Zurich – you might not want to leave again

Check out the details for holiday dialysis at Nieren-Zentrum Zurich-West (NZZW)

Walking through the picture-perfect old part of the city or along Lake Zurich with a breath-taking view of the Alpine panorama can quickly make you forget your everyday life. Zurich is an intriguing mixture of contrasts. With just around 400,000 inhabitants, it has a small town’s charm but is regarded as a financial metropolis in the international arena. It is embedded in the rural idyll of its stunning scenery and down-to-earth specialties, yet the technical accomplishments produced here and the luxury of the city centre’s shops, designer outlets and banks tell another story.

Zurich is the largest Swiss city, but even though many think of it as Switzerland’s capital, it is not. How is that? Well, Switzerland does not have a capital city – at least not officially. When the federal state was founded in 1848, people could not decide whether the Swiss Confederation needed a capital at all, and if so, which city to choose – Berne, Lucerne or Zurich. Hence, the founders agreed on a compromise. Berne was going to be the “federal seat” for all important state authorities. Zurich is an economic capital, known as one of the global centres of banking and finance. Knowing all that, aren’t you curious enough to visit the compelling city yourself? Three NephroCare clinics in the Zurich area are available for your holiday dialysis request. Take your time getting to know Zurich’s many facets and decide for yourself which side attracts you most.

Activities

Luxury that doesn’t show

Zurich’s historic centre stretches on both banks of the Limmat river. The medieval and early modern streets of the Altstadt host most of the city’s culture, nightlife and shopping. Get acquainted with your surroundings by drifting through the Old Town’s cobbled streets with inviting squares, cafes, quirky shops, beautiful old buildings and churches. The most imposing church is the Romanesque Grossmünster cathedral. The two prominent towers make it one of the city’s landmarks. The medieval architecture has found an artful expression in the main portal and its sculpted capitals. A less obviously fascinating church is the even older Fraumünster, with its elegantly slim tower. Inside, the colourful windows by Marc Chagall are definitely worth a visit.

Window-shopping along Bahnhofstrasse, the world-famous shopping street, goes easier on your purse than the real thing. Designer shops, brand boutiques, banks and chic restaurants line up side by side. In between resides the Paradeplatz, one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Switzerland. Seeing it today as one of the most prestigious business addresses, you would never think it used to be a livestock market. For a well-deserved rest after your strolls, have a coffee or any other hot beverage in the Café and Confiserie Sprüngli. Repeat visitors and locals alike would recommend it for its famous pralines and most excellent pastries.

Zurich from the water or the air

A walk along the promenade of Lake Zurich, a cruise on the Limmat or a trip to the top of the Uetliberg – Zurich offers many options to take in the surrounding scenery. Who could get enough of the views that almost always contain glittering water, the Alps and a lovely, gently undulating countryside interconnecting everything?

You will surely come across one of the green and white ‘Züri rollt’ containers. If you like cycling, leave a 20-Franks deposit and rent a bike. Then you can enjoy the bicycle-friendly city on two wheels. If you prefer a journey down the city’s main river to discover the sights from the water, go to the quay in front of the Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum). From April to October, the boats leave every half an hour for a cruise that offers a beautiful perspective of Zurich’s Old Town on both Limmat banks. A voyage across Lake Zurich is a relaxing and inspiring experience, offering yet another worthwhile perspective of the city and the surrounding landscape.

If you like the views from above and one of the churches’ towers hasn’t done it for you, take the train from the central station to the Uetliberg summit. The ride near the top takes just 25 minutes, a brief gets you to the peak. The view from up there is worth every minute of transfer time. Let your gaze roam over Zurich, the river and the lake towards the fantastic panorama of the snow-capped Alps in the background and soak the spectacular view into all your cells to retrieve it during your next dialysis treatment. If it isn’t quite heaven, it is at least out of this world. Enjoy!

Conquering the walking trails

The landscape around Zurich is ideal for hiking. Nature lovers can recharge their batteries while discovering the delightful landscape on the outskirts of the city. If you are up to it, the Zurich area is one of the most rewarding sceneries to conquer on foot. You find trails of various difficulty levels, lengths and altitude profiles.

The ‘Planet Trail,’ an easy two-hour hike, takes you from the Uetliberg to Felsenegg. The name was chosen because of the trail representing the solar system. ‘Crest Hike Stoos’ is a ridge hike of medium difficulty and one of Switzerland’s most popular tours. It rewards you with stunning views of more than ten lakes, countless Alpine peaks and a wide variety of Alpine flowers. In total, there are about 112 hikes for you to discover within the region.

Accommodation

As can be expected, Zurich provides a broad range of lodgings. If you want to do a lot of your sightseeing on foot, you can book rooms in hotels – from luxury to budget –,  boarding houses and holiday apartments in or near the city centre. Parking space is scarce and expensive in the centre. If you come by car, better make sure your host can offer a solution for you. Two NephroCare clinics are situated in the city; a third dialysis centre is roughly 20 kilometres outside of town on the eastern border of Lake Zurich. The location is a great starting point for excursions and trips to the area.   

Culinary & Culture

Fire to chase the winter and melt the cheese

A city like Zurich offers every event culture lovers might wish for, of course – from the renowned Museum of Art to the acclaimed Opera House, from exhibitions in art galleries to jazz evenings and high-profile classical concerts. During the summer, various festivals offer open-air concerts, film and theatre shows. A rather unusual tradition happens during the Zurich Spring Festival. Usually on the 3^rd Monday of April, the city celebrates the Sechseläuten, the ringing of the bells at six p. m. To herald the end of winter, a massive artificial snowman called Böögg is filled with wood wool and firecrackers and burnt atop a 30-foot-tall pyre. The sooner the Böögg explodes, so they say, the sooner summer will come. This tradition goes back to the 16^th century when work ended at five o’clock during the winter months, due to light conditions. The Council of the Zurich guilds decreed to schedule end of work one hour later in the summer months, with the bells ringing at six o’clock.

Switzerland is one of the most highly-developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult in the world. Their watches and army knives are symbols of quality and status. Swiss milk chocolate is delicious in any flavour. Even Swiss cheese is appreciated and sold worldwide. Melted cheese has found its way into households around the world in the form of two delicacies, raclette and fondue. For the raclette, you heat a wheel of cheese and scrape off the melted part. You put melted cheese in a pot over a portable stove and dip morsels of bread in it for Swiss fondue. Awesome!