Top: Night view of Zürich from Uetliberg, Middle left: National Museum, Middle right: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Bottom: View over Zürich and the lake.
|- Density||4,141 /km2 (10,726 /sq mi)|
|Area||91.88 km2 (35.48 sq mi)|
|Elevation||408 m (1,339 ft)|
|- Highest||871 m - Uetliberg|
|- Lowest||392 m - Limmat|
|Mayor (list)||Corine Mauch (as of 2009) SPS/PSS|
|Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon|
|Twin towns|| Kunming
Zürich or Zurich (see Etymology below) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in Eastern Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. While the municipality itself has 380,500 inhabitants, the Zürich metropolitan area is an urbanised area of international importance constituted by a population of nearly 2 million inhabitants. Zürich is a mixed hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zürich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country.
Permanently settled for around 7,000 years, the history of Zürich goes back to its founding by the Romans, who, in 15 BC, called it Turicum. During the Middle Ages Zürich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519, was the place of origin and center of the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland, led by Ulrich Zwingli.
Zürich is a leading global city and amongst the world's largest financial centres. The city is home to a large number of financial institutions and banking giants. Also, most of the research and development centers are concentrated in Zürich and the low rate of tax attracts overseas companies to set up their headquarters there. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe.
In addition to be Switzerland's main commercial centre, Zürich is sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland. An impressive number of museums and art galleries can be found in the city, among which the Swiss National Museum and the Kunsthaus. Zürich also hosts one of the most important theatres in the German-speaking world.
The earliest known form of the city's name is Turicum, attested on a tombstone of the late 2nd century AD in the form STA(tio) TURICEN(sis) ("Turicum tax post"). Neither the name's linguistic origin (most likely Rhaetic or Celtic) nor its meaning can be determined with certainty. A possibility is derivation from *Turīcon, from the Gaulish personal name Tūros.
A first development towards its later, Germanic form is attested as early as the 6th century AD with the form Ziurichi. From the 10th century onward, the name has more or less clearly been established as Zürich (Zurih (857), Zurich (924)).
The standard German pronunciation of the name is [ˈtsyːʁɪç] ( listen). Note that in the modern Zürich dialect, the name has lost its final ch, becoming Züri [ˈtsyɾi], although the adjective remains Zürcher [ˈtsyrxer].
The city is called Zurich [zyʁik] in French, Zurigo [dzuˈɾiːɡo] in Italian, and Turitg in Romansh.
In English the name is usually written Zurich, without the umlaut. It may be pronounced /ˈzʊərɪk/, /ˈzjʊərɪk/, or /ˈzɜrɪk/.
A Carolingian castle, built on the site of the Roman castle by the grandson of Charlemagne, Louis the German, is mentioned in 835 (in castro Turicino iuxta fluvium Lindemaci). Louis also founded the Fraumünster abbey in 853 for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.
In 1045, King Henry III granted the convent the right to hold markets, collect tolls, and mint coins, and thus effectively made the abbess the ruler of the city.
Emperor Frederick II promoted the abbess of the Fraumünster to the rank of a duchess in 1234. The abbess assigned the mayor, and she frequently delegated the minting of coins to citizens of the city. However, the political power of the convent slowly waned in the 14th century, beginning with the establishment of the Zunftordnung (guild laws) in 1336 by Rudolf Brun, who also became the first independent mayor, i.e. not assigned by the abbess.
The famous illuminated manuscript known as the Codex Manesse, now in Heidelberg – described as "the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries;" – was commissioned by the Manesse family of Zürich, copied and illustrated in the city at some time between 1304 and 1340. Producing such a work was a highly expensive prestige project, requiring several years work by highly skilled scribes and miniature painters, and it clearly testifies to the increasing wealth and pride of Zürich citizens in this period.
Zürich joined the Swiss confederation (which at that time was a loose confederation of de facto independent states) as the fifth member in 1351 but was expelled in 1440 due to a war with the other member states over the territory of Toggenburg (the Old Zürich War). Neither side had attained significant victory when peace was agreed upon in 1446, and Zürich was re-admitted to the confederation in 1450.
In 1839, the city had to yield to the demands of its urban subjects, following the Züriputsch of 6 September. Most of the ramparts built in the 17th century were torn down, without ever having been besieged, to allay rural concerns over the city's hegemony. The Treaty of Zürich between Austria, France, and Sardinia was signed in 1859.
From 1847, the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn, the first railway on Swiss territory, connected Zürich with Baden, putting the Zürich Hauptbahnhof at the origin of the Swiss rail network. The present building of the Hauptbahnhof (the main railway station) dates to 1871.
Zürich was accidentally bombed during World War II.
The blue and white coat of arms of Zürich is attested from 1389, and was derived from banners with blue and white stripes in use since 1315 . The first certain testimony of banners with the same design is from 1434. The coat of arms is flanked by two lions. The red Schwenkel on top of the banner had varying interpretations: For the people of Zürich, it was a mark of honour, granted by Rudolph I. Zürich's neighbors mocked it as a sign of shame, commemorating the loss of the banner at Winterthur in 1292.
Today, the Canton of Zürich uses the same coat of arms as the city.
The city is situated where the river Limmat issues from the north-western end of Lake Zurich (Zürichsee), about 30 km north of the Alps. Zürich is surrounded by wooded hills including (from the north) the Gubrist, the Hönggerberg, the Käferberg, the Zürichberg, the Adlisberg and the Oettlisberg on the eastern shore; and the Uetliberg (part of the Albis range) on the western shore. The river Sihl meets with the Limmat at the end of Platzspitz, which borders the Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum). The geographic (and historic) center of the city is the Lindenhof, a small natural hill on the west bank of the Limmat, about 700 meters north of where the river issues from Lake Zürich. Today the incorporated city stretches somewhat beyond the natural hydrographic confines of the hills and includes some neighborhoods to the northeast in the Glatt Valley (German: Glattal) and to the north in the Limmat Valley (German: Limmattal).
The previous boundaries of the city of Zürich (before 1893) were more or less synonymous with the location of the old town. Two large expansions of the city limits occurred in 1893 and in 1934 when the city of Zürich merged with many surrounding municipalities, that had been growing increasingly together since the 19th century. Today, the city is divided into twelve districts (known as Kreis in German), numbered 1 to 12, each one of which may contain anywhere between 1 and 4 neighborhoods:
Most of the district boundaries are fairly similar to the original boundaries of the previously existing municipalities before they were incorporated into the city of Zürich.
Summers are warm with average high temperatures of 21–24 °C (70–75 °F) and lows of 10–12 °C (50–54 °F), while winters are cold with average temperatures range from -4 to 5 °C (25 to 41 °F). Spring and autumn are generally cool to mild. Temperatures do sometimes exceed 25 °C (77 °F) during the summer.
Precipitation is abundant throughout the year, with 42.4 inches (1,076.96 mm) annually. Summers are wetter than winters.
|Average high °C (°F)||2.0
|Average low °C (°F)||-2.8
|Precipitation mm (inches)||69.0
|Source: Weatherchannel 2009-10-16|
The city of Zürich is among the world-leaders in protecting the climate by following a manifold approach. Recently, for example, the people of Zürich voted in a public referendum to write into law the quantifiable and fixed deadline of one tonne of CO2 per person per annum by 2050. This forces any decision of the executive to support this goal, even if the costs are higher in all dimensions. Some examples are the new disinfection section of the public city hospital in Triemli (Minergie-P quality – passive house), the continued optimization and creation of public transportation, enlargement of the bicycle-only network, research and projects for renewable energy and enclosure of speed-ways.
Zürich is a mixed hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Zürich Hauptbahnhof is the largest and busiest station in Switzerland and is an important railway hub in Europe. It has several other railway stations, including Oerlikon, Stadelhofen, Hardbrücke, Tiefenbrunnen, Enge, Wiedikon and Altstetten. The Cisalpino, InterCityExpress, and even the TGV high-speed trains stop in Zürich.
The A1, A3 and A4 motorways pass close to Zürich. The A1 heads west towards Berne and Geneva and eastwards towards St. Gallen; the A4 leads northwards to Schaffhausen; and the A3 heads northwest towards Basel and southeast along Lake Zurich and Lake Walen towards Sargans.
Within Zürich and throughout the canton of Zürich, the ZVV network of public transport has traffic density ratings among the highest worldwide. If you add frequency, which in Zürich can be as often as 7 minutes, it does become the densest across all dimensions. Three means of mass-transit exist: the S-Bahn (local trains), trams, and buses (both diesel and electric, also called trolley buses). In addition, the public transport network includes boats on the lake and river, funicular railways and even the Luftseilbahn Adliswil-Felsenegg (LAF), a cable car between Adliswil and Felsenegg. Tickets purchased for a trip are valid on all means of public transportation (train, tram, bus, boat). The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) operates passenger vessels on the Limmat river and the Lake Zürich, connecting surrounding towns between Zürich and Rapperswil.
There are officially 358,540 people living in Zürich (as of 2007), making it Switzerland's largest city. Of registered inhabitants, 30.6% (115,379 people) do not hold Swiss citizenship. Of these, German citizens make up the largest group with 22.0%, followed by Italians. The population of the city proper including suburbs totals 1.08 million people. However, the entire metropolitan area (including the cities of Winterthur, Baden, Brugg, Schaffhausen, Frauenfeld, Uster/Wetzikon, Rapperswil-Jona and Zug) has a population of around 1.68 million people.
The [[official language]] used by the government and in most publications is German, while the main language is Zürich German (Züritüütsch or "Zürichdeutsch in German), which is a local dialect of Alemannic As of 2000, German is the mother-tongue of 77.7% of the population. Italian follows behind at 4.7% of the population. Other native languages spoken by more than 1% of the population include South Slavic languages (2.2%)—this includes Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian, Spanish (2.2%), French (2.1%), English (1.8%), Portuguese (1.6%), Albanian (1.5%).
Since the reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, Zürich has remained the center and stronghold of protestantism in Switzerland. In the course of the 20th century, this has changed as Catholics now make up the largest religious group in the city, with 33.3%. An increasing number of residents, about 16.8% of the population in 2000, declare themselves as being without religion.
Zürich has a number of notable churches including:
During 2004 the Fraumünster was fully renovated. During this period the installed scaffolding went above the tip of the tower allowing a unique and exceptional 360° panoramic view of Zürich.
Notable museums include:
Zürich is a leading financial center, and is often considered a global city. UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, Zurich Financial Services, and many other financial institutions have their headquarters in Zürich, the commercial center of Switzerland. Zürich is one of the world's largest centers for offshore banking. The Swiss Stock Exchange is located in Zürich (see also Swiss banking).
The Greater Zürich Area is Switzerland's economic center and home to a vast number of international companies.
The high quality of life has been cited as a reason for economic growth in Zürich. The consulting firm Mercer has for many years ranked Zürich as a city with the highest quality of life in the world. Other cities in the country, Berne and Geneva, were also listed among the top ten. Zürich is also ranked the sixth most expensive city in the world. In 2008, Zürich was ranked ninth. The city ranked behind Hong Kong and ahead of Copenhagen. It is the third most expensive city in Europe and second most expensive city in Switzerland after Geneva.
In the productive sector of the city, 60% speak German, 43% English, 30% French and 13% Italian. The city is home to many multilingual people. Such diversity in culture accounts for the opening of offices and research centers in the city by large corporations, such as IBM, General Motors Europe, Toyota Europe, UBS, Credit Suisse, Google, Microsoft, eBay, ABB Ltd., and Degussa.
The Swiss stock exchange is called SIX Swiss Exchange, formerly known as SWX. The SIX Swiss Exchange is the head group of several different worldwide operative financial systems: virt-x, Eurex, Eurex US, EXFEED and STOXX. The exchange turnover generated at the SWX was in 2007 of 1,780,499.5 million CHF; the number of transactions arrived in the same period at 35,339,296 and the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) arrived at a total market capitalization of 1,359,976.2 million CHF.
The SIX Swiss Exchange goes back more than 150 years. In 1996, fully electronic trading replaced the traditional floor trading system at the stock exchanges of Geneva (founded in 1850), Zürich (1873) and Basel (1876).
Since 2008, the SIX Swiss Exchange has been part of the SIX Group, as SWX Group, SIS Group and Telekurs Group merged.
The executive power is being executed by the city council named "Stadtrat". Similar to the city parliament the councillors are also elected by the people of Zürich. Each councillor is responsible for a specific department. One member of the council is also acting as city president which best could be described as the mayor. Current city president is Corine Mauch.
Zürich is home to two universities and many colleges (called gymnasiums). Two of Switzerland's most distinguished universities are located in the city. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) which is controlled by the (federal) state and the University of Zürich that is under direction of the canton of Zürich. Both universities are well-known and have an international reputation. They were listed in the top 50 world universities rated in 2007.
Many large Swiss media conglomerates are headquartered in Zürich, such as tamedia, Ringier and the NZZ-Verlag. Zürich is one of the most important media locations in the German speaking part of the country. This status has been recently reinforced by the increase in availability of online publications published in Zürich.
The headquarters of Switzerland's national license fee funded German language television network ("SF") are located in the Leutschenbach neighborhood, to the north of the Oerlikon train station. Regional commercial television station "TeleZüri" (Zürich Television) has its headquarters near Escher-Wyss Platz. The production facilities for other commercial stations "Star TV", "u1" TV and "3+" are located in Schlieren.
One section of the Swiss German language license fee funded public radio station "Schweizer Radio DRS" is located in Zürich. There are commercial local radio stations broadcasting from Zürich, such as "Radio 24" on the Limmatstrasse, "Energy Zürich" in Seefeld on the Kreuzstrasse, Radio "LoRa" and "Radio 1". There are other radio stations that operate only during certain parts of the year, such as "CSD Radio" (May/June), "Radio Streetparade" (July/August) and "rundfunk.fm" (August/September).
There are three large daily newspapers published in Zürich that are known across Switzerland. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), the Tages-Anzeiger and the Blick, the largest Swiss tabloid. All three of those newspapers publish Sunday editions. These are the "NZZ am Sonntag", "SonntagsZeitung" and "SonntagsBlick". Besides the three main daily newspapers, there are free daily commuter newspapers which are widely distributed: 20 Minuten (20 minutes), published weekdays in the mornings, News (weekday morning) and http://www.blick.ch/blickamabend, weekdays but in the late afternoon, and Cashdaily, a finance-related weekday free newspaper published in the mornings, but only available at certain branded newspaper sales kiosks.
The Zurich Opera House (German: Zürcher Opernhaus) is one of the principal opera houses in Europe. Once a year, it hosts the Zürcher Opernball with the President of the Swiss Confederation and the economic and cultural élite of Switzerland.
The Schauspielhaus Zürich is the main theater complex of the City. It has two dépendances: Pfauen in the Central City District and Schiffbauhalle, an old industrial hall, in Zürich West. The Schauspielhaus was home to emigrants such as Bertolt Brecht or Thomas Mann, and saw premieres of works of Max Frisch, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Botho Strauss or Elfriede Jelinek.
The Theater am Neumarkt is one of the oldest theaters of the city. Established by the old guilds in the Old City District, it is located in a baroque palace near Niederdorf Street. It has two stages staging mostly avantgarde works by European directors.
The traditional cuisine of Zürich consists of traditional fare, reflecting the centuries of rule by patrician burghers as well as the lasting imprint of Huldrych Zwingli's puritanism. Traditional dishes include Zürcher Geschnetzeltes and Tirggel.
Zürich offers a great deal of variety when it comes to night-time leisure. It is the host city of the world-famous Street Parade, which takes place in August every year.
The most famous districts for Nightlife are the Niederdorf in the old town with bars, restaurants, lounges, hotels, clubs, etc. and a lot of fashion shops for a young and stylish public and the Langstrasse in the districts 4 and 5 of the city. There are authentic amusements: Brazilian bars, punk clubs, HipHop stages, Caribic restaurants, arthouse-cinemas, Turkish kebabs and Italian espresso-bars, but also sex shops or the famous red light district of Zürich.
In the past ten years new parts of the city have risen into the spotlight. Notably, the area known as Zürich West in district 5, near the Escher-Wyss square and the S-Bahn Station of Zürich Hardbrücke.
Heckling within a political context is not unknown in Switzerland it is frowned upon in an artistic context, unlike in the Anglo-Saxon countries where heckling is generally perceived to be an acceptable form of protest or audience interaction.
Since 2005, however, heckling of performing artists has become more commonplace. Musicians of Zurich, Gustav Bertha in particular, have become an increasing focus of hecklers. This shift is primarily perpetrated by foreigners and is often met with a positive response by the non-Swiss performers who welcome the audience interaction.
Association football is an essential aspect of sports in Zürich. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is headquartered in town. The city is also home to two major Swiss football teams listed in Switzerland's highest league; Grasshopper-Club Zürich founded in 1886 and FC Zürich which has existed since 1896.
Another popular sport in Switzerland, ice hockey, is represented by the ZSC Lions. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officiating as head organisation for ice hockey leagues worldwide is based in Zürich as well.
Zürich co-hosted some of the Euro 2008 games in the Letzigrund Stadion. Work on the new Letzigrund was completed in exceptionally quick time and the stadium opened in August 2007 just one year after the demolition of the old arena.
People who were born or died in Zürich:
Zurich  (German: Zürich, Zuerich) is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of some 364,500 in the city proper and close to 1 million in the agglomeration area. Zurich is on Lake Zurich, where the lake meets the Limmat River, in the north of Switzerland. It was one of the eight host cities in the 2008 European Football Championships.
Zurich is the largest city of the Helvetian Confederation (Switzerland) by land area and population. It's the financial center of Switzerland, houses the stock exchange and the headquarters of a large number of national and international companies. National and international media agencies as well as most of the national TV channel companies are also located here. As Zurich is the central node of the Swiss-wide train network and also runs the biggest and busiest international airport of the country, it generally is the first place for tourists to go to. Because of the city's close distance to tourist resorts in the Swiss Alps and its mountainous scenery, it often gets referred to as the "portal to the alps".
Contrary to some belief, Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland-- that honor falls to Berne. Zurich has long been known for being clean and efficient. Due to this, it has been continuously ranked as the city with the highest living standard world-wide for many years. However, only for the last ten years has it truly become a fascinating and worthwhile travel destination. This is mostly thanks to the liberalization of the cultural, party and gastronomy sectors. An increasingly cosmopolitan population has helped, as well, though more button-down Geneva remains Switzerland's most culturally heterogeneous city.
The Zurich dialect of German (which sounds very different from standard German) is the city's main spoken language, a relatively peculiar type of Swiss German, but speakers of this dialect invariably also understand and speak standard German. Many people will understand English, French, or Italian as well.
Zurich Airport  (IATA: ZRH) (German: Flughafen Zürich-Kloten) is Switzerland's largest and busiest airport run with Swiss efficiency. It is actually in the community of Kloten and it is a 12 minutes by train from central Zurich. The trains depart about every 10-15 minutes but early morning and late evening connections are a bit less frequent, so if you travel at these times check the schedule . A single ticket to the Hauptbahnhof costs CHF 6.20. Several bus lines connect to the airport and provide access to the Winterthur region.
Most major airlines fly to Zurich but SWISS  is still the Swiss flagcarrier and covers the biggest part of the international traffic at the airport. Almost every large hotel in Zurich provides shuttle buses from the airport to your hotel. The stops for these buses are a short walk to the right from Terminal 1 arrivals.
Zurich Airport has high passenger costs due to several noise reduction and approach restrictions. Most no-frill airlines fly to Basel which is 1.5 hrs away by train. EasyJet resumed its flights to Zurich in 2007 after a three year absence and Air Berlin offers several flights to Germany.
Regular trains to and from other Swiss and European cities leave from and arrive at Hauptbahnhof, the main train station, conveniently located in the city center at the end of Bahnhofstrasse, with easy access to mass transit. The Zurich Hauptbahnhof (HB) is served by the local S-Bahn commuter trains, InterCity (IC and ICN) connections throughout Switzerland, Italy's Cisalpino , Germany's ICE, France's TGV , and various other direct night train services to/from as far as Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Lecce, Barcelona, Budapest and Beograd.
For train times and tickets, visit the SBB  or Deutsche Bahn  websites, although you may not be able to book many international journeys online through these websites. If you are already in Europe, your local train station office should usually be able to book these trains. A rail pass may make your trip cheaper. For more long-distance international journeys, visit Seat61  for more information.
The train station and the connecting underground mall has shops, restaurants, and a grocery store which locals use when they need to do Sunday shopping, as it is not subject to the closing hours laws otherwise in force in the city.
Almost every highway in Switzerland leads straight into Zurich. This might be quite easy for tourists, but is also really painful if you have to cross Zurich on a daily basis.
The main bus station is next to the main train station, where the river Sihl flows into the river Limmat.
Many buses arrive there from other European cities, mainly southern destinations like the Western Balkans or Spain. There is a bi-weekly bus to Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina  (look for "Cirih").
As Zurich is located at the end of lake Zurich, it can be reached by boat from other lake villages, e.g. Rapperswil at the upper end of the lake.
Zurich is famous for its highly efficient, clean and safe public transport system. The network includes trams, buses, S-Bahn (local trains) and even boats for the lake and river. The size and complexity of the network may be daunting at first, but you will soon realize that there are dozens of ways to get from one place to another and following any of them will still be efficient.
Tickets must be purchased from a ticket machine before boarding or from one of the ticket selling kiosks. The ticket machines might be intimidating at first glance, but simply get a "Tageskarte Zone 10" (day card valid for 24hr) for 8.00CHF by pushing the green button (a single ride costs 4.00CHF). The ticket covers the city and should be enough for most tourists' needs, except perhaps the Uetliberg, which is not in Zone 10. This ticket is valid for all trains, trams, buses, boats and cable cars in Zone 10, so take a trip on the lake or river with the same ticket! If you are not sure whether your destination is in Zone 10, possible destinations (with their respective code) are listed at each vending machine. Punch in the code and the price will be displayed. Note: Not all machines contain this green button. For other machines simply type in the area code 8000 for Zurich followed by the return button that is showing two arrows.
The Swiss Pass is valid on all public transportation in Zurich, and if you are a tourist visiting most of Switzerland, this may be your best way to saving both money and time spent trying to figure out zones, routes, and fare options. Eurail passes are valid only on the S-Bahn and boats. Interrail passes are valid on the S-Bahn (although the ZVV website claims a "reduction" for other routes for Interrail holders). Nevertheless, you may find you don't need the trams and buses if you don't mind walking around a little.
There are many other special offers on tickets for tourists so ask at the tourist information center, your hotel or visit the Zurich Public Transport Authority (Zürcher Verkehrsverbund ZVV). The ZVV is a regional agency that coordinates fares and schedules for the region's different transit companies. The ZVV's website has maps, links to transit providers in the Zürich area, and trip planning information.
Several tram lines and buses (some electrified) cover the city at street level. Like all other public transport in Zurich, you purchase and validate tickets before boarding, or risk a fine if they decide to spot check. The most surprising thing about trams and buses in Switzerland is that they are extremely punctual and you can find a schedule at every stop accurate to within a couple of minutes.
The 'S-Bahn' (suburban rail) is Zürich's regional rail system, used mainly by commuters but also a good way to get to many destinations outside the city center. Zürich's S-Bahn system provides convenient and fast service throughout the region. Most of the lines pass through the Hauptbahnhof. The ZVV offers directions for a series of excursions on the S-Bahn. One popular destination (not mentioned on the ZVV website) is Stein am Rhein, a restored medieval village on the river Rhine which can be reached using the S-Bahn number 29 from Winterthur.
You must have a validated ticket before you board. If you do not have a ticket you will be liable for an on-the-spot fine of 80CHF.
There are two types of boat-based public transportation operated in Zürich: river buses and lake steamers. The river boats operate in the summer months only and the lake boats operate on a much reduced schedule during the winter.
The river buses operate between the Landesmuseum (near the Hauptbahnhof) along the Limmat River and out in the Zürichsee (Zürich Lake) to Tiefenbrunnen. There are several stops along the Limmat River.
The Zürichsee Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG)  operates lake steamers which leave from Burkliplatz (at the end of Bahnhofstrasse). The ZSG's website provides information on destinations and ships. The ZSG offers a variety of tourist-oriented trips (including Jazz Brunch, and historic restored steam ships), and a popular trip is to Rapperswil at the south end of the Zürichsee. The town has a beautiful castle overlooking the lake surrounded by a medieval town.
The main train station, old town and the lake promenade and all nearby tourist attractions are easily walkable. You may find that you don't need transportation for most of your tourist needs once you get into the city.
You can "rent" bikes, skateboards etc. for free from 7AM-9:20PM daily May-Oct at several places in Zurich and year-round at the central train station. All you need is your passport and a CHF 20 deposit as guarantee. This offer is called "Züri rollt (German only)". You can get and return the bikes at several locations: the bikegate just next to the central station, next to the "Globus City" shopping center, next to the opera, or at the Swissotel in Oerlikon. If you can't find these places, don't hesitate to ask some locals, they should know at least the bikegate at the central station. The Zurich Transit Company, VBZ also provides information about these bikes in English . Nevertheless, you shouldn't count on it because sometimes the "rent" spots run out of bikes.
Driving in Zurich is possible but it is painful as the city center is not easy to navigate by car.
Most of the interesting sights are in the old town around the river and lakefront.
Switzerland has a very strict labor market. You will need a work permission visa and promotion from an employer.
For citizens of the old EU-15 states the bilateral agreements makes it easier to gain a temporary work permit typically for 5 years that is renewable if you have worked. Often a 1 year permit is issued to EU applicants, as such candidates can repeatedly renew even these 1 year permits. Legally, EU applicants have the same status as Swiss applicants when applying for jobs (employer does not need to justify hiring them, and must hire them in preference to non-EU/non-Swiss applicants if skills are equivalent).
For all other citizenships you need a company behind you and you must have skills that are rare in the Swiss (or EU!) labor market.
Working without permission can lead to a night in prison and deportation depending on you and the agreement with your home country.
For shopping in Zürich there are three different areas in the center:
You may be disappointed to know that most of the cheap watches and clocks in Switzerland are imported from China and Japan for their cheap quartz movements (including most of the wall clocks and alarm clocks sold at department stores, for example). Don't purchase a "Migros Budget" clock for 8CHF thinking it is a Swiss clock! Nevertheless, real Swiss-made clocks are still well-known for their quality and reliability, and intricate mechanics. The following are true Swiss-made watches:
Chocolat Frey is 30 minutes away from Zurich and offers factory tours for free. It is 100% Swiss and produces as one of the only Swiss manufacturers from bean to bar all by itself. It also is present in more than 50 export markets. In Export it is very often available under Private Label offers such as those from Marks & Spencer, Loblaw, Tesco, Coles, Woolworths and many more.
The Lindt factory used to offer tours and free samples, but this is no longer the case.
The larger Coop supermarkets carry many brands, including Lindt, Camille Bloch, Goldkenn, and others, including all sorts of alcohol-filled chocolates.
The quintessential Zürich dish is Zürigschnätzlets, veal in a cream and wine sauce. Various kinds of grilled Wurst (sausages) are also popular. These are most often accompanied by boiled potatoes, Rösti, a Swiss potato pancake (grated potato, formed into a pancake then pan fried until crisp in butter or oil) or Chnöpfli, in German sometimes called Spätzle, (small noodle dumplings).
Veal is still very popular, though the use of turkey and other meats as a substitute is growing.
While Fondue (melted cheese in a central pot, dip bread into it) and Raclette (cheese melted in small portions, served with potatoes and pickles) are not really local to Zürich (they come from the Valais region of Switzerland) they are commonly available at restaurants aimed at tourists.
The bread available in Zürich is generally delicious. There are many varieties, and your best bet is to go to a bakery or a supermarket in the morning or just after work hours, when most people are doing their shopping and bread is coming out fresh.
Try grilled Bratwurst from street stands, served with a large crusty roll of sourdough bread and mustard, or sandwiches made with fresh baked Bretzeln (large, soft pretzels). A typically Swiss bread is the Zopf, a braided soft bread that is commonly served on Sundays (the other name for it is Sonntagszopf).
For breakfast, try a bowl of Muesli, which was invented as a health food in Switzerland. The Sprüngli confectionery store tea rooms serve a deluxe version of this fiber-filled cereal with whole milk, crushed berries and cream.
There are a huge variety of cheeses available at the supermarkets, specialty stores and markets, as well as all kinds of hams and dried sausages. Dairy products are generally delicious, especially the butter. Do not miss the supermarkets! You should take a thorough look through Migros or Coop and maybe even assemble your own lunch or dinner some time. Even the cheap, budget prepackaged desserts in the supermarket exceed the quality of what you may be used to.
For those with a sweet tooth, there's a huge variety of chocolates to enjoy, from the cheapest chocolate bar to individually hand-made truffles. (See the Shopping section above). The chocolate bar displays at the supermarkets will overwhelm you! Also enjoy pastries and cakes from the various Konditorei scattered around town. In pastry shops, you can also find special pastry from Zurich: The most famous of them probably is Tirggel, a rather hard pastry made of flour and honey. Although traditionally made and eaten during the Winter holidays, many pastry shops (including larger supermarkets) sell them throughout the year. Often, they've got sights of Zurich printed on the top, can be stored for months and thus make up a pretty good and cheap souvenir. Another famous type of pastry are Luxemburgerli exclusively sold by the confectionery chain of Sprüngli (part of the famous chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli). A typical cake is the Mandelfisch, an almond cake shaped like a fish.
Like most European cities, Zürich abounds with cafés where you can enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee, glass of wine or other beverage, and watch the world go by.
There are many international dining options available too. The current hot trend seems to be pan-Asian noodle/rice/sushi places. However, due to the far distance to the sea and the lack of original, well-trained Chinese/ Japanese cooks, the quality cannot live up to that of the original countries. Instead, the Italian cuisine holds the highest popularity among the foreign restaurants. They can be found throughout the city and are relatively cheap. Turkish fast food restaurants are also a delicious, cheap option.
Vegetarian food is easy to find throughout the city. Vegans may have a little trouble because cheese is used generously in most food, but should be fine living off supermarkets at the very least. Hiltl, the first vegetarian-only restaurant in Europe, is also worth a visit. You choose from the buffet, where your meal is priced by weight or from a variety of à la carte menus, which are a bit more pricey, but include vegetarian/vegan versions of popular Swiss meals like Züri-Gschnätzlets or Beef Stroganoff amongst Indian food and classic vegetarian plates. Another vegan friendly restaurant is "Bona Dea", which is located directly at Zurich Mainstation.
The restaurants at the top of the Uetliberg are great to combine a nice view of town (a hike in the summer) and some great food. It also has a cheaper self-service area.
Zurich has a lot of places to go out. There are a lot of clubs, restaurants, cafés, bars but also many museums and theaters.
An event calendar Züritipp (German language) is available online .
Ron Orp's newsletter  has daily tips on Zurich's night life and more. You need to subscribe to the e-mail newsletter since the latest issue is not linked from the website.
The most common drinks in Zurich include: Beer, Swiss white wine (e.g. Fendant), Swiss red wine (is delicious), and Spanish red wine (is generally good value here). At apéro time (after work), you will find many people drinking a Cüpli (glass of sparkling wine).
Zurich has proportionally more clubs than any other city in Europe. You will find anything from very "fancy" clubs to places you can just chill. If you want, you can go to a club every night. There is always a Club that has a party going and Zurich's young make sure to splash all their income on going out. A lot of clubs are located in the so called Zurich West (District 5). The internet site usgang.ch  is a good place to look up what's up.
Zurich is the financial center of Switzerland and most travellers come with an expense account. The hospitality sector focuses therefore mostly on the 4 and 5 star sector. Zurich is known for its superb hotels, but these won't come cheap. Best is to go on a company rate, because rack rates are sometimes ridiculous.
Zurich has numerous camping sites, in true Swiss style they are usually very clean, all the sites are the the southern end of the city, normally in river valleys (for obvious reasons). Most campsites close for the winter.
Zürich, like most cities in Switzerland, is relatively safe. Nevertheless, be on guard for thieves and pickpockets. Carry your wallet or purse in a secure way, not in your hip pocket or a backpack outer pocket.
In recent years, certain areas along the lakefront are frequented by young people who sometimes try to pick a fight when they are drunk. Do not let them provoke you, as they are likely to be there in numbers and will use any excuse to go at you.
Public Transportation is very safe. You can use it without any special precautions.
If you decide to bicycle in the city, understand that Zurich is a city of public transportation. Beware of tram tracks which can get your wheel stuck and send you flying into traffic, of the trams themselves which travel these tracks frequently (and may scare you into getting stuck into the track as just noted), and the buses, which make frequent stops in the rightmost lane. In short, bicycling downtown should be only done by those experienced with cycling with such traffic.
Permanence Hauptbahnhof at the main train station provides urgent out-patient care for tourists without prior appointments.  There is also a dentist downstairs at the station. For serious emergencies rush to "Kantonsspital", the university clinic which has a 24/7 emergency ward. Tram stop "Universitätsspital" (look out for the golden boy in front, then follow the red "Notfall" signs). They will not send away people with serious, urgent health problems. Ambulance phone number is 144.
If you're on a budget, don't stay out too late — the "N" night buses only run on weekends. When they run, they run only once per hour and you must purchase a Nachtzuschlag for 5 CHF from the machine and validate it before boarding. On work nights, there is no public transportation at all after about 12:30AM (although expensive taxis still exist in case you're stuck).
Stores are generally closed on Sundays including all supermarkets in the city, except those in the main train station and airport.
On Sundays, there are supermarkets open at the following train stations: Zurich main station, Enge, and Stadelhofen.
Avoid reaching/visiting Zurich on 1 May. The city is on a Labor Day/May Day holiday. The trams don't run for half the day so getting around could be a problem. Also, there could be some minor violent outbreaks and damages to cars.
Zurich has two police departments, the Stadtpolizei Zurich which is responsible for the city area and the Kantonspolizei Zürich which is responsible for the whole region. With approximately 1800 and 3000 employees, these departments are the biggest in Switzerland. While police officers in Zurich will happily help you out if you are in trouble or need an information, they are also known for approaching "suspicious" persons in order to check their papers. This procedure is annoying, but legal as you will probably have a hard time proving you were not acting suspicious. Carry a photocopy of your passport and your onward ticket with you, stay calm and polite and you probably won't have much trouble.
Short excursions from Zurich:
Other further away easy excursions from Zurich include:
Access to most other parts of Switzerland is extremely easy, thanks to the efficient and frequent SBB train system. Other locations easily accessible from Zurich worth a complete visit in their own right include:
Tip: The direct Zurich-Interlaken trains run via Bern. However, if you have time to spare, try reaching Interlaken by going to Luzern first and then taking a train from Luzern to Interlaken (Golden Pass or Zentralbahn). It's a much more scenic route.
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