Teacher Trekker

The vast majority of my travel itinerary was planned prior to my trip to Switzerland, and my visit to Zurich was no exception. Since I was flying out of Zurich to get back to NYC, I thought it would be wisest to spend my last day in Zurich. I also had a place to stay at a friend of a friend’s apartment. This would allow me to explore some of Zurich and reduce the travel time needed to get to the airport my last morning in country. I would have liked to spend more time in the city and surrounding area, but my schedule was so action packed, that at some point I needed to make concessions. I also knew that any return visit would result in a similar plan, so I could visit other attractions in the future. For my first visit to Zurich, I wanted to attempt to see as much of the city as possible. I didn’t want to spend an entire afternoon in a museum. My friend had some ideas, and eventually the day turned into a self-guided tour of Zurich’s churches.

Getting to Zurich

After packing up all of my gear and a quick breakfast, I said goodbye to my friend’s family and we were off to the train station. From Buchs (St. Gallen Canton), we needed to take the train to Zurich as will most travelers in Switzerland. The only problem we experienced along the way was that there was so many empty first class cars that most of the passengers needed to walk to the end of the platform to get on the second class cars. According to my friend, the overabundance of empty first class cars is a common problem in Switzerland. Keeping that in mind, I would recommend to head towards the back of the train prior to its arrival to save time and make sure that you get a good seat. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to Zurich. Always refer to the train timetables to best coordinate your trip.

Zurich

Once we arrived in Zurich Main Train Station, I obviously had my luggage with me and didn’t want to carry it with me the entire day. We headed to the baggage storage locker area, where I found an empty locker and stowed away all my gear for the day. It costs CHF 9 for a large locker and CHF 5 for a small locker. We made our way to the top level and briefly stopped into the Tourist Information Center. (It is located in the big hall of the main train station on the top level. When you stand in front of the Brasserie Federal you can see it on your left.)

I had some ideas already as did my friend, but I grabbed a couple of pamphlets to look at our options and make sure we did not miss anything. I didn’t realize it at the time, but one of the brochures became the inspiration for the day’s exploration. After our brief time in the train station we headed by foot towards Old Town that is called Niederdörfli in Swiss German and Niederdorf in German.

Self Guided Walking Tour

My day didn’t start as a church tour of Zurich. Actually, my friend had a few places she wanted to bring me. The plan was to start there and see where the day took us. The first three places we stopped at were churches. We stumbled across a few more. The more I looked around, the more I saw in all directions. That fact was even more obvious as I scanned the horizon of a rainy overcast Zurich at the top of a church tower and saw nothing but clocks on church towers. I pulled out a Zurich Inner City Churches pamphlet. After looking at the map I showed it to my friend and asked if hitting them all was possible. It was.


Planning & Timing

Now we were dependent on the timing. We only arrived in Zurich around 1:30 p.m. and only began touring at 2:00 p.m., but did manage to see 9 of the 10 inner city churches on the list despite a late start on the day. (We skipped the closest Station Church as it serves no significant historical and/or cultural relevance. It’s a nondenominational church in a small room of the basement level of the Zurich Main Station. I’m thorough, but not that obsessive. Some of the churches close as early as 5:00 p.m. and even 4:00 p.m. on weekends, but others stay open until 7:00 p.m., so if you plan accordingly, then you will have no problems. Actually the churches the furthest away from the Old Town Niederdörfli/Niederdorf area stay open the latest. Refer to the church websites below and try to get your hands on the pamphlet. It is a helpful and straightforward guide to the churches with background information, opening hours and a map.

I would not recommend you start as late in the day as we did. The earlier you can start, the more you will be able to cover. We did it as an afternoon/early evening tour and had no issues, but there are a number of facts worth thinking about. The time you will want to spend inside each church will vary depending on your interests. I spent more time in some churches than others, and for a few I did not actually even go inside for a decent amount of time. You may feel differently and spend more time than we did. In total we spent 5 hours touring, but did make a few stops that I will mention that may interest you as well. If you start from the periphery, you could begin your day in the early morning. If you are starting from Old Town Zurich, you should start touring between 10:00 and 12:00 p.m. in order to visit all of the churches.

Using the ZVV (Zürcher Verkehrsverbund or Zurich Transport Association)

Please keep in mind that I had the luxury of traveling with a friend who is familiar with the area and the transportation system. This allowed for much easier navigation. There was virtually no time spent looking at maps and figuring out what tram we needed to be getting on. My friend easily got us from location to location without any issues. The tram system is actually very easy to navigate and convenient to use. You need to purchase a ticket. Between this guide, the resources it provides and a good local map you shouldn’t have any problems. You may only want to visit a few. Here is more about the churches to help you plan your day.

My friend bought me an all day pass – for train, tram, boat, etc.. With her Swiss local discount it was CHF 30 instead of its usual cost between CHF 35-42 depending on where you get it. The use of this flexicard is the cheapest way for tourists to travel.

According to my local source, the best and cheapest thing to do is to purchase a day ticket for Zurich’s zone 10. Regarding public transportation, the canton of Zurich is divided into different zones. Zone 10 covers the whole city of Zurich. Thus, that’s what you need for a sightseeing trip in Zurich. You can get that ticket at a machine which is located at almost every tram station. The machines guide you through the process to get your ticket. A daily ticket for the city of Zurich costs you about CHF 8.40, and it allows you to use all trains, trams, buses and ships which run in zone 10. For more information have a look at the ZVV Website.

I explained above the all day pass for Zurich. The best thing to do when you need to use public transportation in Switzerland is to go to the next train station and ask the staff for special offers and what not. Since every canton in Switzerland has its own special offers, it can be confusing without any help. Also it’s quite confusing to know what kind of ticket you need to get from A to B. If you have friends who live in Switzerland, ask them to get you a so called Flexicard (daily GA). It costs between CHF 35 and 45 and allows you to use all the public transport in the whole country during a whole day (starting with the first train in the morning and ending with the last train at night). But let your friends know it 3 to 4 days in advance, because they need to see if the GA is available on the date of your choice and then they need to go and get it.

Attractions

There is much more to say about each location than I would like to include in this article. As a result, I have divided the tour into three sections. There will Part 2, 3 and 4 of this series. They will provide greater insight into:

Part # 2: Zurich’s Old Town (Altstadt) Churches – Predigerkirche, Grossmünster, Wasserkirche, Fraumünster, St. Peter, Augustinerkirche

Part # 3: Non-Church Related Attractions – Augusto Giacometti Hall, Lindenhof Hill, Sprüngli’s Chocolate Shop

Part # 4: Churches Outside of Zurich’s Old Town (Altstadt) – St. Peter & Paul, St. Jakob, & Liebfrauenkirche

For each attraction I have provided the website (the link will be underlined & highlighted in the first paragraph of each attraction description throughout Parts # 2, 3, & 4) and the most accurate hours of operation & transportation information possible.

My Exact Route & Recommended Suggestions

Keep in mind that we did all of this in just around 5 hours, including the churches and non-church related stops. Mix and match according to your interests. These are only suggestions based on our day. For anyone interested here is the exact route we followed:

Part # 2: Churches # 1 – 5
Part # 3: Giacometti Hall & Lindenhof Hill
Part # 2: Church # 6
Part # 3: Sprüngli’s
Part # 4: Churches # 7 – 9

I would recommend combining Part # 2 & Part # 3 whether you do or do not continue on to the churches in Part # 4. Following the route provided will allow you to easily visit all of the sites without the need to double back. You can also complete Part # 2 and then carry on to Part # 3. I hope this assists you while planning your trip and eventual exploring of Zurich’s many churches and non-religious attractions. Happy Trekking!