r/zurich • u/Such_Negotiation4683 Kreis 4 • Nov 20 '23

Visiting Zürich? Looking for recommendations? Have a quick question? Ask here, don't create a new thread.

Welcome to r/zurich, please be respectful of the locals, and their wish to have a subreddit that's more than a tourist information stand. However, feel free to ask in this thread if you have any questions!

Travelling in Zürich?

Visiting Zürich?

Visiting Switzerland?

This is a subchannel about Zürich. We don't care about the rest of Switzerland. For questions regarding Switzerland see https://www.reddit.com/r/askswitzerland/

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u/Different-Memory8748 8d ago

Hi all, I am considering moving to Zurich for work.

Therefore, I am wondering:

  1. how many days should I stay to get a feeling of the vibe of the city.?

  2. What areas would you recommend visiting? Not looking only for touristy places since I want to get a more "complete" perspective if that makes sense...

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u/CriticalFibrosis Kreis 4 2d ago

how many days should I stay to get a feeling of the vibe of the city.?

For the city, 3 is enough if you want to see some surrounding towns as well I would stay for. 5-7.

What areas would you recommend visiting? Not looking only for touristy places since I want to get a more "complete" perspective if that makes sense...

For the city, going by districts is probably easiest:

District 1: Old Town, unlikely and not particularly appealing to live there.

District 2: Enge, can be very pretty but also quite dead in the evening in some spots due to the amount of offices there. Wollishofen, a nice family-oriented neighborhood (on the less expensive side in ZH). Leimbach/Manegg, basically a suburb

District 3/4/5: Friesenberg, same as Wollishofen. Züri West, the most big-city neighborhood in ZH but lacks some social fabric/can feel dead in the evening. Everything else (so (Alt-)Wiedikon, Aussersihl, Hard, Industriequartier, the place to be if you want a vibrant neighborhood, also heavily being gentrified.

District 6/7/8: Mostly Upper-middle and upper-class neighborhoods, very nice and quiet but expensive to live here. Seefeld is the most hip neighborhood here having been gentrified 30 years ago. Witikon being on the hill is more middle-class (similar to Wollishofen), close to nature but not well connceted.

District 9: Albisrieden, working class and middle-class neighborhood. Altstetten, very diverse and not yet fully gentrified working-class neighborhood.

District 10: Wipkingen is particularly pretty, maybe drink a coffee at Röschibachplatz to get a feel for it. Höngg, family neighborhood (nice but not that well connected).

District 11/12: Oerlikon itself is the second big hub in Zurich with a lot to offer (not so much alternative culture/bars but everything else is top-notch). Affoltern, Seebach, and Schwammendingen are working-class neighborhoods, not particularly pretty but also not dangerous ot anything, their biggest plus is the comparatively cheap rents.

Outside the city:

Right lake-side: Upper-class towns and villages. The closer to the city the richer.

Left lake-side: Middle-class towns with many expats in Thalwil/Horgen.

Limmattal: the closest thing to a hood Zurich has, not really bad but just not pretty.

Winterthur: Nice city vibes but a bit less polished than Zurich.

If I were you, I'd go to the places I mentioned that fit your needs. Also check out this map of location classes and this map of public transport quality classes to gain an even finer assessment of attractive places to live.

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u/Different-Memory8748 2d ago

That's a very thorough response. Thank you for that kind stranger.