The ultimate guide to: FREE Zurich!
Things to do in Zurich: have you ever dreamed of visiting Switzerland but the price tag seems to be out your reach? You might have heard Switzerland is probably the most backpacking – budget conscious unfriendly country In Europe and you might know Zurich has been considered the most expensive city in the world. So expensive, most travel bloggers will advise you to stay away, unless you have an upper mid-range to luxurious budget. I was shocked once I got to Zurich, the amount of luxurious cars, the super fancy way people dress, the expensive stores everywhere won’t let you forget this is one of the richest countries in the world-
THINGS TO DO IN ZURICH
Yes! Zurich is incredibly expensive, it’s almost chocking how much everything costs, but if you always dreamed of visiting this city, don’t be put off by the price tags. I’m a specialist on finding the best free deals around the world and Zurich couldn’t defeat me. My ADVICE IS: go to Zurich, but be smart! I will give you some great ideas to explore Zurich for free!
GET A FREE BIKE
Having a free bike will help you move around without breaking your wallet
Wake up to the fresh air of Zurich and get ready to explore Switzerland’s most fascinating city! Good news: Zurich city center is actually very small and you can explore it easily on foot, but it also is amazingly bike friendly, so why not pick up a bike for free and ride your way around Zurich? By having a free bike, you can explore every corner of this expensive city without breaking your wallet with the extreme prices of public transportation. From May to October you can get one of the 200 robust city bikes 100% free of charge, seven days a week! You will need a valid form of ID card and a deposit of 20.00CHF which will later be returned to you. Bikes can be picked up at the following stites: May to October: Globus City: daily, 9am-9.30pm Bellevue: daily, 9am-9.30pm Bahnhof Enge: Mon-Fri: 10am-9.30pm, Sat-Sun: 9am-9.30pm Bahnhof Oerlikon, Swissotel: Mon-Fri: 12am-9.30pm, Sat: 9am-9.30pm, Sun: closed Im Viadukt: Mon-Fri: 11am-9.30pm, Sat-Sun: 9am-9.30pm All year round: Bike Station North, Swiss National Museum: daily, 8am-9.30pm Bike Station South, Sihlpost: daily, 8am-9.30pm
VISIT THE BOTANICAL GARTEN
Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zürich For those of you who are into nature and flora, the 53,000 square meter (570,480 square foot) and more than 9.000 different plants, the Botanicher Garten will be a must do activity. You’ll find lush green trees and plants from the tropical rainforest to the Mediterranean climates, set in glass pavilions. All with the background music of highly tuned frogs. The entrance is free and you should take around an hour for this activity. The gardens are open until at least 6pm year round Monday through Sunday.
SWIM INTO THE ZURICH LAKE AND HAVE A PICNIC
The Zurich lake during a winter day
The inhabitants of Zurich are very proud of their city and their lake. With no pollution and tight water controls, the lake Zurich might be one of the cleanest in the world. It’s waters come from the river Linth, rising from the glaciers. Most part of the lake is located within the limits of the Canton of Zurich, although 20 square km of it run towards the southern shore of the Canton of Schwyz, and 10 square km of it, are located at the northern shore of the Canton of St. Gallen. You’ll have a lot to explore! During summer time, when the weather is nice, the waters can reach 20ºC and people enjoy swimming in the clear waters. If you’re visiting during summer time, bring your bikini along. Take a long bike ride along the lake, enjoy the amazing views and do a picnic on the green parks surrounding this beautiful lake.
TAKE A FREE TOUR… OR TWO!
Our group. I’m the one with the red scarf at the back hiding from the camera!
The Free walking tours will take you to the hottest spots of Zurich. They’re fun, the tour guides are generally local residents who love their city and want to share all it’s beauty with visitors. If you’re not familiar with these kind of tours, you’ll be surprised by how interesting and fun they can be. Not only will they show you all the monuments and share the stories and history with you, they will also share a bit of the culture and mentality. These tours are free and Zurich currently has 2 different ones on offer, so chose one, or… take both of them!
LINDENHOF HILL POINT VIEW
The beautiful view from the Lindenhof
Lindenhof offers some of the most breath taking views over the old town of Zurich, the river, the cathedrals, the University and the Swiss federal institute of technology. Lindenhof is not only known for the stunning views, but also for the rich ancient history it gathers. Here is where the Romans build a fort, to protect the city during the Roman occupations in the 4th century. In 1747, a 2nd century Roman tombstone was found, displaying the name: Turicum, the Roman era name for Zurich. Nowadays a replica of this tomb is displayed at the entrance of Lindenhof for you to see.
GIANT CHESS BOARDS
Gigantic chess boards
Check out the massive chess boards at Lidenhorf, where passionate players make their strategic moves on this amazing interactive game. If you’re a chess passionate, join them for the challenge!
ROAM AROUND THE OLD TOWN
The historic Zurich city center
The old town is actually really tiny and you’ll be able to explore most of it in a few hours. The little streets, the architecture and the small cafés are really charming.
COUCHSURFING VEGAN POTLOCKS
It’s dinner time by now, why not joining the active Couchsurfing community in Zurich and get to know more about the city through the eyes of the locals and meet other fellow travelers? Every other Friday, travelers gather to cook together and share a meal. Bring something along to cook or a ready vegan dish and spend the rest of the evening socializing with fellow travelers who are probably visiting Zurich on a budget as well.
NOTE: hostels are very expensive in Zurich and you should consider couchsurfing if you want to keep the costs as low as possible. Remember to send personal couch requests and enjoy your time in this Swiss small, but interesting city!
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Great post. Will keep these tips in mind before I plan my visit to Swiss and Zurich.
Thanks for the post. *bookmark*
Yes, this is a very useful guide. Let me know how your trip to Zurich was after you visit this amazingly expensive city
I live in Zürich and I really liked this guide. There are a few other things you can do for free but you showed the most important ones!
I only recently subscribed to your blog and I love reading your entries! Keep up the good work!
Hi Virginia, nice to hear from you, a Zurich resident
Thank you so much for your words, it’s always nice to know my blog is useful and inspiring. I still want to explore the yummy sweets of Zurich, I might do that soon.
Zurich is such a cool city and I spent hours just window shopping at all the nice clothes. There’s some really cool architecture there too and your guide is perfect for free stuff!
Window shopping is another big activity in Zurich. Not only for clothes, but also the sweets and chocolates, yummy! I was surprised by how tiny Zurich actually is.
Wow! Thank you for this guide. This will be perfect for me if ever I get the chance to go to Switzerland!
Hi Gabriela, nice to know this guide will be useful for you. Most travel bloggers advice people to stay away from Switzerland or simply skip this country, but I believe there’s always a way around the price tags
We didn’t visit Zurich, but went on to Grindelwald/Interlaken – expensive yes but not as bad as I feared. We are from NZ so pretty used to sky high prices. I imagine Zurich may be even more expensive though.
You’re from NZ? That’s a place I really want to visit one day. Yes, Zurich is more expensive than other cities and towns. Geneve for example is a bit cheaper and according to what I’ve heard, the display of wealth is a bit more moderate. Zurich is a city that thrives thanks to the banks, there’s millions entering from the millionaires around the world who deposit their $$ here in their anonymous accounts. You just can’t disconnect for a moment that this city is loaded. I have mixed feelings about it.
Checking out the view of the city via Uetliberg should definitely be on here too! I visited a friend (who managed to dodge the high-cost of living by living in a camper-van on the lake), and she took me on a bike & hike up the Uetliberg and it was definitely a high-light! Not to mention the Red Fabric – hosts cheap/free art shows and parties…
I grew up in Switzerland and this guide is great BUT I laughed when you described Zürich as small, it’s actually the largest city in Switzerland, and the 7th largest canton (there are 26) 😉 Also it’s probably worth mentioning that each canton is very different especially if you hop from one language-area to another, and even smaller towns/villages within a canton can have quite a different attitude/atmosphere. I strongly encourage traveling through Switzerland, it’s not that small, and there are tons of beautiful places to see
Although Zurich is the largest Swiss city, it’s still small in size comparing to most big European cities. I believe that the fact that Swiss cities are small and not overly populated or overwhelming is actually the charm of this country. Cities like Paris, London, etc can be too much, but Zurich is about perfect, not too big, not too small.
Yes, every canton is different and the diversity of cultures is very interesting, but since this article is about Zurich only, I didn’t mention other regions