Zurich Switzerland

So, I’ve become an international pet-sitter; specifically a cat sitter. Let me be clear - not a professional cat sitter, but rather I’m sitting for friends while they frolic around Africa. Although I’m joking about being a professional pet sitter, I’m rethinking my retirement plans as I take in the view of Lake Zurich from the balcony. Not bad. So, while I’m here, I’m going to discover as much as I can whilst being home to feed and care for Ernie - she’s a girl by the way. I’m in Switzerland on my own this time as Brent is at home awaiting hip surgery and working on our renovation projects.

After spending a night with my friends before they departed, I got started on my own little adventure by taking the train into the city to check out the Markhalle IM VIADUKT and have some lunch. Before I talk about the Markhalle, let me share some transportation tips.

Switzerland is known for a few great things and one of them is the public transportation system. By no means am I an expert, but I have learned a few things about said system. Zürich HB or Zürich Hauptbahnhof is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe, serving up to just shy of 3000 trains per day. It’s the country’s rail hub, providing rides across Switzerland and neighbouring countries such as Germany, Italy, Austia and France. It actually made the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance. There are many shops and restaurants within the station for you to pick up a coffee or anything you can find at a mall.

I love Zürich HB. It sounds intimidating, but if I can manage it, you’ll be fine. You will want to download the SBB Mobile app (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen or Swiss Federal Railways) to discover routes and purchase your tickets. The app itself is invaluable and especially necessary if you’re going to be travelling around the city, within Switzerland or other countries on trains, trams or boats. There are many options to purchase including single rides, day and multi-day passes. You’ll have to do a little planning to ensure you’re getting the right pass for your travel needs. A little warning - the SBB are very strict, so you must travel with a valid ticket within the 24 hours of purchase. If not, the fines are hefty. I know because I was misguided by an SBB rep and accidentally took a cable car outside of my travel time, getting dinged with a fine of CHF 100! It’s a long story requiring a glass of red wine. Let me just tell you it involved 2 SBB Controllers, 2 Swiss Cops, and a long telephone conversation with SBB Service Revenue after the incident trying to get my hard earned money back.

Also, you should check out the variety of Swiss Travel Pass cards for purchase if you will be travelling Switzerland wishing to do the mountain scenic tours, visit museums or take a boat tour across the many lakes. I even took the train to Germany twice to see friends.

Let’s get back to the outdoor markets in Zurich. As mentioned above, I took a trip to the the trendy Zurich West to walk around the IM VIADUCT; the former railway line built in 1894 connecting Zurich to the rest of Switzerland. It was decommissioned in the ‘90s, and instead of tearing it down, the city repurposed it into a shopping, dining and commercial space. Along with a variety of restaurants and shops, there is an indoor market with over 20 stalls selling local produce. The IM VIADUCT has a super cool vibe and it’s worth heading to the West end to spend a few hours chilling with the locals.

From the IM VIADUCT, I walked to the Rotor Delfin, a restaurant showcased on the Youtube channel “TopJaw”. By the way, if you haven’t seen TopJaw, you’re missing out. Jesse and Will, two buddies from the UK, travel the world documenting the top places to eat. The show is extremely entertaining and informative, and the episodes usually end with one or both getting a bit drunk. So without hesitation, I ventured to Rotor Delfin after watching TopJaw Zurich. The Rotor Delfin uses only quality, local ingredients specializing in classic grilled cheese sandwiches and wierdly - cocktails. As it was only mid-day, I opted for an apple/carrot juice and a grilled cheese with an onion chutney. It was delicious. Hats off to Jesse and Will. Eating on the Rotor Delfin patio on a beautiful warm Spring day was pretty sweet.

On a side note, the Rotor Delfin is located on Langstrasse across from the Helvetiaplatz, in District 4, where you’ll find the famous Kanzlei flea market each Saturday and the Market at Helvetiaplatz where you can purchase fresh produce and products. Historically, the Langstrasse neighbourhood is Zurich’s multicultural spot with mostly foreign residents and Zurich’s “red light district”. It also has the highest crime rate, drug dealing and brothels. Currently, it’s undergoing a gentrification process - meaning it’s becoming trendy with the hipsters. Of course, just like any other city, not everyone is for the hipsters for many reasons, but as a tourist, it’s evident the grit still exists and it’s a far cry from the Bahnhofstrasse.

To celebrate Mother’s Day, I decided to join all the d'Mami at the top of Zurich by hiking up the Uetilberg. Uetilberg is Zürich’s mountain sitting at 2,858 ft above sea level. Apparently, you can hike up one of the many paths to the top, but I decided to take the train from the city. From Zürich HB, I took the train to Uetilberg to start my hike. The trailhead is right at the train stop so it’s easy to find. There are a variety of paths to take once in Uetilberg, and I chose the Planet Trail. The Planet Trail is an easy hike and family friendly. It’s a hike just shy of 2 hours that meanders through wooded areas and green pastures. Along the trail, there is a model of the Solar System and information about the Sun and planets; cute idea for the kids. A short distance from the train, you have to make a pit stop at Restaurant Uto Kulm where there are sweeping vistas of Zürich and if you’re lucky, the Alps. I’m sure most of the people on the train were making Restaurant Uto Kulm, the highest point in Zürich, their Mother’s Day destination as the rest of the trail wasn’t busy aside from a few families, cyclists and a multitude of paragliders. The hike ended at Felsenegg where I took the cable car to Adliswill. By the way, this is the location where I was accosted by the SBB controllers and the aforementioned trauma ensued. I’m pretty sure the trauma was felt more on the controllers side than mine. Oh well, we all have a story to tell in the future. From the cable car, it was a short walk to catch the train back to Zurich HB from Adliswill. I recommend making your way to Uetilberg for a nice afternoon away from the core of the city; especially if you don’t have a car. Click this link, Swiss Family Fun, for details about Uetilberg and the surrounding area from a Swiss local.

I decided I needed a bit of culture, so I took an afternoon and visited the Swiss Museum or Landesmuseum Zürich. The original building was built in 1898 and designed by Gustav Gull, with a nod to the French Renaissance era comprising of towers, courts and a generous park. The addition, built by Christ & Gantenbein from 2000-2016, is a stark contrast with a modern design of strong lines that connects both the new and older versions. It’s a pretty cool building. Of course there are permanent collections displaying the history of Switzerland to present day, along with rotating visiting exhibitions. I had the pleasure of exploring both the World Press Photo 2025 and the Swiss Press Photo 2025 exhibits, along with “Techno” which I really didn’t think I’d like, but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Try to catch any of these exhibitions if they come to your city. Of course, no museum visit can be complete without a cappuccino and a little piece of heaven; compliments of the museum Bistro.

So after a week, Ernie and I had bonded enough that I felt comfortable venturing to Old Town to be among some humans. As I mentioned earlier, Zürich has a multitude of markets to visit depending on the day of the week, and seeing that it was Saturday, I thought I’d check out the Flower and Vegetable Market Gemüsebrücke at the bridge near Town Hall affectionately referred to as the Vegetable Bridge. The bridge itself plays a critical part of Zürich’s history dating back to medieval times and today, it serves as a public square and pedestrian bridge crossing the Limmat river.

Although it is a small market, the produce is fresh and local, and it was a great starting point to explore Old Town. Saturday morning is a good day to go to Old Town. Were there busloads of tourists? Yes, but they came later in the morning, so get up early and start exploring. Leaving the Vegetable Bridge, I continued to stroll through Old Town taking in the obligatory landmarks including St. Peter’s Church dating back to the 9th century, the Grossmünster and the Fraumünster, former convent turned church. Eventually, I ended up at Münsterhof, the temporary home of the Bürkliplatz weekly Flea market where professional traders and locals sell everything from antiques to jewelry. After picking up some red, checkered table napkins, I continued to browse the market that flowed into the nearby streets. It’s a massive flea market. Of course, when you are done with the flea market, you can always continue your shopping on the glamorous Bahnhofstrasse, the 1.4 kilometre stretch of street connecting the main train station to the lake, and home to the most exclusive department and boutique stores in the world. Instead of the Bahnhofstrasse, I caught a snack at John Baker, a bakery serving up artisanal bread, sandwiches, pastries, and coffee, before getting on my train at Zürich Stadelhofen to reunite with Ernie.

The city of Zürich is not known as a travel destination, but rather for a hub for international banking. That being said, it’s a great jumping off point for some pretty fanastic hikes in Switzerland; and you don’t have to have a car. I took two such hikes during my stay in Zürich, all done by train. The first, Mount Rigi - the Queen of the Mountains. Mount Rigi has 120 km of trails ranging from easy to more challenging hikes. I chose to hike the Mount Rigi Panorama Trail knowing that I’d probably change direction depending on how my legs were holding out. I took the train from Zürich HB to Arth-Goldau, about a 50 minutes train ride. From Arth-Goldau, it was a short walk to the mountain train. There are 10 mountain trains to choose from depending on your route, and you do have to pay to ride the network. It’s best to get a day pass to allow free access to the trains and cable cars. I highly recommend looking into a Swiss Pass or equivalent if you plan on hiking in Switzerland. It really will save you money during your stay. The mountain train took me to Krabel where I transported to the cable car that took me to Rigi Scheidegg where I would begin my hike to the top of Rigi Kulm. This hike took me through alpine meadows with beautiful views of the Alps, cows, and alpine chalets. After a couple of hours, I reached Rigi Wolferstschen-First where I continued with the mountain train to Rigi Kulm. To be honest, I got lost so I had to take the train to Kulm! This is when I miss Brent the most - he’s my navigator - my light and compass! Regardless of how I got to the top, I did, and what a view. From the top of Rigi Kulm, you can see Lake Zug, Lake Loured and Lake Lucerne. The summit sits at 1748 m and it’s definitely worth the trip no matter how you get here. After a few snapshots, I walked back down to Rigi Staffel to have a cappuccino before the next train took me back down the mountain to Goldau to get back to Ernie.

The next hike I highly recommend takes you to the Ebenalp mountain. Up front, I really wanted to go not to hike so much as to have lunch at the famous Gasthaus Äescher restaurant, nestled right in the cliffs. I planned on doing the short hike from the cable car to the restaurant, but of course, I got a bit lost again, so I ended up hiking the more challenging one. To begin the day, I took three trains from my location on the Gold Coast by Zurich to the Appenzill region of Switzerland.

The Appenzill area has an incredible history becoming a member of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1513 and today, still holds Landsgemeinden or open air elections on the last Sunday of April. It’s rich in tradition, culture and cheese making. It may be said it’s a bit too traditional in the sense that woman could not vote until 1990. Although Switzerland was the last of the European countries to grant women full civil rights, the Federal Court granted the right to women to vote in the Appenzell, contrary to a majority decision of the men at the Landsgemeinde on 29. April 1990.

After the 2.5 hour train ride, I landed at my final destination of Wasserauen where the cable car is located a few steps from the train station. There are a variety of hiking trails around and up the Ebenalp offering views of the Appenzill ranging from easy to challenging hikes. My goal was to get to the top of the cable car ride and eat at the family friendly Ebenalp restaurant, and then continue to the Aescher for the view and dessert. Once I got to the Ebenalp, I took the wrong turn that ended up being the “right” choice. Instead of the “easier” path from the cable car to the Aescher, I took a moderately challenging trail that took me through alpine meadows and then down steep, exposed trails to the Aescher. Being lost at first, I ended up walking with a young couple who were going in the right direction. I’m so glad I didn’t take the easier route, as I would have missed out on the massive cliff sides and the Alpstein mountain peaks. At the restaurant, my new friends and I parted ways, and I ended up having an amazing vegetarian lunch made from local ingredients, washed down by the local beer. It’s right up there on my top lunch spots.

After a month of being in this incredible country, it was time to fly back home to Toronto, Canada. Switzerland taught me that slowing down is sometimes the best way to truly move forward. Traveling by train turned every journey into part of the destination — wide windows framing lakes, villages, and mountains that seemed almost unreal.

The hikes were where the country revealed itself. Each trail offered something different: wildflowers, alpine meadows, winding paths along ridgelines, and cows - I love cows! There were challenging climbs and tired legs, but every summit rewarded me with perspective — not just of the scenery, but of how small worries feel when surrounded by something so vast and timeless.

Long after the trains have stopped and the hiking boots are unpacked, I know I’ll still be chasing that same sense of adventure and calm wherever the next journey leads. I’ll miss you Ernie!

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