4-Day Zurich Itinerary: Tour, Food & Photos

If you are planning to have a short trip to Zurich, Switzerland, we have the perfect itinerary for you! This 4-day Zurich Itinerary includes a half day tour, a few great food spots you can’t miss and the best spots to take some photos (because if you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen!)

What to Know Before Going to Zurich:

• There isn’t a “Swiss” language. The people in Switzerland speak German, Italian, French, and Romansh. Don’t panic that English isn’t one of the four national languages, many people speak enough English for you to be able to communicate easily.
• Zurich is a very safe city. It is actually one of the safest cities in Europe and very high on the list in the overall world! Of course it is always good to be careful, but know that you can travel to Zurich and overall Switzerland with peace of mind.
• You can drink tap water in Switzerland. In fact, it actually tasted extremely clean – quite delicious!
• Expensive. Don’t expect this to be a cheap trip – there are ways where you can make it a very affordable trip, but Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world! Eating out at restaurants and bars will cost you, though you can have a more affordable trip if you have a place to stay with a kitchen and cook your meals.

4-Day Zurich Itinerary

Accommodation Recommendations:

• Uto Kulm ($$$): This is where we stayed! It is a bit of a “destination” spot as it is on top of Zurich and isn’t quite in the city center, but it was absolutely stunning to wake up to views of the city!
• Townhouse Boutique Hotel ($$$)
• Storchen Zürich – Lifestyle boutique Hotel ($$$$$)
• Ruby Mimi Hotel Zurich ($$$)

Restaurant Recommendations:

• Uto Kulm Restaurant ($$$$) – this was my favorite meal of the trip (and the most expensive!) Absolutely out of this world fish and pasta, could eat it every day and never get tired of it.
• Bubbles ($$) – great brunch spot! Prices were on the lower side for the city – we do recommend making a reservation if possible, it gets crowded!
• Babu’s ($$$) – another great brunch/lunch spot! Prices were average for Zurich, we split some pancakes, had eggs benedict and avocado toast. My mouth is watering thinking about it.
• Rooftop ($$$) – yet another great brunch/lunch spot! Can you tell we like our breakfast food? We were able to sit on the terrace here which had some really pretty views of the city.
• Cantinetta Antinori ($$$) – we stumbled upon this spot when we were going to see Augustinergasse, and we are so happy that we did! It is great Tuscan food, I had an amazing pasta dish and Charlie had shrimp and risotto to die for.

Day 1: Chocolate on Chocolate

To begin the 4-day Zurich itinerary, we start with dessert. I am sure you have heard of Swiss Chocolate and how it’s some of the best in the world! You won’t have a hard time finding some good sweets in Zurich and lucky for the sweet tooth’s out there, there are a few Chocolate Factories!

• Lindt Home of Chocolate: Arguably the most famous one in Zurich. They have an interactive museum with both information on displays as well as an audio guide. There are multiple chocolate tasting stations as well as chocolate making workshops!
• Garcoa Schoggi Safari: Garcoa is a smaller chocolate company, known for it’s “Bean to Bar” production. On their safari, you can discover the chocolate production from the cocoa bean to the finished bar.
• Max Chocolatier: Here is a wide variety of chocolate with tons of flavors! They host different chocolate tasting here for smaller groups.

If you plan to take a tour of any or all of the above factories, we highly recommend booking tickets in advance!

Day 2: Zurich Zoo

Not everyone is a Zoo fan, but the Zurich Zoo was my favorite activity of the trip! Charlie and I enjoy seeing wildlife (yes, I know the wildlife in the zoo isn’t technically “wild” since they are contained). One day, we will head out on an actual safari, but for now, we enjoy seeing exotic animals in a zoo space.

The Zoo is budget friendly – a ticket cost 28 CHF (about 26 Euros) for those above the age of 21. To get to the Zoo you can take public transportation through tram and bus from Zurich city center and Stettbach train station. When you get off at the “Zoo” stop, it’s then about another 15 minute walk to the front entrance. You can also drive there if you have a car!

There is food and drinks inside the Zoo! Charlie and I did not eat inside since we had lunch reservations elsewhere, but that is an option. We also saw people that brought in their own food and would eat at a picnic table if you want to save your money. There are lockers at the front of the zoo as well should you have any larger luggage with you or any bags you don’t want to carry throughout the park.

You can easily spend a few hours at the zoo as they have many different animal populations to walk through: rhinos, giraffes, birds, monkeys, kangaroos, fish, penguins, elephants, and more! This could take up an entire day, should you want it to!

Day 3: City Highlights Tour

There are so many different tours that you can book in Zurich ranging from 1 hour short walking tours, to a full day tour. We took a 4-hour city sight seeing tour with a large group of other tourists. You can also decide if you want to save money and go with a larger group or book a private tour for additional costs. Check out Viator for all of the different tours that Zurich has to offer to see which one might tickle your fancy the most!

For our tour, 4 hours was the sweet spot. We loaded a bus that cruised through the town while a tour guide spoke to the group in both English and Spanish to point out landmarks and give us some historical knowledge. They made a couple pit spots where we could unload, take some photos, walk through the streets (maybe ~10-15 minutes) but our favorite attractions were during the second half of the tour.

After we were on the bus for the first ~1-1.5 hours, the bus loaded onto a ferry! From there we were able to unload and stand on the top of the ferry to take in gorgeous view of Lake Zurich. It was such a picturesque spot and the weather was wonderful with a slight breeze! The entire ferry ride was fairly short, about 20 minutes, but worth it for the views. Once we were on the other side of Lake Zurich, the bus took us up to a cable car dock in Adliswil. From there, we took a cable car up 800 meters to Felsenegg, which is a popular vista point. This was yet another area in Zurich with stunning views!

After we took the cable car back down, the bus took us back to the city center of Zurich. I highly recommend this tour or a similar one! Being able to see the city, take a ferry ride and a cablecar ride was such a hit.

Day 4: Window Shopping

For the last day in Zurich, you might be tired from the prior days. Zurich is known for their shopping (cough, expensive, cough), so this day could be shopping OR window shopping! Each quarter of the city offers a unique shopping experience. You can explore Zurich’s Old Town which has smaller, traditional stores & boutiques. Or maybe you are interested in expensive items in which you can stroll through Bahnhofstrasse – Zurich’s Shopping Boulevard.

Walking through different streets you will stumble upon cafes and restaurants so you can easily find a spot for lunch and/or dinner. That is what we did mostly when we went – pick a place that catches our eye!

Don’t forget – depending on where you are staying, if you are staying at Uto Kulm, you will have to hike any shopping bags up a hill! So be wary as you are shopping if you need to walk a long way to get back to your hotel. 🙂

(Last but not least): Best Places for Photos in Zurich

• Fraumünster Church
• Münsterhof Square
• In front of the Grossmünster
• Lindenhof Hill
• Augustinergasse
• FREITAG Flagship Store
• Uetliberg

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Hopefully you enjoyed reviewing our 4-day Zurich itinerary and have some ideas for your vacation! Zurich was a beautiful, expensive city that we definitely would travel back to (once we save a bit more money!) If you are looking for a longer Europe itinerary, make sure to check out the 8-day Girls’ Trip to Greece Itinerary!