Tram Tours

The quickest and most convenient way to get acquainted with Zurich is with a 2-hour trolley tour, which rolls through various neighborhoods of interest. There's no live spokesperson pointing out the sights, but you'll be given a headset, which delivers a running commentary in seven languages. Between May and October, for a fee of 32F ($26/£14) per person, there are tours daily at 9:45am, noon, and 2pm. The tour takes in the commercial and shopping center and Old Town, and goes along the lakefront for a visit to Fraumünster or one of the historic guildhalls beside the Limmatquai.

Boat Tours

At some point during your stay in Switzerland's largest city, you'll want to take a lake steamer for a tour around Lake Zurich. Walk to Bahnhofstrasse's lower end and buy a ticket at the pier for any of the dozen or so boats that ply the waters from late May to late September. The boats are more or less the same so it doesn't matter which one you take. Most of the steamers contain simple restaurant facilities, and all have two or three levels of decks and lots of windows for wide-angle views of the Swiss mountains and shoreline. During peak season, boats depart at approximately 30-minute intervals. The most distant itinerary from Zurich is to Rapperswil, a historic town near the lake's southeastern end. A full-length, round-trip tour of the lake from Zurich to Rapperswil will require 2 hours each way, plus whatever time you opt to explore towns en route. This trip is the highlight of the boat tours offered, and if you can spare the time, you'll find it a rewarding way to see the area in and around Zurich. Many visitors opt for shorter boat rides encompassing only the northern third of the lake; those trips take about 90 minutes total.

The full-length tour of the lake costs 23F ($19/£9.90) in second class and 38F ($31/£16) in first class. The shorter boat ride on the northern third of the lake costs 7.80F ($6.40/£3.35).

You may also want to take a 1 1/2-hour boat trip along the Limmat River for a closer view of Zurich's historic bridges and riverfront buildings. Boats depart daily at 30-minute intervals in the summer months, costing 36F ($30/£16) per person. Boats depart from a pier in front of the Landesmuseum, near Zurich's main railway station, and travel downriver to the lake as far as the Zurichhorn or the Wollishofen railway station before retracing their paths back upriver to the pier.

For more information on all the boats mentioned above, contact the Zürichsee Schifffahrtsgesellschaft by calling tel. 044/487-13-33, or visit their website.

Walking Tours

One of the most appealing walking tours in Zurich is a 2-hour guided stroll through the Old Town. If you're interested in participating, meet in the main hall of Zurich's railway station, at the Tourist Service office (tel. 044/215-40-00). The cost of the tour is 20F ($16/£8.30) for adults, 10F ($8.20/£4.25) for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. From April through October, tours are operated Monday to Friday at 3pm (in German and English), and on Saturday and Sunday at 11am (in German and English).