Enjoy the pretty old town, the trendy new Zürich West district and the glorious lake. With opera, ballet, theater premieres, shows, musicals, art exhibitions in over 50 museums and 100 galleries, time never drags in Zürich. The famous Bahnhofstrasse and the Limmatquai are a shopper’s paradise.

Anglo-Phone
157 50 14

English-language information service that gives details on hotels, restaurants, museums, nightlife, skiing, what to do in an emergency, and more. Lines are open weekdays 9-7 and 9-1 on Saturday.

Botanischer Garten (Botanic Garden)
Zollikerstrasse 107
8008 Zürich
+41 44 634 84 61
www.bguz.unizh.ch

The gardens contain 15,000 living species, including some rare specimens from New Caledonia and Southwest Africa. The herbarium contains three million plants. The gardens, owned by the University of Zurich, were laid out on the site of a former private villa.

Chinese Garden Zürich
Bellerivestrasse
8008 Zürich
+41 44 435 21 11
www.chinagarten.ch

A gift from Zürich’s twin town, Kunming: a traditional South China garden. The walls surround a microcosm of pavilions, open galleries and a water palace with a terrace.

Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection
Zollikerstrasse 172
(0)44 422 00 86

This jewel of a collection is most popular for its French Impressionist works, including those by Monet, van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, Degas, Renoir, and Manet.

Kunsthaus Zurich (Fine Arts Museum)
Heimplatz 1
8001 Zürich
+41 44 253 84 84
www.kunsthaus.ch

One of the most important art museums in Europe, the Kunsthaus Zürich is devoted mainly to the 19th and 20th centuries, although the range of paintings and sculpture reaches back to antiquity. The museum was founded in Victorian times and was overhauled in 1976. Today it’s one of the most modern and sophisticated museums in the world, both in its lighting and its display of art.

Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum)
Museumstrasse 2
8023 Zürich
+41 44 218 65 11
http://www.landesmuseum.net/
This museum offers an epic survey of the culture and history of the Swiss people.

Museum Reitberg
Gablerstrasse 15
Kreis 2
044 206 31 31
www.rietberg.ch

The neoclassical Villa Wesendonck is now home to the museum. Today that mansion and an adjoining one, Park-Villa Rieter, have been converted into an exquisite museum that showcases Asian, African, and other non-European art.