The city of Zurich isn’t on the Rhine River, but we had to literally pass through it to get to the source of the Rhine at Oberalp Pass, so of course we decided to stay a couple nights and spend a day biking around Switzerland’s largest city.
This post includes lots of info, maps and photos. Plus, there’s a VIDEO at the end!
ZURICH FACTS
- Capital — It’s the capital city of the canton of Zurich, but is not the capital of the country of Switzerland. That’s Bern. (However, Switzerland doesn’t use the term “capital city”, they say “federal city” – for where the federal government is located.)
- Population — It’s the largest city in Switzerland, even though the population is under half a million. (POP 436,551 at the end of 2024, according to Wikipedia.)
- Language — It’s in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and shares a border with Germany, naturally.
- Water Fountains — Zurich has over 1,200 public drinking fountains! Everything from old ornate stone fountains to modern art sculptures squirting water is drinkable.
- Food — Unless you’re rich, you’ll want to eat sandwiches and prepared meals from the grocery stores “Migros” and “Coop”. Believe it or not, Switzerland’s pre-made grocery store food is restaurant quality delicious. Which is appropriate because after the exchange rate, even a sandwich from Coop costs the same as a sit-down restaurant sandwich with sides in Toronto.
(Fountain of three boys sitting on fish)
MAP: The Sightseeing Plan
The map below was my original plan. I put waypoints (#1-47) for EVERYTHING we could possibly want to see in Zurich.
30 kilometres is a totally doable distance to ride in a day, but doesn’t account for time lingering and sightseeing. Would we have time for everything? Let’s find out…
Sights along the Limmat River
We were staying at a hotel in District 5 (Kreis 5), the old industrial area (Industriequartier) of Zurich West. We often stay in former industrial areas just outside city centres because they’re: a) cheaper, b) near the train station, and c) easily accessible by bike.
Thus, as we rolled away from Hotel Züri, our first sight was something we North American cyclists love to see whenever we travel, but is probably pretty unremarkable for Europeans who are used to having dedicated cycling infrastructure…
#1 – Letten Viaduct (Lettenviaduckt)
This disused railway connection over the Limmat river is now a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. Cool!
We’d cross many bike/pedestrian bridges over the next three weeks, especially in Switzerland, but the novelty of having a whole bridge for PEOPLE free of motor vehicles never wears off.
From the Letten Viaduct we saw people swimming in the Flussbad Unterer Letten, the oldest riverside bathing facility in Zurich – built in 1909! It’s literally a 400m swimming channel in the Limmat river with facilities built around it. It looked fun if it wasn’t so cold! We were wearing our jackets, yet a few Swiss swimmers were diving in, impervious to the chilly morning.
On the other side of the river, the Letten Viaduct dropped us onto Wasserwerk Street in the Oberer Letten area (part of District 10), which we think has a sidewalk level asphalt multi-use path. Some people were biking on that, and some were biking on the street. Though traffic was sparse so it didn’t seem to matter.
One block later, as we were about to cross under the Kornhaus Bridge, we noticed a path to get to the river promenade – Kloster-Fahr-Weg, which literally translates to Monastery-Drive Path, though it can’t mean driving a car since it’s car-free and must mean driving a bicycle. So we turned there and immediately came across a public WC and Der Skatepark Korny under the Kornhaus Bridge. Of course, we had to ride it.
After having some fun, we continued down the path along the river until we got to another bike/pedestrian bridge, Drahtschmidlisteig.
We crossed it to reach the next sight on our tour…
#2 – Platzspitz Park
We were now in District 1, the Old Town (Altstadt), so it makes sense that this bridge leads to one of the oldest green spaces in Zurich, Platzspitz Park. It’s not very big, and within minutes we’d cycled through it and arrived at the…
#3 – Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum)
I read that the museum building is reminiscent of a fairytale castle, and we can confirm it does give off that vibe.
However, we didn’t go inside; it was a beautiful day outside and we had lots to see! So we continued into the Old Town.
Sights in The Old Town (Altstadt)
I’d planned what I thought was a logical route through the Old Town’s must-see attractions, but as I expected, the winding streets of an old city defy planning! The map to the left is what I’d planned, and the map to the right is what actually happened…
First issue was that outside of the museum (#3) beside Zurich HB (Central Station) was a bit confusing because there’s a bike lane going into an underpass with the cars or a bike lane that stays street-level.
We took the street-level lane first, but then got stuck at another giant intersection that didn’t appear to have a straight ahead crossing into the Old Town. So we doubled back and took that underpass…
And ended up where we wanted to go, between the Love Locks bridge and Blüemlihalle (Giacometti’s famous frescoes), but we just so happened to see signs for the frescoes first.
#5 – “Blüemlihalle” by Augusto Giacometti
Augusto Giacometti’s most famous commission is the Hall of Little Flowers (Blüemlihalle) in the entrance of Zurich’s police station. The frescoes completely cover the vaulted ceiling and walls. The guide book I had from 2024 said it was open daily to take a peek, as long as you presented ID. However, there’s clearly been a change because the sign outside said we needed to be part of a tour, but they only do tours from Wednesday to Friday, and we were there on a Saturday.
Lesson learned; I should always check online for the most current information! (i.e. from this website) Not that it would have mattered, unfortunately, since we were only in Zurich for one day. Well, lots of other stuff to see!
#4 – Love Locks Bridge (Mühlesteg)
Across the street from the most beautiful police station we couldn’t see is the Love Locks Bridge (Mühlesteg). Evidently, we were there right after they’d cleared most of the locks off the bridge, which is something they need to do periodically so it doesn’t get too heavy.
Next up, we were supposed to find Lindenhof (Sight #6), the historical site of a Roman castle, but going south of the police station required crossing a major road, so we headed west, and before we knew it, we were on Bahnhofstrasse, the fancy shopping street of Zurich where the infamous chocolate cafe and confectionary Sprüngli (Sight #7) was located. We went up and down that street searching for chocolate until finally we just went south to their second location on Paradeplatz (Sight #12). I’ve since learned that this newly renovated second location is now the only Sprüngli in Zurich (not counting the one at the airport).
#12 – Sprüngli Café
Regardless, we made it. Time to consume chocolate! We had to stand in a short line to get a patio table out front, but it was well worth it to soak in the atmosphere and watch all the different trams pass by.
Now, what to order? Pier has a weird allergy to chocolate where he sneezes every time he eats some, plus he gets a bit wired on too much of it, so we got something non-chocolate first — a lemon brûlée.
Then came the hot chocolate with chocolate mousse. Yes, that pile of mousse in a bowl was extra chocolate to put in the hot chocolate. Deliciously rich!
Next, we sampled two classic pralines and a truffle. We told the waitress to pick, and she brought us a Praliné Grand Cru Maracaibo, a Praline Piemonteser and a Truffe Cappuccino, all from the Sprūngli classics menu. An excellent selection!
Happily full of chocolate, we continued wandering around the Old Town and found…
#9 – Saint Peter Church
This is the largest church clock in Europe, with a diameter of 8.64 meters. Though we’d soon find out it’s one of many large clocks on church towers in this city. Still, this is the biggest!
And just a few tiny blocks north of Saint Peter Church, we finally found…
#6 – Lindenhof
Winding through the Old Town’s streets, we came across Lindenhof, the historical site of a Roman castle. It’s now a hill-top public square overlooking the Limmat river.
Next we made our way over the…
#10 – Town Hall Bridge
The Rathausbrücke is technically a bridge over the Limmat River, but it’s wide and has buildings on it, so you might not even notice you’re crossing the river.
This bridge was the location of a market in medieval times, and even today it looks more like a market square than a bridge. The only pic I have of Rathausbrücke is from the bridge north (Münsterbrücke). From this distance the Town Hall Bridge is so low to the water and crowded in by buildings that it’s barely recognizable as a bridge.
#13 – Münster Bridge
Münsterbrücke literally translates into “minster bridge” or “cathedral bridge”.
So it should come as no surprise that there are famous churches located at each end of this bridge…
#14 – Grossmünster
Grossmünster (Big Cathedral) is to the east.
#11 – Fraumünster
And Fraumünster is on the west end of Münster Bridge.
We wandered towards it to find this lively square aptly called Münsterhof.
We were almost done seeing all of the Altstadt!
(Astute readers may notice that we missed #8, which is a tiny square in the pedestrian area that we walked right by and didn’t notice. Oh well!)
However, wandering around the Old Town and eating chocolate took a long time. It was already early afternoon and we were barely a quarter of the way through our sightseeing tour. We considered cutting the last sight in the Altstadt, since it was all by itself and up a big hill, but decided to do it anyway.
#15 – Baroque Bodmerhaus
Turns out, it didn’t take us long to get here. Like so many walkable European cities, Zurich’s blocks are very small compared to Toronto’s, and the Baroque Bodmerhaus (located at Schönbergstrasse 15) is actually only 1 km from the Münster Bridge.
At more than 350 years old, this is one of the oldest surviving baroque country houses in the city of Zurich. To be honest, the house itself (which is now part of the University of Zurich) is not much to look at, but the view from its backyard is pretty good!
Next up on our sightseeing tour — District 8 on the right shore of Lake Zurich!
But before we crossed over the invisible border from District 1 to District 8, we stopped to see…
#16 – Stadelhofen Station
This train station was built in 1894 and then expanded in the 1990s. But of course, expanding a train station in Europe isn’t simply practical, it’s artistic! Thus, Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who had studied in Zurich and opened his first practice in the city, was commissioned to design the extension to the Stadelhofen Station. Calatrava created an open, partly transparent roof made of concrete and steel for the platforms, which is modelled on the ribs of a bull.
Sights on the shore of Lake Zurich
District 8 (Kreis 8) begins in the Mühlebach neighbourhood and we took Mühlebachstrasse, a main street and cycleway that cuts straight through it.
Before we got to the lake shore, we took a tiny detour off Mühlebachstrasse to see…
#17-18 – Botanical Garden University of Zurich
We could bike to the gardens but not through the gardens. There are signs saying to walk your bike, so that’s what we did.
There’s a cafe and restaurant, but we popped into the Tropenhaus (literal translation is “tropical house”), three domed greenhouses with tropical plants inside, to use the free public WC.
NOTE: Switzerland in general has lots of free public WCs. Unlike Germany.
Finally, we arrived on the the right shore of Lake Zurich, otherwise know as the Seefeld quarter. Here are the highlights…
#19 – Museum of the Tiefenbrunnen Mill
#20 – Panther Fountain
Another drinkable water fountain!
#21 – Strandbad Tiefenbrunnen
This is a swimming complex that looks amazing, but costs money to enter. Since it was a cool day, we didn’t feel like swimming, so we just went to a nearby pier and I took this photo of Pier and Lake Zurich.
#23 – Chinese Garden
Another place we decided not to go inside, and instead we skipped across the water on these stones.
#25 – Sheep Piece by Henry Moore
The Swiss love their sculptures! So many along the lake! This is an abstract sculpture based on grazing sheep.
#22 – Heureka
Jean Tinguely created the kinetic large-scale sculpture “Eureka” from iron rods, steel wheels, metal pans and pipes in 1964.
#24 – Pavillon Le Corbusier
This is the last building designed by the architect Le Corbusier and the only one in Switzerland.
Admission cost was 15 Swiss francs each! We’re not big enough Le Corbusier fans to drop a combined $50 CAD for that, so we appreciated it from the outside.
#26 – Zurich Opera House
We biked back along the shore to the Opera House, just a couple blocks from Stadelhofen Station.
By now, it was late afternoon and we were starving. Of course, across the opera house square (Sechseläutenplatz) we could see a Coop on the corner of Theaterstrasse and St. Urbangasse.
While Pier went inside to get us some pre-made eats, I took photos of this ornate old fountain while tram after tram rolled by.
See? People really do drink out of these fountains! That woman is even filling her bottle with the water spurting from the fish’s mouth!
The Coop was busy, but finally Pier emerged with a hot roast chicken and big salad. We had our picnic by the lake — as did half of Zurich! Not a single bench was free and we ended up eating on the steps, but that was a-okay.
After filling our bellies, we had a decision to make. We’d already been touring around Zurich for 6 1/2 hours, but we hadn’t even started riding the west shore of Lake Zurich! Which, according to my planned map, covered more distance than the east side we’d just completed. Clearly, I’d planned too much for one day, even on bikes.
I zoomed in on the map and decided to alter the route by taking a shortcut via a pedestrian promenade along an old moat, skipping the west shore of Lake Zurich, and reconnecting with our planned route for the last few sights (#42-46) on our way back to the hotel.
Schanzengraben Promenade Shortcut
Schanzengraben is a moat and a section of the northwestern extension of the Seeuferanlage promenades that were built between 1881 and 1887.
“Schanzengraben” translates to “trench”, so it’s literally called “Trench Promenade”. We were amused by all the literal names of things in Switzerland and Germany. So different from Canada where things are usually named after people.
Right as the Schanzengraben bends north towards Zurich Central Station, we came to the…
#42 – Old Botanical Garden
Then we continued north to…
#43 – Zurich City Bike Tunnel (Stadttunnel)
On maps and in media, this dedicated bike tunnel under Zürich Hbf (Central Station) is simply called “Stadttunnel”, which of course translates literally to “City tunnel”.
It opened in May 2025, just a few months before our trip. It was originally built decades ago to be a highway underpass below the train station, which explains the slightly steep descent in and ascent out, but the project was abandoned after protests. Then, in 2011 the cycling advocacy group Pro Velo Zürich submitted a petition to repurpose the old tunnel as a bike route.
For great photos and the whole story, read Motion Mag’s article.
We were pretty thrilled to ride this awesome infrastructure, and no doubt the citizens of Zurich were even more thrilled! Before the Stadtunnel opened, there was no direct way across the tracks; cyclists had to do a multi-block detour.
Once safely (and quickly!) on the north side of Zürich Hbf, we headed back in the direction of our hotel, stopping here first…
#44 – Negrelli Footbridge (Negrellisteg)
This is a pedestrian bridge high over the train tracks. From the north side, you can either walk a winding staircase or take the elevator to get here.
Next we headed to a popular local park by the viaduct in Zurich West.
#45 – Josefwiese
This is a popular local park by the viaduct in Zurich West. It has BBQs, a playground, table tennis and beach volleyball. There are even “kiosks” (food stalls) built into the old viaduct. But like the infrastructure and history nerds we are, we only took a photo of the old smokestack towering over the viaduct.
We were almost done! The final sight we sought out is a modern industrial landmark in Zurich…
#46 – Freitag Tower
For those who don’t know, Freitag makes upcycled bags and accessories, and their flagship store in Zurich is a collection of 19 stacked shipping containers known as the “Freitag Tower”.
MAP: The Reality!
We may not have seen everything, but we still saw a lot. This was our meandering route…
VIDEO: Days 3-4
And here’s a video of the Scenic Rhine River Train Ride (Day 3) and the highlights of our day cycling around Zurich (Day 4).
Rhine River Bike Tour: Previous + Upcoming Posts!
- DAY 1 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Cologne to Monheim (GERMANY)
- DAY 2 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Monheim to Dusseldorf (GERMANY)
- DAY 3 – Rhine River Tour: The Scenic Train to SWITZERLAND!
- DAY 5 – Swiss Alps Hike to Devil’s Bridge
- DAY 6 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWITZERLAND – From the top! (Stage 1)
- DAY 7 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWITZERLAND – Gorge(ous) views! (Stage 2)
- DAY 8 – Swiss Alps Hike & Toboggan
- DAY 9 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWISS DOWNPOUR! (Stage 3)
4 comments
Thank you for the amazingly detailed dialogue, pics and detailed description of your Brompton journey along the Rhine. My wife Trish and I ( Peter ) have been riding Brompton’s for many years along the routes you’ve been riding but I have to say, you guys have taken more time to smell the roses.
We rode the Danube from Passau in Germany to Gyor in Hungary last year and are currently planning to do a trip similar to yours in 2026 or 2027. Planning and timing is everything and you guys have got it nailed.
I’m really hoping that you will make contact with me to have chats about your trip re the pitfalls, best bits and planning.
What I really resonate with reading your journey is that both of you are not banging on about me,me ,me and writing about the journey in the journey speak. ( I’m engrossed in the description and loving seeing the journey unfold ) which is exactly as I would if I knew how. ( I can’t do a lot of IT stuff unfortunately, but I do understand the workings but not the how to )
Trish and I are Australians, hope that will not be a negative, ha,ha. Have an incredible sense of adventure and love riding on the Bromptons.
Anyway, you are young an upwardly mobile younger generation and I would not be upset if you’re too busy to get in contact with. Kind Regards ,
Peter and Trish Keast
pk.eurobike@gmail.com
So glad you enjoy the blog! Cycling the Danube is definitely on our bucket list. As for our Rhine River Tour, we have a lot more blog posts coming and we’ll include all the details and tips we can. And you can always email us at info@bromptoning.com if you want to ask us specific questions.
I think it’s fantastic that you’re taking a week to really get to know part of a region spanning two countries in Europe by bike. Typically, North Americans travel all over the continent in that time without really seeing or experiencing anything, as long as they’ve ticked off the usual cities and a single sight on their list.
The way you do it is the right way to travel. And there’s nothing better or more beautiful than discovering the world by bike.
We agree that the best way to see and experience the world is by bike! Especially a Brompton. 🙂