Last Sunday, we were invited by our friends for lunch at their place. They live in Zürich Oerlikon, and as usually we went there by car. We thought that we would drive back home after lunch, but one of our friends had a great idea of walking to the old town first.
I thought that it was too far away, but we agreed that we would turn around and take a tram in case my hip would start hurting. It turns out that it's less than 4 km and the pathway is down the hill. We walked to the old town and even managed to reach the lake before it got dark. We took a tram on the way back as it was getting a bit cold.
Let's walk with me!
We reached the old town at Neumühlequai which is the place where the river Limmat that feeds the lake Zürich splits and creates another smaller river called Sihl.
It's a popular place for sport activities, such as jogging or rollerblades skating as well as swimming in summer. There are many people jumping off this bridge to the river.
We continued our walk towards the lake Zürich which is easy as you only need to follow the river. However, we know Zürich well, so we decided to walk through the old town instead. But before we enter the old town, there is still some water to pass by.
One of the most important landmarks in Zürich is Swiss National Museum. It looks like a castle and it hosts various interesting exhibitions. We visited it a few years ago and we enjoyed it a lot. There was a special exhibition related to World War II. which was not only interesting, but educational as well. There is also a cafe and a souvenir shop inside. I think this museum is one of the most visited places in Zürich.
Neumühlequai starts at the Marriott hotel (that building in the back). Usually this street is extremely busy, but it looked like people went to enjoy the last bits of snow in the mountains instead.
We are approaching the Walchebrücke which we will cross to get to the main train station, and from there we will head to the lake through the old town.
When you travel by car, this is the worst bridge in Zürich to cross. There is a lot of traffic coming from highway and every time only 3 cars can pass on the green light. There are more than 100 cars in front of you if you're on the side side of the street and it takes more than 30 minutes to pass. Avoid this street if you can 🙂
Once we entered the old town, we saw many people sitting on a terrace high above the street. We looked for an entrance and found a rooftop restaurant/bar with great views over the city. But let me tell you that you will pay for these views. A cocktail costs at least 20 CHF and it is not worth it. My husband said that he would be ashamed if he would be a bartender serving such expensive cocktails that look like this. And the wine bottles were in the sun! Don't get a glass of wine there either 🙂 We didn't try the food, but I can only hope that it was better than beverages.
And the views from the restaurant...
We finished our drinks, and continued our walk.
Our friends didn't get why I took a photo of a post office, but look at it. Isn't it pretty?
And we reached the water again. I was lucky to capture a typical Zürich tram as well.
There are some of the most charming corners on the way...
We were walking on Bahnhofquai and on the other side of the river there is Limmatquai.
I think that it's special to get a photo like this unless you come very early in the morning or very late in the evening. We were lucky that day 🙂
In summer, there are events held here where you can take whatever floats on the river, put it on water and float with tons of other people towards the lake. It's a lot of fun as you can see the most bizarre floating equipment.
Here we are looking in direction of historical Münsterbrücke or Munster bridge. It is named after two Cathedrals which are nearby. One of them called Grossmünster can be seen on the left.
I don't have any particular info about this fountain, but it caught my attention with its sculpture of a hiking man, so it fits the Swiss culture.
In the past, we didn't enjoy visiting Zürich. It was only after we got to know it a bit that we started to like it. I would probably not move there as it's too busy, but it's a charming place to visit on weekends.
Next to the Münsterbrücke, there is a statue of a mayor who was ruling the city of Zürich in the 15th century.
And we are approaching the lake...
Here we are! Truth to be told, I didn't even know there was a lake in Zürich until I visited it for the first time 🙂
Now, it's one of our favourite destinations in summer.
As you can see we stayed until the sunset. It was the time when we had to hurry up as we had to drive back home as well.
It was a great day!
Until the next time...