About Zurich

From Turicum to the world's banking capital

Zurich's story starts around 15 BC, when the Romans set up a customs station called Turicum where the Limmat river leaves the lake. Through the Middle Ages it became a free imperial city, joined the Swiss Confederation in 1351, and in the 1520s became the stage for Huldrych Zwingli's Reformation, preached from the Grossmünster — the twin-towered church that still defines the skyline.

The modern chapter began in the 19th century, when Alfred Escher built the railways and founded the institutions — including the bank that became Credit Suisse and the ETH university — that turned a modest town into a global financial centre. Today Zurich consistently ranks among the world's most liveable and most expensive cities, and ETH Zurich, Einstein's alma mater, remains one of Europe's finest universities.

A lake city that happens to do banking

The surprise for most first-time visitors is how relaxed Zurich feels. The city wraps around the top of Lake Zurich, and on summer evenings its lakefront parks and 'Badis' — riverside and lakeside bathing decks — fill with swimmers. Locals genuinely swim in the Limmat in the middle of the city; the water is clean enough to drink from the fountains.

The Altstadt, the old town, straddles the river: the Grossmünster and the café lanes of Niederdorf on one bank, the Fraumünster with its Chagall stained-glass windows and the guild houses on the other. From there, Bahnhofstrasse runs 1.4 km to the main station — one of the most exclusive shopping streets on earth, where watch houses and chocolatiers sit shoulder to shoulder.

Where to point yourself

Beyond the centre, Zürich-West has turned old shipyards and viaduct arches into galleries, food halls and design shops. Uetliberg, the city's own mountain, is 20 minutes away by train and gives a full panorama of the lake and, on clear days, the Alps. Boats leave the Bürkliplatz quay for lake cruises toward the vineyard villages of the 'Gold Coast'.

Food in Zurich means everything from the classic Zürcher Geschnetzeltes — sliced veal in cream sauce with crispy rösti — to one of Europe's densest concentrations of international kitchens. The city that invented vegetarian dining as a restaurant concept (Haus Hiltl, since 1898) still does it better than almost anywhere.

Seasons and practical sense

Zurich works all year. Summer (June–September) is lake season; December brings Christmas markets and the singing Christmas tree; spring and autumn are quieter and beautiful. The airport is 10 minutes from the main station, trams go everywhere, and a Zürich Card covers all of it.

Zurich is also Switzerland's great gateway: direct trains reach Lucerne in 45 minutes, Bern in under an hour, Interlaken in two hours, and Zermatt in about three and a half. Many visitors use it as their first and last night in the country — but the city rewards those who give it a full day or two of its own.

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