Zurich City Bus Tour, Lake Cruise & Lindt Chocolate Museum

Zurich Old Town

Zurich's Old Town lines both banks of the Limmat river with narrow lanes, guild houses and church spires. On the guided walk you see St Peter's Church, whose clock face, almost nine metres across, is the largest in Europe, and the Town Hall standing on the river. The twin towers of the Grossmünster mark the church where Huldrych Zwingli launched the Swiss Reformation in the 1520s.

Across the river, the Fraumünster is famous for its five stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall, installed in 1970, which glow in deep blues and greens. A Zurich Old Town walking tour with a guide brings these stories together, and the compact centre means you cover a great deal in a short time.

Panoramic drive through Zurich

The coach part of the tour links sights that are too far apart to walk comfortably. You pass the Swiss National Museum, housed in a castle-like building beside the main station, and Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most exclusive shopping streets in the world, which runs above the vaults of the Swiss banks. The route continues past the Opera House to the harbour of Enge on the lake.

The drive then climbs into the Zürichberg district, where grand villas look over the city, the lake and, on clear days, the snowy Alps. You also see the ETH, the Federal Institute of Technology where Albert Einstein studied, and the Kunsthaus, Zurich's leading art museum.

Lake Zurich cruise

Lake Zurich stretches for about 40 kilometres south-east from the city, and its water is so clean that locals swim in it in summer. The 30-minute boat cruise included in this tour gives you a relaxed view of the lakefront promenades, the Zürichhorn park and the hills lined with houses on both shores.

A Lake Zurich boat trip is one of the classic things to do in Zurich, and from the water you understand why the city regularly ranks among the most liveable in the world. The cruise runs on the regular public boat service, and your 24-hour transport ticket means you can take another boat trip later if you wish.

Lindt Chocolate Museum in Kilchberg

The Lindt Chocolate Museum opened in 2020 next to the company's historic factory in Kilchberg, on the shore of Lake Zurich. In the entrance hall stands a chocolate fountain about nine metres high, among the largest in the world, with liquid chocolate cascading down a giant whisk.

The audio-guided exhibition follows the cocoa bean from the plantations to the Swiss chocolate pioneers of the 19th century, including Rodolphe Lindt, who invented conching in 1879 to create melt-in-the-mouth chocolate. The visit ends in a tasting area and the shop. Return to Zurich's main station by trolleybus and tram with your transport ticket.

FIFA Museum

On the default option you also receive admission to the FIFA Museum, which opened in 2016 in the Enge district, close to the lake. Across three floors it tells the story of world football through more than a thousand objects, including the original FIFA World Cup trophy, the jerseys of every member association and interactive games.

You visit it independently after the tour, with an audio guide available in several languages; the last admission is in the late afternoon. It is a favourite with children and football fans, and a good choice for rainy days in Zurich.