Six Days in Zurich for a Holiday Kickoff

How we kicked off the holidays during six days in Zurich

With its old city charm, international city vibe, Christmas markets and bustle, nearby locations for day trips, art and culture venues, and wonderful food and drink — Zurich is a great place to visit any time of  year, but especially for getting in the spirit of the holidays. There is more than enough to do in the city itself and on side trips during six days in Zurich. It  was a perfect choice for what has become our annual trip to Europe in early December, and  we got a good taste of Zurich while embracing the joy of the season.

Mr. TWS at the Zurich Opera House Christmas Market

Getting in the holiday spirit

Zurich at night

I loved strolling the lanes of Old Town whether bustling with people or at quiet times as we made our way back to the hotel late in the evening. Shops and restaurants were tastefully decorated with lights that glowed on the cobblestone streets.

Festively-decorated Confiserie Teuscher

The Christmas markets

We were surprised there were so many Christmas markets in Zurich each with unique qualities, whether they were our destination or catching them as we visited a specific site in Zurich or during our day trips. At each of the markets, we felt the good cheer of the others we joined there.

Zurich Opera House Wienachtsdorf at Sechselautenplatz

Arriving in Zurich at noon, we spent the rest of our first day exploring Old Town on foot and enjoying the city’s largest Christmas market next to Lake Zurich and in front of the beautiful Zurich Opera House, the Wienachtsdorf at Sechselautenplatz. This was our favorite of the markets we visited.

Zurich Opera House Christmas market

The setting is beautiful bordered by Lake Zurich and the opera house. We spent the evening here on our first night and on our final day in Zurich, browsing the stalls with crafts, food, and drinks. This is also where we experienced delectable and rich cheese fondue in a temporary chalet restaurant, while enjoying the camaraderie of fellow diners, locals who were so friendly and fun.

Christkindlemarkt at Zurich Central Station

One of the largest indoor Christmas markets in Europe, Christkindlemarkt at Zurich Central Station is held in the station’s main concourse. The beautiful large Christmas tree was a highlight but we also foundmany  food items to sample.

Lindt Christmas tree at Zurich Central Station

Werdemuhleplatz

Located near Bahnhofstrasse at Werdemuhleplatz this Christmas market’s main attraction is the “Singing Christmas Tree” which is a stand that looks like a giant Christmas tree with singers embedded at various levels. The singers are local choirs performing each day at various times.

Singing Christmas tree at the Werdmühleplatz Christmas market

Schweizerisches Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum)

The Illuminarium  at the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum) provides light projections that brightens its exterior walls with dazzling, changing images.  There are also scheduled special light performances (which require a ticket for admission), but we just enjoyed walking around the courtyard and getting caught up in the upbeat atmosphere of friends meeting after work for glühwein and families sampling sweet treats.

Light projections and Christmas Market in the courtyard of the Swiss National Museum

Other sites and activities to visit in Zurich any time of year

Limmat River

Kunsthaus Museum

There are over 50 museums in Zurich from art to national history to watches and clocks to toys, and we’d love to visit many of them someday. But on this trip, we selected one to visit for a cultural experience while in Zurich.

Located at Heimplatz 1/5,  the Kunsthaus Museum displays about a quarter of its over 4,000 works of art  in two buildings featuring permanent collections and special exhibitions. It’s Switzerland’s largest art museum including works by Munch, Van Gogh, Vuillard, Giacometti, Monet, and Manet. We enjoyed our brief visit seeing most of the main areas, but not the special exhibitions.

Kunsthaus Museum

Fraumünster

Famous for its Chagall stained glass windows, Fraumünster was founded in 853 as a Benedictine convent. The windows were installed in 1970 and Chagall himself was present for the event. The ceiling’s stars, whitewashed during the Reformation along with the church’s murals, were just rediscovered in the 20th century. The photo below shows three of the Chagall windows which would appear much more colorful during the daytime, but are still beautiful. We also visited the 9th-century crypt below the church.

Chagall stained-glass windows at night in Fraumünster

Grossmünster

Another major Zurich church is Grossmünster, founded by Charlemagne in the 9th century, at Zwingliplatz 7 that is also known for its stained-glass windows. These were designed by Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti. We didn’t get a chance to go inside because there was quite a long line at the end of the day, but it is a highly recommended landmark.

Take a boat ride on Lake Zurich

Despite an overcast day, we enjoyed a 1-1/2 hour round trip boat trip that Lake Zurich cruising along both shores making several stops allowing on-off, including at the Lindt Factory and seemed a fun and easy way to get there to and from Zurich Bürkliplatz.The boat has seating on the second deck outside and on both decks inside. The trip provided excellent views of the lakeshore and Zurich and serves food and beverages.

Lake Zurich tour boat at Bürkliplatz

Stroll and shop along Bahnhofstrasse

It was fun to browse the high-end stores of Bahnhofstrasse, the long main street of Zurich leading from the Central Train Station to Lake Zurich, which is one of the world’s most expensive shopping streets. It was interesting day or night, but at Christmastime the storefronts had beautiful Christmas decorations and the street sported thousands of tiny lights representing starlight (called Lucy for the Beatles Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds). There are also many very good restaurants up and down Bahnhofstrasse.

Zurich at night – Confiserie Sprüngli on Bahnhofstrasse and Paradeplatz

Walk along the Limmat River and Lake Zurich

Exploring the Limmat River

We also enjoyed the views walking along the lake and the river. Beautiful by day and stunning with lights at night.

The River Limmat – tram crossing on the bridge, holiday circus on the right

Visit the top of Zurich at Mt. Uetliberg and Felsenegg

On the trail to the top of Mt. Uetliberg

One of the highlights of Zurich was going to the summit of Uetliberg, the prominent hill  overlooking Zurich. It’s a short train ride on the S-Bahn to Uetliberg Station. From there it’s a short walk uphill through the woods to the top. There are stunning views of Zurich, Lake Zurich and the Limmat River Valley with the Alps in the distance. We had planned lunch at the restaurant in the UTO Kulm Hotel, but hadn’t expected such a nice upscale restaurant, which proved a real treat for Mr. TWS’s birthday lunch.

The next day we visited Felsenegg, a neighboring peak to Uetliberg, accessible best by cable car. We took the S4 train from Zurich Selnau (close to our hotel on Stockerstrasse) to Adliswil, From the station, signs point out a short walk uphill to the cable car station. From the top, there are views and numerous trails to hike, one of which leads along the ridge to Uetliberg, Depending on your time and the time of year, I could also imagine going to Uetliberg or Felsenegg, taking the Planet Trail to the other point and then returning from that viewpoint to Zurich train station. The Planet Trail is about a 2-hour hike that shows the relative distances among our solar system’s planets, scaled 1 meter to 1 million kilometers.

Atop Felsenegg

Day trips from Zurich

On this trip, we chose to take two organized day trips that provided transportation by bus to cover multiple bases without multiple transfers.

Day trip to Mt. Titlis with a stop in Lucerne along the way

Mt. Titlis

For us, this day trip was a big highlight. It provided a brief revisit of Lucerne and a trip up Mount Titlis in the Alps to experience real winter with lots of snow,  colder temperatures, and a spectacular views of the Alps. On an overcast day, we walked from the parking lot to the gondola lift that took us to the top of the mountain. Halfway, we transferred to the Rotair, a panoramic cable car that slowly rotates providing 360 degree views. It was very foggy until we reached the top of the clouds and were dazzled by bright sunshine and breathtaking views.

At the summit of Mr. Titlis

That left us at the main 5-story building, that offered several restaurants, a gift shop, spectacular views, and access to the other facilities, including the cliff walk, Ice Flyer chairlift, and glacier cave. We walked uphill on beautiful fresh snow to the cliff walk, a metal suspension bridge between two cliff walls suspended over the abyss below.  The frigid short walk in brilliant sunlight was thrilling with stunning views.

On the cliff walk atop Mt. Titlis

After the return walk, we boarded the Ice Flyer chairlift with additional views. With a bit of time to spare, we headed to the bottom floor and a walk in the glacier cave, a U-shaped cave cut into a glacier.

After our adventures, it was time for a late lunch and we headed to the Panorama Restaurant with spectacular views of the Alps.

Lunch at the Panorama Restaurant atop Mt. Titlis

Lucerne

We’d visited this lovely city many years ago and enjoyed a return look.

Chapel Bridge in Lucerne

On our own in Lucerne, we walked along the lake and river, around old town and across the bridges, including the famous wooden one — Chapel Bridge. Another must-see landmark in town is the Lion Monument commemorating the Swiss Guards who were killed in 1792 during the French Revolution.

Lion of Lucerne

Lucerne chocolate tip: Take a break for hot chocolate and a pastry at Bachmann, a café of the company that provides fine pastries and candies. We also bought a few specialty chocolates for later.

Day trip to Rapperswil, Heididorf, and Liechtenstein

Perhaps it will seem a little silly, but the main reason we took this tour of Rapperswil, Heididorf, and Liechtenstein was to check a new country off our list — Lichtenstein! But the other stops on the tour also sounded interesting. These locations would also be easy to reach via the rail system if you want to travel on your own.

Rapperswil

We took a short walk around Rapperswil, located on the northeastern shore of Lake Zurich, and 12^th-century Rapperswil Castle. Rapperswil has narrow Medieval streets, a charming ambiance, and extensive displays of roses (earning it the name of “city of roses”), though in December we only found an occasional wilted last rose of summer. We enjoyed a very nice lunch at Rosenstadter, a quaint café with local dishes.

Rapperswil

Finally, we took a brief walk through the Christmas market on our way to the coach.

Rapperswil Christmas Market

Heididorf

This visit is not usually part of the tour during the winter, but because the weather was mild, we were able to make a stop there for about an hour and a half. Heididorf is located in the town where Johanna Spyri, author of Heidi, lived and got her inspiration for the story. The five accessible buildings show the way of life back in the days of Heidi and include “Heidi House”, the schoolhouse, the town hall, and the stable. The best part of this stop was the feeling of being in a Swiss hillside village with wonderful views of the valley and mountains.

Heididorf (Heidi Village) in Maienfeld with Heidi figures

Liechtenstein

We were actually just looking to check off a new country with a visit to Vaduz, the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein (the third smallest country in Europe), and a short stop here on the tour took care of that nicely. Beyond a view of the iconic hilltop castle (shown below) and spending time in the small Christmas market, whose main feature was a central ice rink, there was little else we did there.

Liechtenstein Castle above the capital city of Vaduz

Other nice days trips from Zurich tip: Jungfraujoch, Interlaken, Grindewald to Eiger Glacier (we visited each of these places on a previous visit); or Stein Am Rhein and Rhine Falls, the biggest waterfall in Europe.

How we got around during six days in Zurich

Zurich is a great city for walking around and we took advantage of that, walking around the Old Town and nearby neghborhoods throughout the days. Our hotel on Stockerstrasse was just about a 10-minute walk to Old Town, a few blocks from the lake and close to tram stops. Uber is a great alternative to taxis (which are very expensive in Zurich) and we used it twice in the city and once for getting to the airport for an early morning flight. Mostly we augmented our walks with tram rides, which were easy to manage with Zurich Card (which included all transportation fees on trams, trains, buses, boats and free or discounted admission to museums and other venues) and the SBB app (very helpful in planning routes by tram and train throughout Switzerland). Switzerland has an amazing railway network and many people choose to travel by train in between cities. as we’ve experienced on a previous trip.

What and where we ate and drank

First things first! If you visit in the winter, don’t miss a chance to have cheese fondue. It’s not really a commonly-found dish during warmer seasons. We checked that food experience off our list at a fondue chalet at the Zurich Opera House Christmas Market- The fondue we had (shown below) was Moitié-Moitié (meaning half and half), with the main ingredients being Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois cheeses. It’s very rich and filling!

Savoring cheese fondue at the Christmas Market

Zurich is a contemporary international city and there are also many dining options besides traditional Swiss specialties, including restaurants featuring Italian and Spanish dishes (photo below with tapas and Spanish wine was taken at Almodobar).

Tapas and Spanish wine at Almodobar

Recommended restaurants tip (from our experiences, in order of when we dined there):

Pesto pasta, local fish, Wienerschnitzel, wood-fired salmon, fried apple rings, pastries, grilled sausages, pumpkin soup

Aurora at Bahnhofstrasse 61 — upscale restaurant with lovely presentations and attentive service with nice views of Bahnofstrasse below

Almodobar at Bleicherweg 68 — extensive Spanish tapas menu with great service in a lively setting

Cantinetta Antinori at Augustinergasse 25  — very busy Italian restaurant on a charming alley in Old Town

Ristorante 33 at Bleicherweg 33 — Italian restaurant with warm ambiance and welcoming staff. A big favorite of ours on this trip, we had dinner here once, but also stopped in twice more for dessert (excellent tiramisu) and wine.

UTO Kulm on Mt. Uetliberg — As mentioned earlier in the post, we had a delicious and memorable lunch here on Mr. TWS’s birthday.

Fischerstube at Bellerivestrasse 160 — This restaurant on the Lake Zurich waterfront with views of lights across the lake was great for Mr. TWS’s birthday dinner. Great food and service.

Metropol at Fraumünsterstrasse 12 – Asian cuisine at this bar and restaurant near Bürkliplatz boat dock. We had a quick, but delicious, lunch of soup and salad before going on the boat tour.

Zum Kropf at In Gassen 16 — traditional Swiss restaurant established in 1888, perfect for indulging in Wienerschnitzel  (for me) and Eglifilet Salzkartoffeln (a local fish) for Mr. TWS

Drinks tip: As you are visiting sights or shopping, take a break for snacks and drinks at Savoy at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Bahnhofstrasse, Lulu Restaurant’s cocktail bar at the Opera House, or Goethe Bar at Brasserie Schiller also near the Opera House.

Vineyards in winter

Wine tip: If you like wine, be sure to try some of the Swiss wines. There’s much more diversity that I expected. I found several dry white wines that I liked very much. I also found that although Zurich is expensive for dining, wine prices in restaurants were quite reasonable.

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