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Zurich, Feature
Zurich Zeitgeist
Peter D. Clee breaks the bank in Switzerland's largest city
WITH a population of a little over a million Zurich is Switzerland's largest city. It's an internationally renowned banking centre and is the country's premier cultural hotspot.
It would be hard though to claim that Zurich is the most beautiful city in Switzerland. Rival Geneva's lakeside home edges ahead with its breathtaking views of Mont Blanc. True Zurich has a lake too; the Zurich See, but it's surrounding hills can't compete with Europe's highest mound. Where Zurich does score highly though is in its wide variety of shopping and nightlife opportunities.
I say that retail opportunities abound. Well, yes and no. For me the potential for window shopping was limitless. With the Swiss Franc riding high the chances of me being able to afford the designer label extravaganzas and high-end furnishings were somewhat less than remote. This is a bankers' city after all. For those with a sugar mamma/daddy all the usual names are here to be found from Chanel to Dior to Prada, particularly along the shopping boulevards such as Bahnofstrasse. My best tip for holiday gifts is as obvious as it is powerful. Swiss Chocolate. The quality is supreme and for once the prices are cheaper than back home. Yum, yum.
There's plenty to do in the daytime aside from shopping. Getting around is easy either on foot or by tram. Daily city-wide tickets are available for the extensive public transport system.
Boat trips leave from the city's lakeside harbour throughout the day with trips ranging from an hour-and-a-half to all day. There are plenty of museums and galleries for the more culturally refined. The Museum of Fine Arts and the Centre of Contemporary Art get my pick. If you are with the kids a trek to the Toy Museum could pay dividends.
Night time in Zurich starts and ends late. Sure you can go out and enjoy a meal in the early to mid evening and sup a beverage or two in one of the city's hundreds of bars. But if you want to watch the locals come out to play; hang around. From 11pm to midnight the bars and clubs fill and the revelries begin. Best bet for the confused is to stick around Niederdorf Strasse. Straddled along the eastern bank of the river this long and winding road is host to some of the busier bars and clubs in town.
It's a bit obvious though, so I recommend picking up the city's free newspaper 20 Minuten and checking the 'party' (sic. clubs) listings to find out what's fresh and funky that night. I used my knowledge of the 'international language of clubbing' to find my way around a wide selection of styles and set-ups. Door (cover) prices are low but drinks are pricey.
