34 Hours in Zurich

As you may know from Facebook, I recently spent 34 hours in the Swiss city of Zurich. I made this trip as my annual plane spotting 'pilgrimage'. However as it was cheaper to stay overnight than try to fly back the same evening, I decided to spend some time seeing the city itself aswell as the obligatory plane spotting. This is therefore a blog of two halves with the first half covering my exploration of the city and the second being about the spotting.

The first thing to say is that the public transport system in Zurich is expansive with 16 tram routes, plenty of buses and the S-bahn. Unfortunately the ticketing system is rather confusing as the Airport and City are in different zones and although supposedly there was a multi zone day ticket that could be purchased, I couldn't figure out the ticket machine so kept buying single tickets. However this ticketing hiccup aside, I had no problems with either the Tram or S-bahn.

City Exploring

So after a very early breakfast and a 35 minutes tram ride into the city from my hotel in the suburb of Opfikon, I got off the tram at the Bahnhofplatz and decided to walk up the banks of the Linmat to the northern shore of Lake Zurich.

(Side note: I stayed at the Ibis Budget hotel, 5 mins from the airport for anyone interested. Very basic but fine for one night by myself)

This walk took me up part of Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's main high end shopping street. I crossed over the Linmat and continued up past the Rathaus and Grossmünster. Whilst walking up the east bank I was also able to see the towers of Fraumünster Kirche and St Peter Kirche (more on this Kirche later).

The Towers of St. Peter Kirche and Fraumünster Kirche

As I was passing the Rathaus it began to snow, which whilst making this beautiful city look even more picturesque, did seriously reduce visibility out over the lake. After trying to determine what I could see and warming up for a while with a coffee, I set off back towards the Hauptbahnhof with the intention of visiting the Swiss National Museum aswell as the Grossmünster.

Zurich Rathaus (Town Hall)

Unfortunately the Grossmünster didn't open until 10 am (and at 10 past 9 in heavy snow, I wasn't hanging around) and the National Museum wasn't open on Mondays (and I definitely wasn't hanging around for 24 hours).

A Model of the Grossmünster

Therefore, out of ideas, I headed into the Tourist Information Centre for some suggestions. They provided me with a map and a walking tour of the city (which I had coincidentally already done half on my walk to the lake), and so I headed off south again, however this time staying on the west bank of the Linmat.

The first stop was Lindenhof, an oasis of calm within the city, at one of the highest points within the immediate area, giving wonderful views over the Linmat and a beautiful open space, especially when covered in snow.

Lindenhof

After spending a while walking around the park, I headed out the other side and down the hill towards St Peter Kirche. After my earlier failed attempt to visit Grossmünster, I decided to have a look inside St Peter's. The kirche was decorated beautifully both outside and in, with the clock face (the largest in Europe) gleaming in the sunlight.

St. Peter Kirche

For the rest of the morning I continued to wander through the city, continuing to find suprising areas of peace of tranquillity dotted around, before heading back to the Hauptbahnhof and onwards to the airport.

Spotting

Spotting at Zurich was a painfree experience (which unfortunately cannot always be guaranteed). The airport has two official spotting areas on the roofs of piers B & E. Unfortunately the spot on the roof of pier E is closed during the winter, although this does give me an excuse to make a return trip at somepoint in the future.

Air Chine B747

Access to the area on top of pier B is from 'landside' although you do pass through a standalone security check point to gain access. This again proves that if there is the will, there can be decent spotting locations without compromising security.

USAF C-32

From the viewing area you can see all of the 'B' & 'D' gates and some of the 'A's'. The downside of this location is that some traffic may not be seen depending on the runways in use. The 5CHF charge for access is also the only time I've had to pay for a viewing area but compared to most things in Switzerland is seemed reasonable for the facilities provided.

Thai Airways B777

I was lucky enough to be visiting Zurich on the opening day of the World Economic Forum meaning some interesting visitors including an Air China 747 bringing in the Chinese President and 2 C-32s (Military 757s - think Air Force 2) amongst others.

Ethiopian B737

Viewing location        3*

Charge (5CHF)           3*
Variety of Traffic        4*
ZRH Overall Score     3*

Overall Zurich was well worth the visit for both the spotting and the city itself. I would certainly recommend the city for a weekend break and the airport is certainly on my 'Visit Again' list, although in the summer months next time.