Excursions
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For a Half Day
Winterthur: The canton’s second largest city is 25km (15.5 miles) northeast of Zurich and can be reached in just 20 minutes by train from the Hauptbahnhof. There is a number of intriguing things to be seen and experienced in this Swiss city on the River Töss. The Sammlung Oskar Reinhart ‘Am Römerholz’ (Oskar Reinhart Collection at Römerholz), Haldenstrasse 95 (tel: (052) 269 2740; fax: (052) 269 2744; website: www.kultur-schweiz.admin.ch/sor) houses important works from European Old Masters and French Impressionists. The collection is open Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1700 and admission is SFr8 (concessions available) The Fotomuseum Winterthur, Grüzenstrasse 44 (tel: (052) 233 6086; website: www.fotomuseum.ch), has a good series of special exhibits available for viewing on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 1200-1800, Wednesday 1200-1930, Saturday and Sunday 1100-1700. Admission is SFr8 (concessions available).
Open from Monday to Friday 1200-1800, Saturday Sunday 1100-1700, one of the country’s foremost interactive industrial museums, Technorama der Schweiz, Technoramastrasse 1 (tel: (052) 243 0505; website: www.technorama.ch) is also located in Winterhur. Admission is SFr17 (concessions available). The Winterthur Kunstmuseum, Museumstrasse 52 (tel: (052) 267 5162; website: www.kmw.ch) is open Tuesday 1000-2000 and Wednesday-Sunday 1000-1700. For SFr10 (concessions available) visitors can view major 19th and 20th-century art. Block 37, Lagerplatz 17 (tel: (052) 204 0700; e-mail: info@block.ch; website: www.block37.ch), Europe’s largest indoor sports park, which includes a 3000sq metre (10,000sq ft) rollerpark and beach volleyball court, is a five-minute walk from the main train station. The complex is open Monday-Saturday 1000-2400 and Sunday 1000-2200 and admission is SFr12 or SFr16 for those aged 26 and above. Winterthur Tourismus (tel: (052) 267 6700; fax: (052) 267 6858; website: www.stadt-winterthur.ch) is located in the train station and provides further information.
Rapperswil: The beautiful little ‘City of Roses’ has a medieval character dating back to 1229, with romantic lanes and restaurants on the lakeside. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Zurich, approximately 28.5km (18 miles) from Zurich. Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (see Tours of the City) offers round trips to this little town specialising in lake trout (tours take approximately two hours and cost SFr20-33). Rapperswil is also accessible from Zurich by S-Bahn S5 or S7 (journey time – 48 minutes). The Tourist Information Office, Fischmarktplatz 1 (tel: (055) 220 5757; fax: (055) 22- 5750; e-mail: information@rapperswil.ch; website: www.rapperswil.ch) provides further information.
For a Whole Day
Jungfraujoch: From this mountainous location in the Bernese Oberland – often referred to as ‘the top of Europe’ – one can see Switzerland’s largest glacier and the spectacular Alpine scenery of this region. The cogwheel mountain train from Lauterbrunnen climbs to the highest railway station in Europe at 3454m (11,333ft), on the Jungfraujoch. A 12-hour bus excursion can be booked through the Tourist Information Office (tel: (01) 215 4000; fax: (01) 215 4044; website: www.zurichtourism.ch) for SFr185 – the last part of the journey is by train. The tour starts at 0800 Wednesday-Sunday from May to the end of October. Alternatively, the train journey from Zurich to Jungfraujoch station – with changes at Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Kleine Scheidegg – takes five hours and 20 minutes, however, the Alps are always just outside the window.
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