Zurich in a day: Old Town, Kunsthaus and the Lindenhof terrace
A logical foot route through Zurich: down Bahnhofstrasse, across the Limmat to the twin towers of Grossmünster, into the Chipperfield extension of the Kunsthaus for Giacometti and Munch, then up to the city's quietest viewpoint.
Zurich in a day is not a compromise — it is a perfectly honest route, provided you stay on the east bank until the afternoon and skip any deep museum swim. The city is compact. From Zurich Hauptbahnhof to the lake is about fifteen minutes on foot, and almost everything of consequence fits inside that triangle.
Starting at Hauptbahnhof, drifting down Bahnhofstrasse
The Hauptbahnhof is itself a minor attraction — the Niki de Saint Phalle angel suspended under the vault, a winter market, and a food court that quietly holds non-tourist prices. Exit south through the main hall onto Bahnhofstrasse, Europe's most expensive shopping street. The point is not the Bvlgari and Graff windows but the rhythm: Zurich does not display its wealth — it hides it in cast-iron door handles and tram rails laid to the millimetre.
Twenty minutes later the street meets Bürkliplatz and Lake Zurich. Turn left here, onto the east bank of the Limmat, and follow the water towards Grossmünster.
Grossmünster, Fraumünster, and the Chagall windows
Grossmünster is a twelfth-century Romanesque cathedral and the cradle of the Swiss Reformation — Ulrich Zwingli preached here from 1519. The Karlsturm tower is open to climbers: 187 narrow steps lead to a galleried platform with the best rooftop panorama in central Zurich, the river fork laid out at your feet.
On the west bank stands Fraumünster, smaller, with five Marc Chagall stained-glass windows installed in the 1970s. Each is nearly ten metres tall, dedicated to a prophet or a gospel scene. Entry is paid, but the colour reads completely differently from reproductions — worth the ten minutes.
Cost & opening
- Grossmünster Karlsturm tower: 5 CHF, daily 10:00–18:00 (winter to 17:00).
- Fraumünster (Chagall window entry): 5 CHF, opens 10:00, closed Sunday mornings until service ends.
- English audio guide at Grossmünster: 5 CHF at the counter.
Kunsthaus: the city's flagship museum
From Grossmünster the Kunsthaus is a ten-minute walk via Heimplatz. The museum was expanded in 2021 by David Chipperfield: a large light-flooded cube facing the historic Karl Moser wing. Two floors of permanent collection — nineteenth- and twentieth-century Swiss art, the world's largest holding of Alberto Giacometti, a dedicated Edvard Munch room (with both versions of "Girls on the Bridge"), Impressionists, and a strong Dada collection — Zurich is, after all, the movement's birthplace.
Tickets are 26 CHF, or 32 CHF with a temporary exhibition. Tuesdays after 17:00 are half price. Cloakroom in the basement is free; bags over twenty litres must be checked in. Allow 2 to 2.5 hours without rushing.
Kunsthaus is the only museum in Zurich where you can spend half a day without fatigue — the Chipperfield extension gives the rooms air, and the windows between sections invite you to sit down and just look out.
Lunch and the crossing
Lunch on Niederdorf — the narrow east-bank pedestrian street — is rarely worth it: a tourist strip, fondue at 38 CHF a head. Better to cross the Limmat at Rathausbrücke and lunch on the west bank, in the lanes of Augustinergasse or around Münsterhof. Zeughauskeller, set inside a former arsenal, is loud, generous and reasonable (mains 24–32 CHF). For something quiet — the first-floor tea room at Café Sprüngli on Paradeplatz, classic luxemburgerli and excellent coffee.
Lindenhof: the quiet ending
Lindenhof is a low hill above the west bank, a former Roman fort and the spot where in 1292 the women of Zurich, dressed in armour, fooled a besieging Habsburg army into believing the city was reinforced. Today it is simply a square shaded with lime trees, chess players bent over a giant board, and the best panoramic view of the east bank — Grossmünster, the Limmat, the ETH campus on the hill behind. Free, no gates. Go in late afternoon, near sunset, for twenty minutes. It is enough.
With an hour to spare before the train back, descend to Schipfe, the guild-house quarter pressed right against the river, and walk the embankment back. This, finally, is the Zurich that stays in memory: quiet, ordered, with water underfoot and the church bells at six.
Transit and tickets
- 9-hour ZürichCARD: 32 CHF. 24-hour: 56 CHF. Covers all trams, S-Bahn in zone 110, the lake boats, and 50% off Kunsthaus.
- Without the card the entire route above is walkable. A tram is only useful if you extend up to Zürichberg or the zoo.