Save yourself some hassle by discovering this small central European gem
This is a place whose treasures reveal themselves quietly. Not flashy or overt like many big-name European destinations, it is a small gem of a city perfect to discover on foot.
Apparently people in Switzerland have devised a new way of getting to work that’s all about avoiding traffic and stress. In the summer, they put their gear into waterproof sacks and float down the rivers with the tide to get from home to office.
You can’t really see that happening a little further north in Paris, considering that even after the French government’s obsessive $1 billion investment in cleaning the Seine, some Olympic triathletes who swam in those murky waters this year complained of contracting gastroenteritis. How the prim and tidy Swiss must have gloated on hearing that.
You would have to be built of stern stuff to adopt this measure, though, if our toe tip into the Limmat, the ice-clear river that runs through beautiful Zurich, is anything to go by.
It is a glistening Friday evening, warm with a lingering twilight, when we head to the city’s Frauenbad Stadthausquai, a pool suspended over the river, for a dip.
Walking in, you find a rectangular boardwalk and two 30m pools, one inside the structure and one outside it beyond the riverbank, plus change rooms and plenty of space for lounging around. Opened in 1888 in Art Nouveau style, the centre was created as a place for Zurich’s women to bathe in peace without being ogled. It remains staunchly women only today.
We start with intentions of joining some other hardy souls in the water, but about calf deep into the startlingly crisp water change our minds on that and simply head to the bar to order cocktails instead. Drink in hand then, swimsuits on and wrapped in towels, we sit and look at Zurich’s magical Old Town across the other side of the river. The whole experience is completely unexpected.
Zurich is one of those places whose treasures reveal themselves quietly. Not flashy or overt like many big-name European destinations, it is a small gem of a city perfect to discover on foot. Filled with restaurants that celebrate the country’s mixed cultural heritage – find French, Italian and German restaurants mostly plus beer halls, cafes and chocolatiers – and some of Europe’s best shopping, Zurich suffers a reputation for being expensive (which it is) and boring (which it isn’t).
We are staying at the Mandarin Oriental Savoy, newly launched in December 2023 following an astonishing $140m renovation. The Asian luxury brand, experiencing phenomenal global growth particularly across some of Europe’s most glamorous cities, has nestled into the erstwhile Savoy hotel, long one of Zurich’s oldest and most esteemed properties. Now offering 44 rooms and 36 genuinely spectacular suites, the hotel is a benchmark for excellence and modernity set amid a heritage backdrop. Simply walking through the front doors is a pleasure, the sense of history palpable, the staff beautifully responsive to guests, the luxury befitting of one of Europe’s most luxe destinations.
Indeed, the hotel is emblematic of much of what Zurich represents: modernity wrapped in history, a lesson in how to keep up with the times, without destroying the past.
Across an unchanging skyline of bell towers, churches, cobblestone streets and ancient buildings – Zurich has been inhabited since about the year 80, with its famed walls built from about 1220 – find a city that is at once contemporary and historic.
The best place to explore is the Altstadt, or Old Town, full of buildings constructed before 1893, where shops and restaurants abound, modern businesses – particularly across the financial industry – find nooks to inhabit and tourists and locals seamlessly roam a compact neighbourhood so clean, harmonious and trouble free it feels almost like a fairytale, albeit one with a perfectly functioning tram at the front door.
Expensive? Well, yes it is. But increasingly in Europe that’s the price you pay for functionality and safety. And in a continent much maligned from over-tourism and a sense of being globalised to the max, this feels very much like a city to treasure.
Float into it any way you can.
Checklist
Getting there: One of the reasons to visit Zurich is because it is a brilliant hub to fly into from Australia. Rather than suffering through lengthy customs processing in one of the big ports – London, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam – with their queues and crowds and waiting times, in Zurich, you can get through immigration in a matter of minutes. The amazingly efficient airport is located on a tram line, so you can collect luggage and be on the tram within half an hour of touching down. The tram takes about 30 minutes to get to the city, with trams running directly to the door of the hotel. It is an incredibly easy city to navigate, even when severely jet-lagged. Major carriers including Thai Airways fly directly through Bangkok to Zurich.
Stay: The Mandarin Oriental Savoy Zurich launched in December 2023 after an overhaul that saw the grand Savoy Hotel merged with the famous Asian-based brand. The building has a storied history, opening as the city’s first major hotel in 1838 under the name Hotel Baur. The restoration by Paris-based interior designer Tristan Auer has seen the building’s historical bones integrated with contemporary sensibilities and comforts. The hotel oozes old-world charm and grace, and its location on Paradeplatz, Zurich’s ritzy shopping thoroughfare, is outstanding. It is also just a two-minute walk from Lake Zurich. It’s a memorable, exquisitely comfortable place to stay; rates from $1292 for a superior double room; mandarinoriental.com/en/zurich/savoy
Eat: The hotel has a very good breakfast room with a la carte options that will get you through the day, plus a beautiful rooftop bar with lake views, and the city is full of restaurants and cafes. Across the road from the hotel find the excellent John Baker cafe for affordable sandwiches and pastry goods. Outside the hotel’s side door find Zeughauskeller (zeughauskeller.ch), a huge beer hall selling local beers and schnitzel. Located in a 15th century armoury, this is a traditional as it gets; go early as it gets crowded quickly. But the schnitzel and the beer are excellent.
Do: The women-only Frauenbad Stadthausquai is a lovely place to spend a few hours socialising with locals. Entry is CFH8 ($13) for adults. Not far away the Seebad Utoquai is a mixed-gender pool in the same vein. Zurich is also a central spot for starting a hiking and scenery tour of Switzerland. From here, the Berner Overland is the key destination, a region of spectacular snow-covered mountains and verdant valleys. Catch the train from Zurich to Meiringen to explore this scenic location. The Swiss are of course, synonymous with timekeeping and the luxury watchmaker Omega is one of the nation’s most recognised brands. Visit the modern Omega Museum in Biel to explore its history, affiliation with the James Bond franchise, role in space exploration and partnership with the Olympic movement. Among the collection is the timepiece John F Kennedy wore as her was sworn in as President of the United States. The musuem is located inside the Cité du Temps, which was designed by Japanese architect and Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban, and also holds the Swatch Museum. Open Tuesday through Sunday, admission is free.
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