Anyone been to Zurich?

[scifisam]

I'm considering Zurich in January, mainly because it has reasonably priced flights from London City Airport. I'd be going with my gf and my adult daughter, so we'd need either two hotel rooms or an apartment or something - don't really want to do air b n b. There are serviced apartments for just under £400 for three nights.

Does anyone have any recommendations for things to do there? Is January a terrible time to go? Will it be too expensive to do anything?

We wouldn't really be drinking, but we'd want OK restaurants plus museums and galleries, maybe music or something like that. No hiking or anything athletic.

 

[klang]

Been lots. Its great for arts, cafes, people watching etc.
Surprisingly liberal and easy going.
But pricey.

Never been in Jan but imagine it to be cold.

Generally I always have mixed feelings about Switzerland - on the one hand it's very friendly, easy going, liberal, arty....but on the other hand it is very square, conservative, privileged, not welcoming to minorities (ban on minarets etc), and yes, expensive.

A bit like swiss people enjoy privileges because they can afford to do so.

The mountains are plain stunning. Love it there.

Zurich is worth a visit.

 

[klang]

3 nights there are quite enough, but not a waste of time.

 

[Sue]

I went years ago for work. Pretty but very, very expensive.

(No, I'm not a banker. Was a thing at the technical university.)

 

[Griff]

Visited my mate there loads of times, can't remember much about the place as he grows the strongest weed imaginable (seriously like nothing else), and I'm totally in some kind of fucking alternate reality within five minutes in his company.

Sorry, not much help.

 

[angusmcfangus]

I spent a few months in Zurich way back in the early eighties.
So probably not much to add.
Back then the Limmatquai was a street running alongside the river Limmat.
An area of open drug taking which the authorities turned a blind eye to.
This was before it was moved onto needles park.
Myself and busking travelling companion were eventually picked up by the Swiss stazi whilst tripping on acid on the outskirts of kloten (the town close to Zurich airport).
This was around 3am and we were trying to work out how if we were fleeing natzi Germany, how the fuck you would know you had reached neutral Switzerland, cause they both looked the same.
Anyway we were both deported the following day.
Good times.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

I love Zürich - I'm there again in a few weeks - but like klang says, there's a trade-off for its easygoing, clean efficiency. But then, isn't there always some kind of 'this place is great, but here's the bit that's not so good'. That's life and people, sadly.

It's a great base to explore Switzerland. All my travel trips involve trains, but a trip up to Uetliberg is recommended for the great views, and if wherever you go outside seems a bit weird sometimes, Zürich is reassuringly modern, liberal and better than wherever it is that you live.

And expensive. But not Scandinavian expensive.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

Oh yeah, and the thing that impressed me most when I first visited: ooh, there's a monument over the road. What's it about? Our glorious war dead? Our nationalist heroes and martyrs? No, the people of Zürich and their subscriptions to build a library. ALL HAIL OUR GLORIOUS VOLKSLIBRARY BUILDERS.

 

[Sweet FA]

If you really want to spend some money, go skiing...about 90 min drive to Andermatt or Engelberg.

 

[scifisam]

If you really want to spend some money, go skiing...about 90 min drive to Andermatt or Engelberg.

Definitely not on the schedule!

It's not looking like Zurich is doable, really. I want to fly from City!

 

[Silas Loom]

No need now, Kim Leadbeater is introducing an assisted dying bill.

 

[scifisam]

No need now, Kim Leadbeater is introducing an assisted dying bill.

I'm not that ill!

 

[Silas Loom]

I'm not that ill!

Relieved to hear it!

 

[scifisam]

Relieved to hear it!

Also if I ever were in the mood to die I'd just hide all my asthma inhalers and die within a couple of days. I know, some people have it easy.

 

[kalmatthew]

If either of you are Chocolate fans then Confiserie Sprüngli is worth a trip. It was long enough ago that I went that I can't remember if it was particularly pricy or not as let's face it nothing in Switzerland is cheap!