How can I make the best of Zurich in 2 days?
A traveler named Hussain is planning a family trip to Zurich for two days in early August. He seeks advice on how to optimally spend their time, specifically looking to visit the Rhine Falls, hike Mount Uetliberg, and explore the downtown highlights while considering the varying ages of family members.
- Take the tram up to Mount Uetliberg instead of hiking to save time for other activities.
- Plan a stroll through downtown Zurich, including Bahnhofstrasse and Lindenhof, and consider a boat trip on Lake Zurich for a nice break.
- If the weather is nice, dedicate a full day to exploring the city without adding too many activities, but check museums only if skies are cloudy.
- Check local timetables to help coordinate your visits and avoid rushing between attractions.
- Consider visiting the National Museum if you’re looking for an interesting indoor activity, but note it might not be budget-friendly.
AI-generated summary-
Hello! We’re a family of 7, (my parents and us siblings aged 17, 16, 10, 8 and 2), and we’d be visiting Switzerland through a travel agency. The rest of our trip is set up by them expect 2 days in zurich, August 4 and 7 to be specific, when we’re to spend the day at our leisure. We’d be staying at Hotel Leoneck and we were hoping we could visit the Rhine falls one of these days and also hike upon mount utielberg; and the other day, see all the city highlights around downtown zurich (old town, Bahnhofstrasse, some budget-friendly museum (suggestions plz!) Giacometti murels at the police headquarters and just shop around the city.) I really need some advice on whether I’m plunging in too many things in 1 day, and where else I should consider visiting (considering my family age variations) and take the most of this beautiful city! All advices and suggestions are welcome and more like needed! I’d be grateful if someone could help me prepare a plan like the best sequence to see the places and star place should be visited when..? Maybe a path for the day so the destinations just follow one after the other! I’d be grateful if someone could do that cz I really wish to make this ultra special for my family!
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Hi Hussain!
You’ve listed quite some plans for two days only. I think you’ll manage to do most of them, if you don’t mind having quite full days. You don’t want to hike up to the Uetliberg, by the way; that would take too much time, especially if you want to combine this with a visit to the Rhine Falls the same day. Simply take the tram up to the Uetliberg and enjoy the views. The timetable will help you plan such trips in detail.
In downtown Zurich, you can make a nice stroll including the Bahnhofstrasse, the Augustinerstrasse and the Lindenhof which offers really nice views. Don’t forget the Burkliplatz along lake Zurich. And if it’s hot or family members get tired, a boat trip over Lake Zurich is a nice break. If weather is nice, you can easily spend a day on just these activities. Personally I’d only add a museum if skies aren’t that clear. A list of museums can be found here. Personally, I really enjoyed the National Museum right next to the main railway station, but that’s not one of the cheaper museums.
Further tips are at our Zurich page.
Thank you so much Annika! I really appreciate all your help here! I’ve complied my further queries on my other post so it’s easier for you to reply once 🙂 I’m very grateful to you!
Hussain-
I have walked on Uetliberg many times. Before the fancy new addition to the hotel was built, I used to stay up there at Uto Kulm hotel. Those days it was cheap. A 20 minute ride + a bit of a walk up the hill from the Zürich main station, in the countryside,great views. You can see their viewing tower and a TV tower up on top of the ridge above Zürich. The hotel and restaurant are about a 10 minute walk up hill from the end station at Uetliberg. Not cheap any more; views are still great. Last time I was there, the restaurant was quite good, no longer in the low price range.
My favorite walk up there is perhaps a bit long for your time constraints, but I’ll mention it. You can do it partway and turn around. Walk from Uetliberg station to Felsenegg (to the south) approximately 6 km. Good trail, modest up and downs, good views. At Felsenegg is a “self service” coin operated cable car (Luftseilbahn) that goes down ro Adliswill train station every 25 minutes. (Take a variety of Swiss coins for the ticket machine.) Trains from there back to Zürich run every 10 or 15 minutes for a 23 minute trip.
There is a restaurant at Felsenegg just south of the lift station – about 150 meters.
The start of that walk brings you to a really nice restaurant in about 500-600 meters from the Uetliberg station, to a cluster of buildings at Uto Staffel. It is to the left of the trail, and is a bit down hill from the station, but sits in a saddle in the ridge, so that you have great views down on both sides of the ridge. On a clear day, the views over Zürich are fantastic.
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