Zurich Altstadt

Zurich’s Altstadt, the medieval old town on both banks of the Limmat river, is the starting point for any Zurich visit. The Frauenmünster church on the left bank has five Chagall stained-glass windows in the choir, installed in 1970 and worth the entry fee specifically for the blue and green quality of the light on a clear morning. The Lindenhof hill above the left-bank old town is a free viewpoint that most visitors walk past. The Grossmünster towers on the right bank mark where Huldrych Zwingli launched the Zurich Reformation in 1519, which was more radical than Luther’s and stripped the city’s churches of decoration permanently. Cross to the right bank (Niederdorf) for cheaper cafes and a less polished atmosphere than the left-bank guild-house streets. Zurich Hauptbahnhof is 5 minutes from the old town center on foot.