Arriving to Zurich from Evian-Les-Bains
After our grab-and-go dash of Evian-Les-Bains to fill our water bottles with the swanky stuff, we hopped a stupidly expensive ferry across Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) to Switzerland. This is a country both of us had previously been to independently but never together. I went in 2008 on a ski trip with some girlfriends to Geneva/Chamonix, and Greg in 2002 on his whirlwind post-graduation backpacker trip through Europe.
Our ferry arriving to float us across the lake to Lausanne for 35 minutes for $28/each. There were no ferries on Sunday from Thonon-Les-Bains, which is how we ended up in Evian. On this day, we went from one French speaking country to another, at least for a few minutes…
We accidentally sat in first (Swiss) class until getting booting into steerage with the other French people.
Wow! We soon learned why it costs more in Switzerland….the million dollar views! Lake Geneva looks a lot more drool worthy with the French Alps as its back drop. And also, bienvenue to Lausanne! The second biggest city in French-speaking Switzerland after Geneva.
Don’t even want to know what this vintage looking tourist boat ride costs!
From Lausanne’s ferry terminal, we headed (plodded) about 20 minutes mostly uphill toward the train station. I should say that Greg plodded. I rolled, thanks to my new convertible choose-your-own-adventure roller or backpack. Yes. I’m loving the option and he’s already green with envy.
A Swiss Sunday farmer’s market, where nothing was priced. Always a good sign. 🤣
Arriving to the beautiful Lausanne train station. Our plan was to stash our big bags in a locker while we went out to explore for a couple hours. But when we saw the $14 price tag, we laughed in their faces and decided to roll (and plod) over to a park to enjoy our picnic lunch.
Speaking of laugh in your faces, could the Swiss people be laughing at this guy in a billboard we saw all over the country?! The poster literally means “isolate ourselves from Europe? Especially not now!”
This is open to interpretation, but the UDC is an alt right political group that wants to cap immigration and would require renegotiating the current EU laws concerning free movement of people. In other words, does this mean Switzerland (a non EU country) needs to embrace the rest of Europe and not further isolate themselves?! (Thank you to my French translators on this one.
We stopped on the Esplanade de Montebenon.
Our picnic lunch, which we naturally imported from France to enjoy on the lawn in Switzerland. If I hadn’t been so eager to eat, you’d witness a fabulous still life of the full meal, which included boiled eggs with Dijon, a tin of legumes de soleil (lentils of the sun?!) and chubby little Tunisian dates.
Because we certainly weren’t going to pay 10 CHF (Swiss Francs)/$13 for a sandwich. The coffee prices were also about $5-7/drink so we subsisted on our kidney potion from Evian.
Arriving on the train, we then began noticing the language lesson that is Switzerland. Four languages. Bedecking…everything. Yes, that’s right. Swiss people are typically some of the best English speakers in all of Europe, and often polyglots because, why?! They have no choice but to learn it if they want to communicate with their countrymen. So we knew about the French part…and the German part…and the Italian part. But who are these Romansch people?!?
According to my Chat GPT search, one of the most fascinating minority groups in Europe. Romansh is spoken fluently by nearly 40,000 people majorly found in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in southeastern Switzerland near the borders with Italy and Austria. Romansh is a Romance language descended from the Latin brought by Roman soldiers and settlers nearly 2,000 years ago. If you know Spanish, Italian, French, or Portuguese, you’ll recognize many words, but Romansh has also absorbed centuries of influence from German.
Allons-zy! Or, is it…. Vroom, vroom in German?!? Regardless, three hours and counting to Zurich. Cost: $51/each for train tickets, bought more than a month early on the SAVER fare. 😅
For that fare, I’ll have you know, we did not receive any cool face towels, caviar or slippers, but it did include some pretty banging views of the Swiss Alps. Apparently, we could have had even better views had we chosen a train that took the southern route, which we would strongly recommend for those doing the same journey.
Arriving to the Zurich main station, we then had to walk about 10 minutes to the fire engine Swiss red local train/subway to take us three stops down Lake Zurich to our housesit. The fact that they were double decker trains didn’t make up for the fact that these tickets cost $6 each, and we rode it less than 10 minutes. Eek! Thank goodness for our housesit!
Exploring the City of Zurich
I won’t lie. We took a one week housesit in Zürich basically to combine it with a visit to Little Liechtenstein…a magical, mountainous country that Greg has had his eyes on for decades. In the meantime, we were here, so of course we wanted to awkwardly insert ourselves into the bougie bubble that is Switzerland’s largest city….Zürich. Which, by the way, locally seems to be pronounced much softer than the German or English we’re accustomed to.
Zürich is, of course, one of the world’s major financial hubs, which is also ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. Its terrific public transportation, plentiful bike and pedestrian lanes, low crime rates, sparkling streets, and easy access to nature and hiking also has a distinct tradeoff….the prices.
That said, we didn’t fall in love, although the access to nature was terrific. The city and historic center was a bit too polished, a bit too busy, a bit too expensive and…I don’t know, a bit too…Swiss(?) for our taste.
However, it did have some fascinating slices of history to learn about…
Probably one of the most recognizable flags in the world, the red square with a white cross is ubiquitous throughout the city. It is only one of two square flags in the world, which evolved from military banners used by Swiss troops during the Middle Ages. The white cross historically was associated with Christianity and used by Swiss soldier as a battlefield symbol back to the 14 Century. Over time, it came to represent the Swiss Confederation itself rather than a specific religious message. The Red Cross chose a similar symbol in honor of the organization’s founder, Henry Dunant, was was Swiss because it was easy to recognize on battlefields.
Another thing that is ubiquitous across Switzerland are its burly and handsome clock faces. This one is showcased on the Fraumunster, one of Zurich’s most recognizable and 1100-year-old landmarks. The flippant fish you see on the edges are actually gargoyle-style water spouts.
The numbers on the tower are a bit peculiar. To us, it looked like 1732, but Chat GPT swears it actually represents 1532, which makes the completion of Zurich’s Reformation period under Ulrich Zwingli, who fun fact….I’m apparently a direct descendant of, according to my genealogy obsessed father. Now that’s a grandfather clock if I ever saw one!
Zurich Old Town as seen on the Limmat River
Celebrating the closing of our rental house with a Swiss beer, which cost $17 for two, one Greg, and one Mandy size.
Fraumunster Square is where we started as we were loosely following the Rick Steves’ walking tour route.
Within this square, one can find a curious sight…an example of an old Zurich house sign whose dates indicate the period during which the building served as a merchant guild house. These guilds weren’t just trade associations, but played major roles in city government. The camel wasn’t chosen because there were camels in Zurich. It was simply a symbol used during a time when many couldn’t read. People would say, “Meet me at the camel,” which likely symbolized long-distance trade and commerce with the East.
In addition to Swiss flags, throughout the country, you’ll also find the omnipresent display of canton, or regional, flags.
If you want a hoity toity dessert experience, head into the 1842 Cafe & Conditorei where desserts start around $12. But what a lovely setting.
Evidently, we prefer cheap ass so we found ourselves at the Äss Bar. For the record, it’s not as bad as it sounds because äss just means “edible,” at least according to our new local friend, Lea. The Äss Bar sells day old pastries at a super discount, so we picked up two to go for about $3.80/pop. We were forewarned by the cafe worker that both of our choices included alcohol inside. Alcohol and chocolate in the same bite? Argh. You twisted our arm.
Spiegelgasse Square is colorful and cheery.
Wandering the pedestrian thoroughfares of the Old Town, we saw multiple buildings featuring wrought iron work, which felt a bit Salzburg-y.
Also, thanks to Rick Steves’ recommendation, we checked out the most loaded guidebook and travel map shop we’ve ever set foot in. Naturally, this made us drool for undiscovered Outdiana destinations on our ever-growing list.
Synagogengasse is one of those tiny Zurich passages that most visitors wander past without realizing they’re standing on an important piece of city history…the medieval Jewish Quarter. In 1423, before Switzerland was the neutral and welcoming haven it is today, Zurich’s Jewish residents were expelled from the city and the synagogue ceased to function. The community would not be permanently reestablished for centuries in 1850 and today is the largest Jewish community in the country.
Speaking of welcoming, pride flags bedecked an Old Town bar called Kweer.
More inviting squares….’neath time-keeping towers.
It might surprise you that Zurich also offers a historic alleyway which passes over Roman ruins…the Thermengasse-Romische. The ruins themselves are quite unimpressive and difficult to make out underneath, but there is a nice exhibit which explains the history.
From there, we wandered up to Platzspitz, a beautiful tree-filled park wedged between Zurich’s two rivers.
It was here we rejoined nomad friend, Jeff from the States, who we originally met in Hue (Vietnam), alongside his girlfriend Lea for a picnic. Naturally, they brought cheese. Now, most of my life I’d been a generalizing brat about Swiss cheese based on naive (and American) experiences I’d had as a child, making me conclude I didn’t like it.
Like with most everything, there are many varieties, levels of quality and opportunities to keep trying things. Here, around 450 types to be exact. And the majority don’t have holes. On this day, Lea and Jeff shared a cheese from the Appenzeller region, which Lea (a German who has lived in Zurich 7 years) said is sorta like the Alabama of Switzerland. Despite her selling the location as um…less refined, it offered a strong punchy flavor and a nice aromatic accompaniment.
I liked it a lot. Thus, I now eat Swiss cheese…so long as it’s from Appenbama.
Wandering into the stunning Zurich train station, which we hadn’t really got to appreciate on our way in. Inside we found the enormous ceiling ornament…L’Ange Protecteur (The Guardian Angel) created by French-Swiss artist Niki de Saint Phalle who watches over the millions of passengers that pass through everyday.
Outside the train station feels very polished, where you can immediately jump on a squeaky clean city tram. (For around $6 a ride! 😣)
Other signs the Germans are nearby…pretzels. Everywhere!
Our penultimate stop in Zurich would be to the lake where we enjoyed one of our Äss Bar treats. The swans wanted to share, but we didn’t figure chocolate, nor alcohol, was good for their tummies. Better take the risk ourselves….
Our last stop would be to the Bahnhofstrasse, aka a street we don’t belong on. You get the gist based on this picture….
A Must Stop in Zurich: Lindt Chocolate
When people think (okay, daydream) of Switzerland, it seems that many elements come to mind: alpine vistas, turquoise lakes, army knives, undercover banks, enticing neutrality, cheese with holes, overly expensive watches…overly expensive everything. Oh…and duh…chocolate. Despite the fact they grow cacao nowhere. Anyhow, it was the only daydream that made me personally pause for a moment.
Specifically Lindt chocolate. This is a treat that of course, is available worldwide, so it’s often our go-to bougie treat of choice as we travel, available anywhere from $3-8 a bar.
So, it was mandatory to at least take a peek in an official Lindt Shop while we were in its home of Zurich….(P.S. For the record, we consider visiting the Lindt factory. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out for weeks.)
Rather that summiting an Alpine peak, the Lindt chocolate store obviously has you ascending via an ostentatious flowing chocolate staircase. Once inside, you are greeted with several samples, and a wall of bars, some of which you never knew existed. They were pricing their bars around $6, which is just ridiculous considering we were at…the source.
We managed to bypass the bars but naturally, got seduced by the exotic flavors we had never seen in the Balls of Gratification section….from cheesecake, to tiramisu, to dark mint, to coconut. We walked out spending over $9 on these… a whopping $1.56 a ball…which is honestly just stupid. But they were….quite satisfying?!
Of course, we then wandered into a Migros supermarket to get some coffee, and I walked out with a discounted chocolate bar, for $3.50, which is what we normally pay in most other countries. The flavor that wooed me?! Vanilla. Have you ever seen a boring ‘ol Plain Jane vanilla Lindt bar?
I hadn’t either. To be honest, it was disappointing and overly bean-y, which confirms why they’re probably not marketing it worldwide.
Getting into Zurich’s Nature on Monte Uetli
As mentioned, we didn’t love the city of Zürich itself. But what we did love was its immediate access to some pretty extraordinary nature…something that can be difficult to find within cityscapes. In fact, from the front door of our housesit, which was southwest of the city near Leimbach, we were surrounded by hiking and biking trails leading to countryside paths, forests, rivers, and the lake within footsteps, and ravishing views of the Alps within a few more.
While most days we just settled into our routine of easier evening walks or swims, one day, we decided to take a bigger hike around 10k (~2 hours/one way), leading to the Observation Tower at the top of Zürich called Monte Uetli.
The view from the top of the observation tower. Of course if you’d rather drop the cash and cheat, you can also take the train from the center for about $12 round trip. But the foot-first journey is always way more rewarding, right?! Not far from our place, we were already rewarded with some pops of the Swiss Alps…
….as well as some unique lawn art, featuring a massive menacing dragon, getting prepped to be slayed by a miniature lumberjack, which looks likes he belongs on a Cuckoo Clock. From here we began to climb up a steady series of switchbacks which lasted a good thirty minutes…
…until we joined a ridge and a trail marker of yesteryear. This was right next to a hotel/pub of yesteryear as well, which seemed closed for business.
As in…completely closed for business. On second look, however, we realized these weren’t tombstones of the heavily intoxicated. They were in fact the remnants of stone benches and tables tucked under the welcoming trees near the pub.
Since there was no beer, or bartender, to be found, we settled for one of the thousands of free-flowing cool and crisp water fountains available throughout Zürich.
Sitting just neath the ridgeline was plopped a quintessential Swiss countryside home. Of which we found many..
Now I could deal with a view like this outside my window!
Another entertaining thing on the ridgewalk was revealed when we found ourselves at Uranus. Haha. Yes, I’m so immature. This planetary walk stretched all the way to the observation tower, and was scaled to our solar system, so you could track your steps and approximate distances between.
Our first delicious view at a lookout on the ridgeline. And finally…seeing our destination in the distance.
About twenty minutes later, we found ourselves at the top, taking peeks of Zurich from far above,
…which was naturally best appreciated with swigs of stupidly overpriced bottled beer, worth every Franc after a long hike. ($9/bottle). At least we brought our own food…a beet/chickpea salad I’d whipped up at home.
Nothing like it! Simply incredible!
Our Daily Life in Zurich
It’s not headline news that Zürich is one of the most expensive cities on earth. This pretentious pocket is, in fact, number 2 after Singapore, where we spent $27/day back in 2024. Petsitting, of course, not only makes both of these cities possible, but completely affordable…even on our $55/day budget. But this time, we paid for it a bit more for it by shacking up with two rambunctious and opportunistic feeders in a living situation which felt a bit…Couchsurfery…mostly because we were literally sleeping on a couch.
But alas, it allowed us to live as Swiss people do and see what all the fuss is about…
Meet the opportunistic feeders, Asya and Baileys who were part rescue kitten and we swear, part monkey. Although they were as adorable as can be, cooking and eating became a Game Day challenge.
But the area surrounding our apartment, was absolutely delightful…
We arrived to Zürich on the most convenient of all days in this part of Europe…Sunday. This means nothing, including every single supermarket was open. We were prepared for this. What we weren’t prepared for was every supermarket to ALSO be closed on Monday due to “Whit Monday.”
“Whit the F&$%K?” we said, cursing the door at Lidl.
This meant we had to rely on the spare groceries the kitchen of our hosts, but were completely starving for lunch so we found ourselves at the only restaurant open in Adliswil, a small village on the outskirts of Zurich. Would you prefer pizza or kebab? I guess we’ll take a $26 cheese pizza.
Somewhat satiated, we then wandered into a gas station to see if we could muster enough groceries for meals and some snacks. Fortunately, gas stations don’t totally suck in Switzerland and you can get some fresh produce and basic sustenance, which doesn’t come in bar form or a Hungry Man/Frozen pizza box. Still, we walked out spending $35 for some coffee, two yogurts, a tin of sardines, two apples, a box of milk and the cheapest bottle of wine we could get (about $7). We were gonna need it to try and sleep through the night crawlers.
When we were finally able to get into Lidl a day later, we were mesmerized by the wall of “MILCHPRODUKTE.”
No shortage of creamy natural yogurts here!! Yay! But….they went for a steep $5.21 for a large tub. Boo!! Even worse? The eggs. Priced at $.40/egg. Basic non-hippily marketed ones. For comparison, France’s were $.18 and the U.S. were about $.25, typically less.
And dark chocolate bars were a reasonable $3.50/bar. Frozen berries: $5/large bag (750 g) Again, totally reasonable, we thought.
We did order one Too Good to Go which came from Denner Supermarket. For $6.25, it included two large pork chops which Greg enjoyed, 8 yogurt cups and 5 pistachio or chocolate filled croissants. That pistachio one was AMAZING. For the record, if you’re not using TGTG yet, it’s truly the best money-saving and food waste preventing app. We love it.
When we weren’t scrounging for grocery deals, you could find us plunging into the still chilly Lake Zurich, which had terrific dedicated swimming areas complete with diving areas and platforms. And, our sweet housesit hosts loaned us their membership cards so we could use it for free! Score! The area even had a widespread lounging area for everyone, including honeycomb baby domes to protect their powdery Swiss skin!
Filling our water bottle at one of the thousands of flowing fountains throughout Zurich.
You might be curious as to why I took a picture of trash bins. Because waste management in Switzerland is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
Firstly, a shocking fact considering the wealth….the city doesn’t recycle plastic. Many countries report higher plastic collection rates, but a significant portion of collected plastic is ultimately downcycled, exported, or burned anyway. Switzerland has generally prioritized material quality over maximizing recycling statistics. Their philosophy is more to reduce unnecessary plastic and to send materials where high-quality recycling is possible (especially PET).
Secondly, speaking of recycling, Swiss people are not allowed to recycle glass on Sundays due to noise regulations, nor can they mow the lawn, use power tools, vacuum or even hang laundry outdoors in some municipalities.
Well, let’s hope their Saturdays are super productive!!
Thirdly, you must pay for and use city approved garbage bags for all collection, which our hosts said cost 26 euro a roll. 😬 Ouch.
U-pick irises on the side of the road, which cost 1 Swiss Franc ($1.26) a stem. Kindly, they do supply the clippers.
Our set-up for the week took us back to our college apartment days. To be fair, our hosts were two recently graduated twenty-something PhD students.
And our two clients who we renamed Murder and Mayhem because they could clearly get away with, or into….anything. This included jumping onto this clear glass balcony which was several stories up nearly giving us a cardiac event each time. Until, Greg cleverly put this watering can on the corner completely throwing them off.
Scavenger #2 “hiding out” near the release valve (for the food). Yes, these cats had an automatic feeder and they literally acted like psychotic bouncing-off-the-wall cartoon characters every time it made a deposit. 😹
But when they wanted to be….wow, could they be sweet. 😻
Other features of our modern Zurich pad for the week were a laundry room which was run exclusively by an app called, “We Wash.” No fighting with coins in this part of the globe! They miraculously also offered dryers, but also offered air dry rooms for free, so we stuck with the Euro dry tactic.
(Dirty) Swiss plugs. Because I think they like to be different almost as much as Americans do.
The hiking trails literally footsteps out our door, which were an absolute highlight of this location. It even had a parcours set-up, made of all natural materials tucked into the forest.Naturally, my monkey used it as an opportunity to practice his grip test! 🤣
Also within these hiking trails were several water fountains. Funnily, they were usually stocked with beer and spirits for nearby social gatherings. These two young Swiss girls try and nose their dad’s beers away so they can access the spigot.
From here we decided to make our own party by bringing up a bottle of wine and some cheese, which we enjoyed gazing at a quintessential Swiss scene…. rolling mountains, church steeples and a bended river. Oh, and a crane. Because you know…money.
