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What to do in Zurich in 1 day

one day in zurich

Zurich (Zürich) is our favourite Swiss city. Whenever in Switzerland, we always made this city our base and roamed around the most populous city in Switzerland. Although we have spent many days in this city, it always attracts us as new. In this post, we would like to tell you what to do in Zurich in 1 day.  

One Day in Zurich  Zurich lake cruise

Best way to travel in Zurich, Switzerland

It is better to buy a Zurich city pass in advance. It is available for 24 or 72 hours. You can buy one online or from any railway station. With this card, you can travel almost everywhere within and surrounding the city (unlimited travel by tram, bus, boat, cableway). Also, it will give you free entries to many museums. Interestingly this card may give you a discount on shopping and many other places.

Please remember that children up to 6 years of age travel free in Switzerland.

We bought a six-month travel pass for my daughter which was valid across Switzerland that gives her unlimited travel to everything. It was a huge discount on her Titlis ticket as well showing that pass. We found that was the cheapest option for kids.

The first thing we did to buy the travel pass for our family on the previous evening. The card is valid for 24 hours from your first use. So we have not started to use the cards in the evening, we started from next day morning. Our whole day was covered by the pass. Let’s start the journey and see what to do in Zurich in 1 day.

What to do in Zurich in 1 day

In our checklist we had –

  1. Swiss National museum
  2. Uetliberg
  3. Limmat river cruise
  4. Zurich lake cruise
  5. FIFA museum
  6. Shopping at Bahnhofstrasse

What to do in Zurich : Swiss National museum

We took breakfast at our hotel and got ready to start the day in the morning at around 9.30 am. Our first destination was the Swiss National Museum near the Zurich railway station. It has a unique collection of various things and is one of the most visited places in the city. The museum is too big that you can spend your whole day here.

What to do in Zurich in 1 day: Uetliberg

Spending some time inside the museum, our next destination was Uetliberg, the top of the city. The Sihltal Zurich Uetliberg Bahn SZU (S10) takes only 20 minutes to reach Uetliberg, 871 metres above sea level. It has a beautiful scenic view over the city. It was a small walk to the viewpoint from the Uetliberg station. We noted down the timing of the returning train in an hour. It was an amazing one hour taking some photos and a small walk. If you are interested in trekking, then this is the ideal place. There are various walking routes available from 1 minute to 4 hours and 25 minutes, you may choose one based on your time. We have taken a path that took 15 minutes to be completed.

What to do in Zurich in 1 day: Limmat river cruise

Upon returning to Zurich HB, our next activities were river and lake cruises. The city stretches on both sides of the river Limmat which flows out of Lake Zürich. We took the river cruise on river Limmat from near the station stop and our next activity was the cruise on Zurich lake. The river cruise runs from the museum to Zurich lake it takes around 50 minutes for a round trip. Although you can hop in and hop out at any station, we got down at Zürichhorn to take the Zurich lake cruise.

What to do in Zurich in 1 day: Zurich Lake Cruise

It was a smooth and soothing trip over the blue crystal clear water of the lake. There are 3 options to choose from – 1.5 hours, 2.5 hours and 4 hours. Due to the time constraints, we have chosen the shortest tour for that day. On our last trip, we had a cruise trip for 2.5 hours. We had our lunch on the cruise itself and it was an amazing experience. 

FIFA Museum

After the relaxing cruise, we took a tram to go to the FIFA museum, it is very close to the Zurich Enge station, you may plan your trip by train as well. It is a must visit for football lovers.

Bahnhofstrasse

We spent the rest of the day at the FIFA museum and after that headed towards Bahnhofstrasse for shopping. Bahnhofstrasse is one of the world’s most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues. It was worth spending our evening there.

Zurich

But after the whole day’s journey, we were feeling tired and it was time to take some rest beside the Zurich lake holding a cup of hot coffee and some snacks. After enjoying the sunset, we found a good Chinese restaurant on Google Maps and headed toward our hotel.

It was a wonderful day spent in Zurich. We needed a good night’s sleep to gather the energy for our next day’s Mount Titlis trip.