Andrew Nash
Vienna Transport Strategies

Walking Tour of Zürich Altstadt by Andrew Nash

Altstadt means old city in German. Zürich's Altstadt lies along both sides of the Limmat River from the point where the Limmat leaves the Zürichsee to the Hauptbahnhof. The city was originally surrounded by walls, which are visible today as the streets where some of Zürich's 'new' cultural institutions are located. Much more information on the sights and outlined in this tour is available on tourism websites and in general tourbooks for Zürich.

Start this tour at the Hauptbahnhof's Bahnhofstrasse exit. Walk south along the Bahnhofstrasse, Zürich's premier shopping street. Bahnhofstrasse is a hugely successful transit mall—rents are among the highest in the world. It's a good place to window-shop and people-watch.

As you walk south, you will reach Rennweg, on the left side of the street. There is a small square here with an English bookstore (Orell Füssli) and café. Walk up Rennweg. This street was recently renovated into a pedestrian-friendly street with cobblestones, but due to the city's 'parking compromise' the renovated street must still have parking until a new parking garage opens to replace the street parking. As soon as the new parking garage opens, the street parking will be removed. Half-way up Rennweg, look down at the Roman-era well that was discovered when the street was renovated.

Continue walking to the top of the Rennweg. Here you have several options. It is fun to explore all the small streets, but on this trip, head just to the left on Strehlstrasse. Go a few meters downhill and then turn left up the Lindenstrasse to the Lindenhof. The Lindenhof is a pleasant park overlooking the Limmat River. The park is full of people in summer, enjoying the shade and view. It is the site of the former Roman fort.

When you are ready to leave, return down the Lindenstrasse, cross the Strehlstrasse, and walk up the Schlüsselgasse. After a few meters, you will reach the St. Peterhof, an almost perfect square (fountain, tree, no cars, church steps, and a few shops). The St. Peter Church steeple has clocks with the largest faces in Europe.

Continue on the Schlüsselgasse to Thermengasse, a small path (actually steps) on the left side. Walk down Thermengasse; at the bottom of the steps you will see the excavations of a former Roman bath. There is a description in German with some diagrams of how the bath worked and looked. When you come out of Thermengasse, turn right on Storchengasse and walk towards the Münsterhof. As you reach the Münsterhof, directly to your right is the Café de Presse, one of the only cafes you will find in Zürich with English-language newspapers.

The Münsterhof is named after the existing Fraumünster and the former convent located here. The Fraumünster is famous for five stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall. You should definitely go in the church and see these beautiful windows.

After leaving the Fraumünster, head across the Münsterbrücke (Cloister Bridge) to the east bank of the Limmat River. On the right is the Helmhaus, a church with an exhibition center that was once located on an island. Walk across the Limmatquai and up the steps to the Grossmünster. Walk towards the left to the front of the church and continue walking around. You can go in through the door on the side away from the river.

The Grossmünster was built between 1100 and 1250 on the site of a former church (and Roman cemetery). It includes a small building museum and one can climb the towers for a great view of Zürich. The Grossmünster is famous as the site where Zwingli, an initiator of the Reformation in Switzerland, preached in the 16th century.

As you leave the Grossmünster, walk across the Zwingli-Platz and turn right. Walk straight up a small street called Neustadtgasse (New City Alley). Walk up the street to the end (Trittligasse) and turn right. Admire the mideval buildings and city plan. Walk down this street turn left and walk down to the end (Oberdorfstrasse).

Oberdorf-Strasse is a main shopping street through the old city. If you are hungry or interested in seeing a bit of the street you can turn left and walk about 100 meters to the Weisser Wind restaurant. This is a very traditional Zürich restaurant. Try the Züricher Geschnetzeltes mit Rösti (veal cutlet with a mushroom cream sauce and hash brown potatoes), or simply the Rösti (hash brown potatoes) baked with cheese, both very traditional dishes are well done here.

The Weisser Wind restaurant is a Zunfthaus. A Zunft is a guild and the Zunfthaus is where members of the guild meet. Guilds are still active in Zürich as social and charible organizations. The Weisser Wind is Zunfthaus for the bakers (look for the sign above the door "Zunft zum Weggen"). On the third Monday in April Zürich celebrates Sechseläuten; the guilds parade through the city in their medieval costumes to celebrate winter's end (cuminating in a huge bonfire where a papermache snowman-packed with fireworks-is burned). There are many other Zunfthäuser in Zürich's old town. The Tourist Service has developed a brochure (in German) titled "Zu Gast in Zürcher Zunfthäusern" which describes the history of guilds and provides contact information for guild houses-most of which are excellent restaurants.

You should also walk a few steps further on Oberdorferstrasse past the Weisser Wind to the small bakery located on the left side of the street. The bakery has been here since 1626 and the building since the early 1300's. It's open from Tuesday to Friday during the day. You can turn around here retracing your steps past Trittligasse and passing more stores and cafes. As you walk through the Altstadt notice how all the modern uses have been integrated into the medieval buildings—sometimes well done, other times less so.

Once you reach the back side of the Grossmünster, turn left and walk up the hill on Kirchgasse. Here you will find a series of antique stores and old book stores. Some feature books on art, planning, and architecture. Walk to the top of the hill and you will find yourself at a small square. From here you can continue straight across Hirschengasse and through the small alley to the Zürich Kunsthaus (art gallery). The galley contains a nice collection of art and is worth a visit. There is also a cafe serving food and drinks all day.

If you do not want to visit the art gallery now, walk down the steps and make a sharp left turn to Untere Zäune (be careful there is an Obere Zäune too) and walk along the street. There is a restaurant located at number 15 called Zum grünen Glas, which serves excellent French food and is non-smoking (a rarity in Zürich). Zum grünen Glas is also a Zunfthaus.

Continuing past Zum grünen Glas to the end, Spiegel-Gasse, and turn left walking up the hill to a small square. Enjoy the medieval street layout and shops. Continue on Spiegelgasse to Münstergasse. If you turn left here and walk a few steps you can visit the Schober Cafe - full of chocolate and cafe-drinks (it's on the tourist circuit, but worth it). The actual address is Napfgasse 4.

If you don't visit the Schober Cafe then turn right on Münster-Gasse. At the corner is the Caberet Voltaire, an exhibition space and cafe focusing on DaDa (the art movement started in Zürich).

From the Caberet Voltaire Walk down Münster-Gasse to the small square. Orell Fussli has a large art, architecture, and design book shop here. The shop has titles in many languages including English.

Continue past the bookstore where the Münster-Gasse changes names to Markt-Gasse. There is a good and reasonably priced pizza restaurant (wood-burning oven) located at Marktgasse 21 called Santa Lucia.

Turn right on Rindermarktgasse and continue walking. On your right side you will pass a travel book store in case you need to re-stock (they have many books in English especially about Zürich and Switzerland).

About a hundred meters past the travel book store you will find yourself in the Neumarktstrasse. Look directly to the right (in front of the café) to a building at Neumarktstrasse 4 that houses the city archives. The building is open to the public at certain hours and on the first floor there are models and drawings of the Zürich through the ages as well as special exhibitions. It is a quite interesting exhibit.

Upon leaving the archives building, you can turn right to explore the Neumarktstrasse-there are lots of interesting shops focusing on design and jewelery-or turn right retracing your steps on Rindermarkt to a small alley on the right called Froschaugasse. Walk along Froschaugasse to Brunngasse (straight ahead from Froschaugasse is Lucy's Bar that serves as a neighborhood gossip point—stop in for a beer or coffee and practice your Swiss German if you're interested).

From Froschaugasse, turn right on Brunngasse, walk a few meters to Zähringerplatz, site of Zürich's central library (a sympathetic integration of a modern library in an old building). Turn left, walk a few steps further and turn left again Preyergasse; walk back to Niederdorfstrasse, and turn right.

Walk down Niederdorfstrasse, cross Mühlestrasse, and continue down Niederdorfstrasse. This is Zürich's party area, lots of beer-hall restaurants and walk-up wurst (sausage) stands, and naturally, a McDonalds and a Starbucks.

At the end of the Neiderdorfstrasse is the Polybahn, an inclined railroad that goes from Centralplatz to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). The Polybahn is part of the city of Zürich's transit network and you can use your ticket to ride it. Why not ride to the top, have a look around, or a coffee at the ETH café located near the top.

Go back down the Polybahn and you can see the Hauptbahnhof: your starting point.

As you cross the Bahnhofbrücke, you might want to turn right and walk over to the Swiss National Museum (Schweiz Landesmuseum), the building that looks like a castle, located on the north side of the Hauptbahnhof on Museumstrasse. The museum has interesting exhibits about Swiss history.