some fun facts, but they’re pretty useless for your trip planning. We’re covering the basics of Zürich Travel 101, such as how to get here, how to snag discounts on sightseeing, what you need to know about the Zürich Card, transportation in the city, things to do in Zürich, and more. So let’s start with the most obvious question: where is Zürich? 

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Where is Zürich, Switzerland?

No, Zürich is not the capital of Switzerland. But it is Switzerland’s largest city with approximately 400,000 residents and nearly half a million overnight tourists each year. It sits on the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich in the northern part of Switzerland and is surrounded by forests and parks and even its own mountain.

What language do they speak in Zürich, Switzerland?

There are 4 language regions in this tiny country and Zürich is in the German-speaking part. Which also means it’s technically spelled with an umlaut — or those 2 little dots — over the “u” and pronounced as “Tsoo-rikh.” Although there are a lot of variations depending on which language you speak:

However, most people here speak a local dialect of Swiss German (or Schwyzerdütsch). For example, to say hello in German is “Hallo,” but in Zürich you’ll also hear a lot of people saying “Grüezi.”

And of course plenty of people speak English here as well. But since this post is in English, we’ll be saying “Zürich” from here on out!

How to get to Zürich, Switzerland (from the Zürich Airport)

We’re going to talk about the city in just a minute, but first let’s start with how to get there.

Zürich Airport is the largest airport in Switzerland, with as many as 110,000 passengers traveling to or from here every day. And many of you will be arriving here by plane too. 

Thankfully, once you land, it’s super convenient to get to the train station since it’s literally connected to the airport. Just follow the signs until you find the mini mall with shops and restaurants and grocery stores. The station is on the lower level of this area.

And from here, a 10-minute direct train ride takes you to the Zürich main station.

By the way, it’s helpful to note that the Zürich Airport train stop is called “Zürich Flughafen” and the central train station in the city is called “Zürich HB,” which is short for Zürich Haubtbahnhof, meaning “main station.”

Welcome to Zürich, Switzerland!

Speaking of Zürich Haubtbahnhof — welcome! You’re standing in the #1 ranked train station in Europe and the largest train station in the country! (I get the feeling everything is bigger in Zürich — I wonder if it’s bigger than Texas?) 

You might feel a bit overwhelmed if your flight just landed, maybe you’re a bit jet lagged, and you’re unfamiliar with public transportation. Before we take another step into the city, we have 3 specific resources to help you.

But you’re here in the Zürich main station…now what?!

Shopping in Zürich Train Station

If you forgot a toothbrush or need some food or want to buy a postcard to mail home to your mom, you can do it here. There are about 200 shops and restaurants and service providers in the station. In fact, this is known as ShopVille because it’s open 365 days/year from early morning until late at night.

Luggage Storage in Zürich Train Station

But if you’re just here on a day trip or stopping to explore for a few hours, you’ll be happy to hear there are an abundance of luggage lockers in all different sizes that you can rent for the day.

And thankfully, these accept cash and credit cards, but if you’re in need of some Swiss Francs, there are ATMs in the train station too. 

Zürich Transportation

Once you step outside of the train station, you’re in the heart of the city center. And thankfully Zürich is very walkable and easy to navigate, considering that only about half of the population owns a car.

There are multiple tram and bus stops directly outside the station, as well as a boat dock, which just so happens to be adjacent to the Swiss National Museum (called the Landesmuseum).

You’re also just a 2-minute walk from both the Limmat and Sihl rivers, which run on either side of the station. And just a 5-minute walk from Zürich Old Town (Altstadt).

And now it’s time to go explore! But what do you need to know about sightseeing in Zürich?

Sightseeing in Zürich

Zürich Card

Most towns and cities in Switzerland offer a complimentary Guest Card to overnight guests, but unfortunately Zürich is not one of them.

But there is something similar available for purchase called the Zürich Card. It’s available for 24 or 72 hours and offers “unlimited Second Class travel on all forms of public transportation in the city of Zürich and surrounding region” as well as reduced or free admission to 20 museums and discounts on city tours and other tourist experiences. 

Some of the highlights include: 

• Transport between the city center and the airport. 
• A trip up to Uetliberg, the mountain of Zürich.
• Short lake cruises, Limmat river cruises, and rides on a handful of city funiculars.
• As well as the free entry to the Swiss National Museum and FIFA Museum, and a discounted entry to the Lindt Home of Chocolate.

Swiss Coupon Pass

If the Zürich Card fits your itinerary and you’re traveling with at least one other person, then we highly recommend buying the Swiss Coupon Pass first. This two-for-one coupon book includes two-for-the-price-of-one Zürich river cruises, fondue dinners, city tours, museum tickets, and more.

Zürich 24-hour Ticket

But what if you’re not planning to visit any museums and just want the local transport coverage? Then instead of the Zürich Card, you might be interested in the Zürich 24-hour Ticket.

First, pick which city zones you’ll be traveling in for the day. Then buy the 24-hour Ticket, which allows you to hop on and off as many buses, trams, trains, boats, and funiculars as you’d like within the zones you chose. And what’s unique is that it’s truly a 24-hour ticket — so you can activate it at noon today and use it all the way until noon tomorrow!

Prices for these start at just 6.40 CHF with the Half Fare Card discount, depending on the number of zones you pick. And you can quickly and easily buy a Zürich 24-hour Ticket on the SBB Mobile App. And if you’ll take even just 2 rides on public transportation, this is probably a good buy!

Zürich Free Bicycle Rental

Now, that only applies to regular bikes and kids bikes. If you want an ebike, they cost 30 CHF a day, which is quite affordable, but you do need to book in advance. 

Zürich Drinking Water

All of that walking and biking will probably make you thirsty. Thankfully there are more than 1200 fountains in the city gushing with crystal clear drinking water! 

We won’t show you all 1224 because that would be a bit excessive, but here are a few of the most popular ones:

• The Münsterhof Fountain next to the Fraumünster Church is where water turns to wine — and no, it’s not a miracle! There’s a special tap on the side that can be converted to flow wine. 
• Sechseläutenplatz in front of the Opera House is the largest natural stone square in Europe. It’s essentially a splash pad with 53 impressive water jets. 
• Dip your toes in the refreshing water of Europuddle, a 5000 square meter (53,800 square foot) piazza in Europaalee. 
• Or watch the water spew up to 35 meters (115 feet) into the sky at Fountain Aquareturm in Lake Zürich.

And we all know that Switzerland has some of the cleanest drinking water in the world, and here these fountains serve up a refreshing cocktail blend of 70% lake water, 15% ground water, and 15% spring water. Plus, Zürich is one of the cities with the most water fountains in the world, meaning you’ll spy these all over town. Or you can find them all on the Zürich City Guide app — more on that in a moment.

Public Toilets in Zürich

So walking and biking in Zürich made you thirsty, and now that you’ve rehydrated from some fountains, you probably need to use the bathroom. 

Bless your little bladder — there are more than 100 public toilets in the busy areas of the city. (I love Switzerland and their free, often quite clean, bathrooms.) Most of them are free, but the ones that are staffed or handicap accessible typically cost 1 CHF. There’s even an interactive map to show you all of their locations and when they’re open. 

Or you could always pop into one of our favorite cafes or bakeries to buy a treat and use the bathroom. But you’ll have to read our Zürich Travel Guide to learn about all of those.

Markets, Shopping, and Restaurants in Zürich (Opening Dates and Times)

What else do you need to know about exploring the city of Zürich? 

Well, most stores are generally open from 9:00am to 5:00 or 6:00pm during the week, but may close a bit earlier on Saturdays. And on Sundays or public holidays, the only shops you’ll find open are usually in the big train stations. That’s because there’s actually a law in the canton of Zürich that restricts Sunday opening hours in order to preserve it as a day of rest.

There are a handful of markets in various spots across the city from Monday to Saturday. They’re typically open in the morning and close before lunchtime, although a few of them are open into the evening too.

And restaurants completely vary, but you’ll find something open from breakfast to a late night snack pretty much every day of the week. 

For most of your sightseeing activities, you shouldn’t have a problem on any day of the week — except for Mondays, which is when many museums are closed. 

As always, double check the opening days and times before visiting. And from our experience, we don’t trust the information on our maps app but instead go straight to the specific website to make sure we don’t show up somewhere that’s closed. 

Zürich City Guide App

It’s also interesting to mention that there are more than 70 parks throughout the city, which means you’re never very far from greenspaces. And if you want to find a park, market, or really anything in Zürich, you’ll definitely want to download the Zürich App. 

I wish every city had an app as helpful as this, since it’s a one-stop-shop to buy a Zürich Card, transport tickets, museum tickets, city tours, or day trips. You can search popular spots and see a photo, a brief description, opening hours, prices, direct weblinks, and even navigation directions. You can favorite the restaurants you want to try and even make reservations in the app. And there’s an impressive map with handy filters like things that are free with the Zürich Card or what’s open today. 

We are not sponsored by Zürich Tourism to say any of this, we just genuinely find the Zürich App to be so extremely helpful that we want to make sure you know about it, too.

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Every Saturday we share travel tips and ideas based on our decades of experience in this beautiful little country. And now that we live here, we have even more to share with fellow travelers (like you!) about traveling Switzerland with confidence!

How far is Zürich from other Swiss destinations?

Most of you are probably spending just one night or maybe a few days in Zürich, and then heading somewhere else in Switzerland. Thankfully, it’s easy to hop on a train from Zürich and reach any of the most popular destinations.

• It’s just 3 hours and 20 minutes to Zermatt.
• 3 hours to Geneva on a direct train.
• 2 hours to Interlaken, with a handful of direct trains daily.
• A 1 hour direct train to Basel.
• And 45 minutes direct to Lucerne.

What to do in Zürich, Switzerland

Hopefully your Swiss itinerary includes a few of those spots. But before you leave the city, you might want to know what to see in Zürich while you’re here, such as:

• A tour and tasting at one of Switzerland’s most famous chocolate factories…
• Secret alleys in the heart of Old Town that will make you feel like you’ve left the tourist trail behind…
• Endless fountains, parks, and squares, sprinkled throughout the city…
• Boat rides and river cruises to complete every itinerary…
• And the best viewpoints overlooking Zürich’s cityscape…