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Zurich Travel guide, Zurich hotels, vacation

Zurich is often referred to as the "garden city on the lake".
A stroll through the fascinating city will soon explain the reason for this.
Yet Zurich is also the most important commercial and economic centre in Switzerland, the capital of high finance, one of the richest cantons in the country and home to the famous and very beautiful shopping street, Bahnhofstrasse.

Zurich Travel guide, Zurich hotels - holidays in Switzerland

Zurich Travel information

Zurich canton (1990 pop. 1,144,899), 668 sq mi (1,730 sq km), N Switzerland. The most populous Swiss canton, Zürich is bounded in part by the Lake of Zürich in the south and Germany in the north. It is a fertile agricultural region with orchards, meadows, and forests. Among the rivers that flow through the canton are the Rhine and the Thur. Machinery and other metal goods as well as textiles are manufactured. Its inhabitants are chiefly German-speaking and Protestant. In the canton there are numerous towns and a few industrial cities, notably Winterthur and the capital, Zürich (1990 pop. 342,861). The largest Swiss city, Zürich is the country's commercial and economic centre as well as the intellectual centre of German-speaking Switzerland. Its chief manufacture is machinery, and the city supports a healthy tourist trade. It is the hub of a printing and publishing industry, and its international banking and financial institutions are renowned. Zurich hosts many annual international congresses; its airport is the busiest in Switzerland.

Occupied as early as the Neolithic period by lake dwellers, the site of Zürich was settled by the Helvetii. It was conquered (58 B.C.) by the Romans, and after the 5th cent. passed successively to the Alemanni, the Franks, and to Swabia. It became a free imperial city after 1218, accepted a corporative constitution in 1336, and joined the Swiss Confederation in 1351. Its claim to Toggenburg led to a ruinous war (1436–50) with the other confederates.

In the 16th century, Zürich, under the influence of Ulrich Zwingli, became the leading power of the Swiss Reformation and once more provoked a civil war. The Roman Catholic victory at Kappel (1531) ended Zürich's political leadership. In 1799 the city was the scene of two battles of the French Revolutionary Wars ( Helvetic Republic).

Zürich developed as a cultural and scientific centre in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has the largest Swiss university (founded 1833), a world-famous Polytechnic School (est. mid-19th century), and many museums. The Romanesque Grossmünster (11th–13th cent.), where Zwingli preached, the Fraumünster (12th and 15th cent.), the 17th-century town hall, and numerous old residences contrast harmoniously with many fine modern structures. The educational reformer Heinrich Pestalozzi was born in the city, and James Joyce is buried there. The city is beautifully situated on the Limmat and Sihl rivers and at the northern end of the Lake of Zürich.

Zurich Sights, sightseeing, culture:

Zurich is a bustling metropolis with many new buildings and modern architecture. At the same time however, it also resembles a maze with its narrow twisting lanes, characterising both sides of the city divided by the scenic River Limmat. Age-old landmarks and examples of unique design and artistic styles proliferate throughout the city, although the oldest and best preserved are most densely distributed in Neumarkt. he famous Grossmunster with its two tall towers is the most dominant. Adjacent you will find the late 15th century Wasserkiche and the Rathaus, a graceful town hall built in the renaissance style.

Zurich is also a city of entertainments for all tastes and ages, famous for its traditional festivals and holiday celebrations Downtown Niederdorf is the centre of activities. From jazz clubs to restaurants & bars (Zurich is home to more than 1300 restaurants) to more cultural pursuits including galleries, museums and ever-changing exhibitions, there is something interesting on all year round.

In order to really familiarise oneself with Zurich, the visitor must experience it from the Lake of Zurich, the third largest in Switzerland. One of the many boat rides by day or night will make you appreciate its size. The perspective of the city and its romantic surrounds from this vantage point is quite unique and not to be missed.

Local customs and traditions

Zürcher Sechseläuten Sechseläuten – Zürich’s traditional spring festival – begins on a Sunday with a big parade featuring more than 2,000 children. The actual festival takes place on Monday. Guild members have an early start with a lunch at their own guildhall, and follow it with the big Parade of the Guilds. Thousands of spectators will line the streets along the parade route in the Old City. The highlight is Burning the Böögg, an effigy of winter, on the Sechseläuten field near the Zürich Opera. The Böögg woodpile is lit when the bells of St. Peter sound at 6 o’clock. The Böögg turning to ashes signals winter’s final departure.