Zurich (German: Zurich, Zurich German: Zuri) is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of some 390,000 in the city proper and 1.2 million in the agglomeration area. Zurich is on Lake Zurich, where the lake flows into the River Limmat , in the north of Switzerland. Contrary to a generally wrongly made assumption, Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland — the Swiss are very much a confederation of Cantons and avoid naming any one city as capital in order to prevent that Canton from seeming more important than the others. Still, the federal government is headquartered in Berne and not Zurich. Zurich has long been known for being clean and efficient. Due to this, it has been continuously ranked as the city with the highest living standard world-wide for many years. However, only for the last fifteen years it has truly become a fascinating and worthwhile travel destination. This is mostly thanks to the liberalization of the party (more than 80 clubs are open at weekends) and gastronomy sectors (over 500 bars and more than 1500 restaurants). An increasingly cosmopolitan population has helped (every third inhabitant is a foreigner), as well, though more button-down Geneva remains Switzerland’s most culturally heterogeneous city. Zurich always used to be well known for a demanding audience in opera/ballet, classical concerts, and theater. You find more than 50 museums and over 100 galleries in a inner city circle. Traditionally, the majority of all 59 movie showrooms show a diversity of international and arthouse cinema productions mostly shown in their original languages with German and French subtitles.The official language is (the Swiss variety of) Standard German , used in all official publications and announcements, or in any formal writing, and practically everyone can speak it, but the native spoken language of the masses is Swiss German . The most common dialect is called Zuriduutsch (Zurich German), though quite mixed up with any of the many Swiss German dialects, because of Zurich’s central importance and hence its high fluctuation. English and French are also quite widely spoken and often used in official publications and announcements alongside German. Any of these languages will do easily. Note that if you are a native German speaker, it is often wiser to speak Standard German rather than attempting to speak Swiss German unless you have a strong grasp on the dialect. Otherwise, some Swiss Germans will think you are trying to make fun of their language. If you are clearly a non-German foreigner, people will appreciate your effort and then switch to English, Standard German, or French.Zurich Airport (IATA: ZRH) (German: Flughafen Zurich-Kloten) is Switzerland’s largest and busiest airport run with Swiss efficiency. The airport is actually part of the municipality of Kloten and a brief 12 minutes train ride from central Zurich. Trains run every few up to 12 minutes. Early in the morning and late at evenings trains run a bit less frequent, so if you travel at these times check the schedules here (ZVV: Zurich’s city and suburban public transport system), or here [58] (the Swiss country-wide integrated ticket and public transport system by the Swiss Federal Railways SBB-CFF-FFS). The railway station is to be found at the lowest underground Level -2 of the adjacent airport shopping center just across the street of the arrival gates ([59][60][61]). A single ticket to Zurich Hauptbahnhof (central railway station in Zurich, on timetables usually listed as: Zurich HB) costs CHF 6.60 for 2nd class (full fare) and is valid for 1 hour, a return ticket costs CHF 13.20 and is valid from the airport to the city and within the city for 24 hours. Kids under 16 pay the half fare, kids under 6 travel for free if accompanied by an adult. There are also reduced multi-day tickets for youth under 25 at the SBB ticket booth.You can board any kind of train, since the ticket is valid for ANY kind of public transport (including SBB-CFF-FFS trains, S-Bahn (suburban trains), tram, bus, boat and cable cars) within on the ticket indicated areas, the so-called fare zones [62]: zone 121 for Zurich Airport and Kloten’s environment, and zone 110 for Zurich City for the ticket from the airport to the city. Be aware that the zones 110 for Zurich City and 120 for Winterthur count double in price calculations. Also take into consideration ZVV’s special tourist offer ZurichCARD [63], a ticket valid, either for 24, or for 72 hours, for the whole area of Zurich city and its adjacent zones [64], including free access to all Zurich museums, either for CHF 27.-, or CHF 53.-. Though, no half-fare discounts are available for them.Make sure that you have a valid ticket before you board the train, or whatever vehicle, and that the ticket is valid for the respective class, either 1st or 2nd class, if you travel by train

Airport: ZRH Zurich Airport Cities in Switzerland

Country: Switzerland