Shopping/Wandering the streets, Zürich

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The quarter between Bahnhofstraße and Limmat river looks small on the map. Nevertheless take your time to explore the narrow lanes round St Peter's church and Lindenhof, and have your camera ready. The Altstadt (old town) is a very picturesque quarter. Many houses date, as inscriptions tell, originally from the middle ages.

More pictures on my travelogue page.

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One of the things you will really like to do while in Zurich, is strolling through the narrow streets of the Old Town , just hanging at an outdoor coffee bar on the famous Bahnhof Strasse claimed as the most expensive street in Europe.
But never mind, do not complain about the prices, if you are visiting such a beautiful city. It can fill an entire afternoon very easily and watching people sometimes much better than the favorite pasttime activity of some Zurich citizens namely to stare only the changes of shares on the stock exchange.
The most romantic thing in all of Zurich is a walk on the promenade along the Schanzen Graben with its coffee and chestnut vendors, strolling musicians, just two blocks off of Bahnhof Strasse. Roasted chestnuts, bratwurst, carmeled apples and the view of the surrounding Alps rising snow-capped over the Zürichsee bring you an unforgettable experience.
From the Limmatquai, it is a short walk to the southeast to the Theaterstrasse and the world-famous Opernhaüs Zürich, where you can see outstanding opera and ballet performances.
Every Saturday at 10.30 am it is possible to discover the city also on bike, meeting point: tram station 'Opernhaus'!!

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Exploring this area is a must. Niederdorf is a lively place in the old town that stretches from Central Square to the Great Church Square. A wonderful place for shopping during the day, and a popular area for nightlife. Has great variety of restaurants, bars and cafes to cater your hunger or thirst same as Oberdorf area, the "upper" part stretching from Rämistrasse to the Dome Square. There are many original shops, with unique offering that you will not find elsewhere.

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In the middle of Zürich old town there are so many things to look at; here is just to mention a few:

- Fraumünster church with famous Chagall's stained glass paintings inside

- The St.Peter-Kirche which has Europe's largest clock faces! Really big and can be seen from far.

- Grossmünster, which is the symbol of the reformed Zürich.

- Main shopping street Bahnhofstrasse

- Main restaurant street Niederdorfstrasse (for lunch/dinner and nightlife)

- Last but not least: the whole area of the Old Town with its narrow cobbled streets.

If you go up onto the Lindenhof, as well as getting great views across the river, you also get to see some of the male residents of Zurich playing giant chess! This phenomenon can also be seen in other city centres across the country including Bern. If chess isn't your thing, don't worry because the real reason I'm directing you there is to see that Zurich isn't full of smartly dressed businessmen and women - it contains down to earth people too!

This picture was taken at the Zurich Airport on arrival. I did a lot of shopping here for friends and this is where I posted numerous cards that I send to friends on VT.

There are almost few things that you wont get to buy here except Cars and Houses of course.

The old city of Zuerich is divided by the Limmat waterway. There are several bridges crossing the Limmat. This makes it easy to wander from one side to the other. However, we discovered that the two busiest bridges to cross on foot were the Bahnhofbruecke by the train station, and the Quaibruecke, by the lake. Traffic, trolleys, and people jams abound. It is easier to cross the smaller bridges between these two biggies. The Quai bridge is especially busy, and on our second day we discovered a pedestrian walk that goes UNDER the bridge, making it much easier!

An exceptionaly quaint area of the old town, the Schipfe is one of the oldest quarters of the city.

The name Shipfe comes from the nautical term "schupfen" , which means to "push". The fishermen used to push their boats to and from the river bank.

This is a very nice area to shop and stop at a cafe.

When you are in downtown Zurich, take a leisurely stroll along the river Limmat. Stop every now and then to take in the beauty of the calm river and the occasional boat that passes through. The river is clean and is crisscrossed by many bridges.

I was actually amazed of all the little shops you can find here... especially the shoe shops :-D I didn't have much money while being there, but I enjoyed just walking around and seeing the places (and startled everytime I saw the price of the shoes).