Zurich greeted us with a heavy downpour, which was much-awaited and refreshing after the unbearable heat in Liechtenstein.
Zurich is located on the banks of the Limmat River, which flows into the picturesque Lake Zurich. In principle, one day is enough to get an overview of the city. If you don’t visit museums, you can easily manage to see the main attractions.
After strolling through the streets of Zurich for a while, we arrived at Lindenhof (Linden Court) – the “linden yard.” This is the very heart of Zurich, where the city once began to grow. Lindenhof was once a Roman customs point, controlling the flow of goods along the Limmat River (which further directed to the north via the Rhine). It’s a cozy square that offers a beautiful view of the historical part of the city.
Next, you can take a walk towards St. Peter Kirche – a church with the largest church clock in its tower, with a clock face diameter of 8.7 meters and a minute hand nearly 4 meters long. Then head to Rathaus – the city hall, facing the Limmatquai promenade on the right bank of the Limmat River. After that, you can make your way to Grossmünster – the two towers of Zurich’s main cathedral, exploring narrow alleys and courtyards along the way.
Niederdorf Street is the historical center of the city with a pedestrian zone, where charming houses in Gothic style line picturesque narrow alleys, and at every step, you encounter bakeries, pastry shops, and antique stores. As for the business life, it thrives on one of the most beautiful streets in Europe – Bahnhofstrasse. Here, you’ll find enormous shopping complexes like “Globus” and “Jelmoli,” as well as the headquarters of Switzerland’s largest banks. Zurich boasts just as many museums as other leading cultural centers in Europe.
Next, our journey took us towards the village of Kaprun, the town of Zell am See, the High Tauern National Park, and along a high mountain serpentine road to Gerlos, where we stopped to spend the night.
Lucerne was the final destination of our journey; from there, we started heading back, taking a slightly more northerly route.
I’ll say it right away, 3 days for Vienna is catastrophically short, especially at the end of such a long journey.
