Forget the stereotype of suited bankers counting their gold, this former Sleeping Beauty has woken up and is ready to party, writes AMY LAUGHINGHOUSE
IT’S BARELY 11AM, and Frankie B and his buddies are already enjoying steady pulls from bottles of Feldschlossen beer. Frankie is a barber who has plied his trade for 40 years, and while his tiny shop on a quiet cobblestone street in Zurich devotes an obligatory metre or two to swivel chairs and an array of scissors lined up like surgical instruments on a shelf, the narrow room reads more like a boy’s clubhouse, with racy postcards and girlie posters on the walls, a jukebox next to the sinks, and a pinball machine presiding over one dusty corner.
Then there is Frankie himself, whose long curly locks haven’t had a trim for a while, and his friend, whose bushy moustache and greying blonde lion’s mane lend him the air of an ageing rock star or roadie.
The shop is “just for men, or ladies with very short hair”, Frankie explains. He laughs, his eyes crinkling behind wire-rimmed spectacles, before taking another swig and returning to his conversation – a commiseration over sciatica. No one actually seems to be here for a haircut.
This is definitely not the Zurich I expected. I had envisioned a soulless city full of buttoned-downed, slick-haired bankers too busy scurrying for never-late trains to give you the time of day. A city where, according to a friend who moved here from London, flat-dwellers are typically forbidden to flush the toilet or take a shower after 10pm. (My friend’s downstairs neighbour even offered to buy her bedroom slippers because her footsteps disturbed him. She, in turn, provided him with earplugs).
Tour guide Ursula Casanova traces Zurich’s staid reputation back to the 16th century, when the Swiss reformation of the Catholic Church gave birth to a tradition of austerity. “Work and pray. That was it. No parties. Nothing too much fun,” she says.
But times, as Casanova points out, have changed. “We have the lake, mountains, shopping, 100 galleries, 50 museums, 40 theatres – so many things to see and do,” she insists.
While you might think of Zurich as a winter destination, given the fact that there are half-a-dozen ski resorts less than an hour away, the city really heats up as the mercury rises. In the spring, its citizens emerge like bears from their den. They flock to the River Limmat and Lake Zurich, trading their business suits for swimsuits, and sun their limbs while dining alfresco, as Zurich boasts one of the highest densities of open-air restaurants in the world.
In June and the beginning of July, the city hosts a variety of festivals, and every August, hundreds of thousands of revellers rock up to groove to throbbing beats laid down by international DJs at the annual Street Parade. From mid-August through early September, the Zürcher Theater Spektakel offers theatre performances and dance acts at venues along the lake.
TO DEFINE Zurich as an asylum for rule-abiding automatons with a concern for tidiness and punctuality bordering on the obsessive is a myopic, and frankly unfair, stereotype. Sure, it’s clean, conservative and traditional in some respects. You’ll find more than 1,200 fountains – flowing fonts from which you can actually drink – in charming squares around the city. You can stock up on wooden toys, music boxes and cuckoo clocks at quaint shops such as Schweizer Heimatwerk, where 90 per cent of wares are made in Switzerland. And the city boasts one of the most efficient transit systems in the world.
Yet Zurich is also forward-thinking, fun-loving, even libertine. It’s known as the Gay Capital of Switzerland, with up to 30,000 visitors expected for the Pride Festival this June, and a website, gayzurich.com, listing clubs and discos that offer “a gay tango tea dance” or cater to the “leather, rubber, army crowd”. One of the most unlikely pick-up joints for heterosexuals is a 19th-century coffee house, where “cougars” are said to lick their teaspoon and place it in their cup to signal that they’re on the hunt.
The city boasts more than 500 nightspots, many of them in Zurich West, which remains the heart of the red-light district. In contrast to the winding medieval streets, church spires and centuries-old architecture gracing the banks of the River Limmat, this erstwhile industrial area is emerging from beneath the shadow of cranes and jackhammer dust as an epicentre for bars, clubs, restaurants, galleries and shops, including the headquarters of Freitag, a Swiss company famous for its line of messenger bags made from old truck tarps, inner tubes, and seat belts.
Housed in a collection of cargo containers stacked atop one another, Freitag also features a platform at the top that offers panoramic views, giving you an idea of the scope of this area’s transformation.
“For so many years, Zurich was sleeping,” Casanova admits. But not anymore. This Sleeping Beauty has traded the Zimovane for a Vodka Red Bull, and she’s ready to dance till dawn.
* zuerich.com
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go
5 places to stay
Dolder Grand. Kurhausstrasse 65, 00-41-44-456-6000, thedoldergrand.com. Located on a hill a short tram ride from the city centre, this 173-room resort reopened in 2008 after a four-year makeover. It combines the best of old and new, with a 4,000sq m spa, tennis courts and adjoining nine-hole golf course. The two-bedroom, 400sq m “Maestro Suite” features a sauna, kitchen, dining room and spectacular views from a red timber-framed tower. Doubles from CHF870 (€676).
Baur au Lac. Talstrasse 1, 00-41-44-220-5020, bauraulac.ch. Elegant interiors, trendy dining (including the art deco-style Pavillion), and an enviable location overlooking the lake near the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich’s most famous shopping street, make this 120-room grande dame – sparkling after a €30 million renovation – tough to beat. All suites have iPod docks and mini-bars stocked with free champagne and spirits. Doubles from CHF870 (€676).
Widder Hotel. Rennweg 7, 00-41-44-224-2526, widderhotel.ch. Nine historic townhouses have been completely re-imagined and furnished with designs by Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe while retaining period details such as stone walls, wood beams and frescos in its 49 rooms. Doubles from CHF755 (€587).
Hotel Ambassador a l’Opera. Falkenstrasse 6, 00-41-44-258-9898, ambassadorhotel.ch. Originally built as a Beaux-Arts villa, this 45-room hotel occupies a prime location beside the opera house, and its renowned restaurant embraces the theme with opera scenes depicted on the walls and ceiling. Every room features an adjustable electronic bed. Doubles from CHF310 (€241).
X-Tra Hotel. Limmatstrasse 118, 00-41-44-448-1595, x-tra.ch. One of central Zurich’s more affordable hotels, the X-Tra scores some rock’n’roll cachet, thanks to an on-site club. Doubles from CHF150 (€117).
5 places to eat
1. Restaurant Oepfelchammer. Rindermarkt 12, 00-41-44-251-2336, oepfelchammer.ch. Serving traditional dishes such as Geschnetzeltes Kalbfleisch (veal with cream mushroom sauce served with veggies and hash browns) in a 14th-century building. Don’t miss the front room, where tables and timbers are inscribed with graffiti dating back more than 150 years.
2. Confiserie Sprungli. Bahnhofstrasse 21, 00-41-44-224-4646, spruengli.ch. Buy your Luxemburgerlis (colourful mini-macaroons) and chocolate truffles, all made fresh daily, to go, or enjoy them with a sandwich and a cup of coffee or hot chocolate in the restaurant.
3. Peclard. Napfgasse 4, 00-41-44-251-5150, peclard-zurich.ch. A glorious combination of coffee shop, patisserie and wine bar with vaulted ceilings, painted murals and red velvet upholstery parcelled out over four levels.
4. Haus Hiltl. Sihlstrasse 28, 00-41-44-227-7000, hiltl.ch. Billed as Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant, Haus Hiltl has been serving veggie vittles for 111 years.
5. Restaurant Kronenhalle. Rämistrasse 4, 00-41-44-262-99 00, kronenhalle.com. A see-and-be-seen brasserie where the wood-panelled walls are adorned with works by Chagall, Miró and Picasso.
5 places to go
1. Fraumünster Church. Am Munsterhofplatz, 00-41-44-211-4100, fraumuenster.ch. Dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, the church is renowned for five stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall.
2. The Zurich Opera House. Falkenstrasse 1, 00-41-44-268-6400, opernhaus.ch. This Neo-Baroque beauty hosts more than 270 performances per season.
3. Kunsthaus Zürich. Heimplatz 1, 00-41-44-253-8484, kunsthaus.ch. Considered one of the most important art museums in Europe.
4. Cruise the lake with the Lake Zurich Navigation Company, 00-41-44-487-1333, zsg.ch.
5. Uetilberg, an 871m high mountain just 30 minutes by train from Zurich, proffers a panoramic vista of the city and Lake Zurich.
Hot spot
Schiffbau, on Schiffbaustrasse in Zurich West, is an old brick ship-building factory which has been reinvented as a nightspot. Here, you’ll find La Salle (00-41-44-258-7071, lasalle-restaurant.ch), a glass-cube-enclosed restaurant, serving mainly French and Italian dishes, Moods jazz club, (00-41-44-276-8000, moods.ch) and The Neitturm Bar (00-41-44-258-7077, nietturm.ch), with floor-to-ceiling windows offering low-rise views.
Shop spot
The Bahnhofstrasse is flanked by heavy hitters like Hermes, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Prada, as well as a Schweizer Heimatwerk handicrafts store.
For planet-friendly items made from recycled goods, visit the afore-mentioned Freitag, (Geroldstrasse 17, 00-41-43-366-9520, freitag.ch) and Marktlücke (Kirchgasse 32, 00-44-44-212-7725, markt-luecke.ch), which is filled with imaginative items such as light fixtures fashioned from soda bottles and magazine racks shaped from vinyl records.
Go there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) and Swiss (swiss.com) fly from Dublin to Zurich.