Switzerland · Self-guided walk
Zurich in one walk 8 sights, 30 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Zurich Old Town: 8 sights on one 2.0 km loop, about 30 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 2.0 km, a loop
- Time
- about 30 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Grossmünster
- Steps
- on Zwingliplatz, St. Peterhofstatt, Rollengasse, Krebsgasse, Napfgasse
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Zurich walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Zurich, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Grossmünster
the start
Two towers facing the Fraumünster across the water. Look up, then look down: someone waits below, and the card says who. Two towers. I would give both a slow look.
Next: Wasserkirche, 110 m, about 2 min.
2. Wasserkirche
about 2 minutes of walking from the start
A church on the right bank, close by the river, with more than one career behind it. What it did in between is the card's story. I like a building that changes its menu.
Next: Bürkliplatz, 490 m, about 7 min, along Limmatquai.
3. Bürkliplatz
about 9 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Tue 06:00–11:00, Fri 06:00–11:00, Mon, Wed–Thu, Sat–Sun closed
The square where the Old Town runs out of streets and into the lake. On certain days it turns into a larder, and I have feelings about larders. Who it is named for, and why, the card tells.
Next: Fraumünster, 350 m, about 5 min, along Fraumünsterstrasse.
4. Fraumünster
about 14 minutes of walking from the start
On the left bank, facing the Grossmünster across the water. Go in when the sun is out. What the light does in there is the card's business. I will only say it reminds me of a fruit bowl.
Next: St. Peter, 220 m, about 3 min, along Schlüsselgasse.
5. St. Peter
about 17 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–16:00, Sun 11:00–17:00
The tower above the Lindenhof that you can read the time from a long way off. Stand still and keep your eyes on it: something up there moves the way the locals asked it to. I count in ice ages, so I rarely notice such things. This one I noticed.
Next: Lindenhof, 190 m, about 3 min, along St. Peterhofstatt, Pfalzgasse.
6. Lindenhof
about 20 minutes of walking from the start
A terrace on the hilltop above the left bank, with the Old Town spread below. A chronicle says 52 lime trees went in here in 1474. What else this hill has seen, the card keeps. Up here, no one is in a hurry. My kind of place.
Next: Rathaus, 310 m, about 5 min, along Pfalzgasse, Wohllebgasse.
7. Rathaus
about 25 minutes of walking from the start
A town hall with its feet in the river. Stand on the bridge beside it and look underneath. How you keep a house warm with no dry ground under it is the card's story. I tried standing in a river once. The river won.
Next: Cabaret Voltaire, 140 m, about 2 min, along Krebsgasse.
8. Cabaret Voltaire
about 27 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Tue–Thu 17:00–23:00, Fri–Sat 13:30–24:00, Sun 13:30–18:00, Mon closed
A doorway on Spiegelgasse where Dada began. Two identical syllables, and the most edible word I know. How that word got picked is the best part, and I am keeping it.
Back to the start: Grossmünster, 200 m, about 3 min, along Münstergasse.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Zurich.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 112 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Zurich Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.