Weekend trip to Zürich

Hi all. Visiting a friend this weekend in Zurich who just moved there and doesn't have a clue about the city, and was wondering if anyone had any tips and ideas on what to do there, any recommended restaurants / clubs / bars / lounges to check out?

We're interested in heading out of the city one day as well, perhaps for some mountainbiking, swimming in some cold-ass alpine lake, etc. Any ideas of good nearby places to go for this, also where mountainbike rentals are possible? What about white water rafting, any places close to Zurich that's good for this?

What about the Swiss autobahn situation - is it similar to Austria where I just buy a pass for a week or so?

So many questions... and many thanks!

Ok, what about putting some content in here? We are going to Zurich, Bern and Lucerne for Easter. What nice things to do or places to visit could you recommend around there? Thanks a lot for your ideas!!

Fraumunster Church has five stained glass Chagall pieces

It's realy nice to take a boat trip across the lake. My hubby and I did one to (I think) Rapperswil, and it was really nice. It was a cool little town to wander around with lovely views.

For clubbing, Kauflauten on Friday night. Saturday night is horrible there. And yes there is a deal where if you eat at the restaurant you can get a stamp to enter the club for free but the food there is not worth it. Forgot the name of it but there is this club to the left of the hauptbahnof (when looking at a map) thats ok as well.

Soon as you cross the boarder, you will have to buy a Vignette.. usually 35sFr..

Stick it to your window with spit, then re-cycle re-sell it when you get back

G

It costs 40 francs, actually. Can be paid in euros.

Yeap, Vignette 25 Eur. So, now that we sorted out the autobahn, what about more interesting sights or activities?
The title says Zürich, but in order not to open two other threads on the same topic you could also give suggestions about Bern and Lucerne.
Thank you all.

take a paddle wheel steamer around lake lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) and stop off at any of the small villages. vitznau is particularly charming and you can cable up to the top of Mt. Rigi.
Great hiking and views! Here is a site for more info
www.wvrt.ch/en/welcome.cfm

let me get back to you on nightlife/tips in Zurich, gotta run now.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Any more?

@sunny, any additional tips for Zürich are welcomed.

Well, you have to go to "Sprüngli" (it´s on the main shopping street ) and take a look on the 1000 different kinds of Pralines they have..and then go will go out without having bought anything, because they are expensive like hell

Sprüngli, that's a great idea. In addition to pralinés they have wonderful Luxemburgerli (buying just a few won't break the bank). There's also Confiserie Teuscher - their champagne truffles are out of this world!

The only problem with the delicious pralines is that most probably the shop will be closed when we are there

You should be lucky about that, these Pralines are incredible expensive, I fainted last time when I received the bill there!

Yeah, but trying a few of them should be worthed. Especially if you are a chocolate addict!

ehmmm, yes, of course So if the shop has accidently opened when you go there, you should try the fresh sort "of the day" (recommended by a chocoholic )

Will surely give a try if I can.

I was just in Zürich 2 weekends ago and had a great time. It is a beautiful city and Lucern is also gorgeous. You definitely have to go up to Mt. Rigi. It's freezing at the top, but well worth it. the boat trip on the lake also has to be done. Sprüngli on the main street (Bahnhofstr.) will probably be closed when you're there, but there is also one in the Hauptbahnhof which is open 7 days a week all year round!!

There isn't much by way of nightlife in Zürich, but I would agree with Kaufleuten on a friday night. Other than that, we found a few ok bars around the Bellvue area. You can take a number of different trams there, but it is only a max 15min walk from Hauptbahnhof. It is most definitely not a mad party destination, but we really enjoyed the weekend and came home very relaxed!!

Not much nightlife in Zürich? Which Zürich did you go to?

That's what I wanted to ask, too. I know it's not Berlin, but still...

True, true. As far as party scene, loads of int'l DJ's go through there to boot.

Here is a start: http://www.partyonkels.ch/; http://zuerich.usgang.ch/

panama, I've emailed my good friend living in Zurich for the names of places he took me to last year.
My feeble mind fails to remember these things. They weren't buck wild by any means, but drinks and fun were had. I'll post what he comes back with. Sunny

Panama: as promised, here is the info from my pal Christian below. Apparently, he is really into links. allbest, sunny

I can give you some links for clubbing in Zurich. Nightlife is mainly in the district 5 in Zurich. Here is the map:

http://map.search.ch/8005-zuerich/pfingstweidstr.6

These are some clubs in this area:

http://www.moods.ch/moods/pa_dance.html
http://www.nachtstrom.ch/nachtstrom/?l=de
http://www.besamemucho.ch/sites/event.php

Here is what is going on:
http://zuerich.usgang.ch/

To eat (very bohemien style):
http://www.les-halles.ch/pages/home.html

Hey sunny, thanks a million! And all the others as well.

This is not a troll...I'm really hurting for information here.
Hubby has class in Zurich and wants to make a weekend out of it. We went there in May but didn't have much 'free' time and didn't see much either. Saw the lake, walked around 'old town' and loved the views. Now what? Taking the train this time instead of driving, so we're not as free to roam as last time.
I've done a search here (TT, nothing but living comparisons) and google and they mention boat tours, museums or churches and some shopping (expensive from what I saw), so I'm looking for tips. I would love to hear of a nice place to go after dinner that offers live music - jazz or something that you've attended. Also, can't take day long tours because his class is smack in the middle of Saturday 11-4, so that's out. Also, Sunday...most everything is closed...what to do? Thanks.

Topics merged by admin

Thanks Admin...Didn't find this thread.

You need to be able to spell "Zürich" properly. Note the umlaut.

sorry Bob, but I don't have a german keyboard. yeah, yeah, I know...use special characters. Thanks.

Widder Hotel - Great cocktails, cool bar, and jazz most nights.

Great beer garden if the weather is nice.

And right around the corner from there (at the end of the Bahnhoffstr) they have a great flea market every Saturday...

But in English it's "Zurich", no umlaut. Why would we have to use German spelling?
I hope you're not going to tell us that we'll get a rap on the knuckles for writing "Cologne" instead of "Köln".

Edit: Is this going to earn me a yellow card or a red one?

Ratbert...thanks for the links...I remember that beer garden (it was packed when we walked by) and the english links. I can't read those german web sites. Really appreciate it.
Kay...you go girl. ha...

The Widder is a nice bar for cocktails but when I visted, it was just a piano player playing the classics. However, Moods is an incredible jazz bar that always has interesting and international performers.
http://www.moods.ch/index.php?id=7