Featured Destination of The Week - Zurich, Switzerland

Since I like to travel so much, I thought a new and interesting idea would be to post my "Featured Destination" each week.

Some of these destinations may be places that I have visited, or where I would like to go. I will be sure to include some really neat photos, as well as travel tips for each destination.

To start off this week's destination, I have chosen Zurich, Switzerland.

Lake Zurich

Zurich is a beautiful and peaceful city in Switzerland. It sits on Lake Zurich, which is a wonderful place to take a boat ride and do some site seeing of the countryside. As well, I believe one or two of the smaller tour boats actually sail you down the river which intersects part of downtown Zurich for a closer look at architecture.

Part of Old Town Zurich

All of the streets appear to be quite clean and tidy. The Old Town has plenty of high end shopping outlets and pubs are located everywhere if you need to take a break from touring around.

The people seem to be genuinely friendly, though I was surprised how many citizens speak absolutely no English at all, which seems odd for such an international city. It is quite helpful if you speak German or even Italian.

It's easy to get around in Zurich, as the rail system seems to be quite extensive. However, if you stay in the downtown area, you can walk pretty much anywhere. The weather in the summer is pleasant enough that you may prefer to walk anyway.

As a note, they do not typically use the Euro in Zurich, as the prefer they Swiss Franc. The currency is close to Par with the Canadian dollar, but the city is expensive. I have also had reports from some travelers that they had problems using some of the automated banking machines in Zurich, and that for some reason they would not read Canadian bank cards (though mine seemed to work fine).

If you are in town for a short while, I recommend you stay at the Hotel Ascot, which is right across the street from the central rail station. It is well kept, clean, with fairly spacious rooms. There is a nice quiet evening restaurant on the main floor, and they have a great breakfast buffet in the morning which is included in the room rate. Also, the staff is fluent in English, and very polite and helpful.

You can view their website here: http://www.ascot.ch/en.html

If you have been to a place that you think is fantastic and would like to see it featured, send me an email and let me know!

Happy Travels

Rainn