General information

 Zurich lies in the heart of Europe and at the center of Switzerland, on the northern shores of Lake Zurich, is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. Zurich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe. Zurich 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 biggest centers for offshore banking . If you live in a big city yourself and are tiring of Switzerland’s picture-perfect country towns, visiting Zürich will be like coming home – finally you can walk on crowded, multi-ethnic streets, buy a kebab, get a drink after midnight, feel a lived-in urban buzz.

Population 361’129
Language German
Religion Catholics 33.3%
Position 47°22’ north latitude, 8°33 east longitude

Tour service

 Within the city pass Zurich card, tourist can enjoy free travel in the entire Zurich city area. Unlimited  2nd class travel on all public transport (rail, bus, tram and boat) in Zurich Public Transport (ZVV) zones 10, 11, 21, 40, 50, 54, 55.  The tourists also get benefit  from travel discount.

• Free admission to 37 Museums and attractions
• Complimentary welcome drink in 18 restaurants
• 10% Discount on the entry to the Zoo Zurich
• 25% Discount on the entry to the Chinesischen Garten Zurich
• 15% Discount on the day entry to the Asia Spa
• 30% on standard fleet of Europcar Car Rental
• Free Entry Club Mascotte
• CHF 5 discount on at the Go-cart track Zurich Rümlang
• CHF 2 discount on on Zurich Frisbee
• CHF 4 discount on Zurich bag
• CHF 4 discount on Zurich Bath Towel
• CHF 2 discount on Zurich Frisbee
• CHF 10 discount on the stroll through the Old Town

Tourists can get Zurich card at the Tourist Service at the main station in Zurich.

Tourist   Attractions

 Zurich, with a magnificent view of the snowcapped Alps on the horizon, Zurich Downtown Switzerland offers a unique mixture of attractions – over 50 museums and more than 100 art galleries, international fashion labels and Zürich designs.

 Zurich old town: the River Limmat divides the old town into two areas, it’s easy to consider two banks off the river as separate entities rather than to concentrate on a New Town/Old Town split. The east bank is known  as Niederdorf, are full of coffee shops and other small shops. The west bank is the oldest part of Zurich. In the evening, the old town is transformed into an entertainment quarter for an eclectic swathe of the general public.

 Grossmünster: is the symbol of Zurich, In the first half of the 16th century the Grossmünster was the starting point of the Swiss-German Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger. The theological college then annexed to the cloister became the germinal cell of what is now the University of Zürich. Choir window of  Grossmünster  is painting by Augusto Giacometti in 1932.

Fraumünster church: founded in 853 by King Louis the German, this church with ist convent was inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany. World-famous stained-glass windows of Fraumünster church  is painting by Marc Chagall.

Rietberg Museum : the museum houses non-European art, particularly from India, China and Africa.

 Zurich Zoo : featuring a 11,000-square-metre ecosystem hall containing several hundred plant and animal species from the Madagascan Masoala Rainforest.

 Chinese Garden Zurich: this is a gift from Zurich’s twin town—Kunming,Yunnan Province, China. It is a traditional south-china style garden,dedicated to "the 3 winter friends", the pine, the bamboo and the winter cherry.

Events

 Street-Parade is the biggest party in Zurich, it held in August. Inspired by a television report on the Berlin Love Parade, Zurich mathematics student Marek Krynski asked the city police authorities for the authorization to organize a  demonstration in support of love, peace, freedom, generosity and tolerance  in June 1992. Now, about 100 mega- and smaller-scale parties will be held in and around Zurich over the Parade weekend, from Friday evening right through to the early hours of Monday morning. Thousands of people streamed into Zurich to join the lively celebrations of the world's most colourful outdoor event – the Street Parade.

Sechseläuten is Zurich’s spring festival, held on the third Monday in April, and is the only time in the year that Zurich’s establishment preens its feathers in public: a highlight of the festival is a parade through the city centre by the city’s traditional guilds, dressed in costume.

Zurcher Theater Spektakel is  international theater festival, ranking among the most important European festivals for contemporary performing arts.

 Kunst Zürich is  international contemporary art fair with an annual guest city (New York in 2005); combines most recent and youngest art with the works of well-established artists.

Shopping

 From luxury to international brands, traditional businesses and urban Zürich labels – shopping in Zürich inspires both lovers of exclusive items and the fashion conscious.

Some 150 years ago, part of the city’s fortifications was transformed into what is now arguably the most famous “Station Road” in the world, the Bahnhofstrasse. The famous Bahnhofstrasse is  one of the most beautiful shopping areas in Europe , Zürich’s shopping mile has contributed largely to the city's reputation as an El Dorado for shoppers and is a top address for Elegant fashion stores, department stores, boutiques with top quality products (shoes, furs, accessories, porcelain, jewellery and watches), banks and pastry shops.

During the day ,Niederdorf  is a pedestrian zone and a shopper's paradise with lots of boutiques hidden away in a patchwork of alleys. At night the many bars, restaurants and street artists turn the Niederdorf into an exciting center of entertainment for a colorful public.

Transportation

 Zurich is a mixed hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Zurich Hauptbahnhof is the largest and busiest station in Switzerland and is an important railway hub in Europe. Hauptbahnhof (HB) has trains arriving continuously from all corners of Switzerland and around Europe. It’s a massive beehive of a place located in the heart of the city, extending three storeys below ground and taking in a shopping mall, supermarket, post office and a fair sprinkling of restaurants.

One of the great advantages of Zürich is that you can enjoy all the buzz of big city life in a compact setting that’s no larger than a single arrondissement of Paris: covering the city on foot is perfectly feasible, even pleasurable. You could even take advantage of the city’s free bike-rental scheme.

Zurich is one of the principal gateways for international arrivals by air into Switzerland. The pocket-sized airport is located less than 10 kilometres northeast of the city in Kloten, is regularly voted to be one of the best in the world. Free maps, advice, hotel reservations boards, and surprisingly useful touch-screen information systems are offered in airport.

Parking in Zürich is more difficult, and much more expensive, than in most other Swiss cities. If you know you’ll be arriving by car, it’s a good idea to ask your hotel in advance about parking spaces: some offer free, or discounted, spaces to guests.



Map of Zurich