Couples tend to enjoy Zurich for its slow pleasures: warm water, a boat at dusk, a table with something worth looking at, and a hillside view. Prices are in Swiss francs (CHF). Soaking on a rooftop At Hürlimannbad & Spa, old brewery cellars have been turned into thermal pools, and a rooftop pool opens onto the roofs and spires of Enge and the lake beyond. The standard bath ticket is about CHF 42 per adult, and the Roman-Irish ritual about CHF 68.

Zurich’s main sights cluster on both banks of the Limmat, so a day on foot covers most of them. Entry charges are in Swiss francs (CHF) and several sights are free with a Zürich Card, which costs CHF 29 for 24 hours or CHF 56 for 72 hours. Grossmünster tower Zwingli preached the Reformation here from 1519. Walking into the church and crypt costs nothing. The Karlsturm adds a 187-step climb to a glazed platform with six big windows (the terraces are closed for safety), priced at CHF 5 for adults and CHF 2 for children and students.

Zurich has no packaged multi-day tour circuit of its own, so a longer stay is built from separate pieces. The city holds a couple of days, and the trains open up central and northern Switzerland. Prices are in Swiss francs (CHF). A three day outline Day one stays in Zurich: the Old Town, the Fraumünster windows, a lake cruise and an evening at a thermal bath. Day two heads to Lucerne and Rigi.

A family day in Zurich can mix animals, football, science and lakeside play. Prices below are in Swiss francs (CHF); the zoo and Technorama figures come from secondary sources and may change, so check the official sites. Zoo Zürich on the Zürichberg Take tram 6 to the Zoo stop. The Masoala Rainforest is a large greenhouse with lemurs, chameleons, fruit bats and a canopy walkway. The elephant park Kaeng Krachan has underwater windows, and the Lewa Savanne holds rhinos, giraffes and zebras.

Trains from Zürich HB make the surrounding country accessible without a car. The list below sorts the trips into easy ones and exhausting ones. Prices are in Swiss francs (CHF). Easy: Rhine Falls and Schaffhausen About 50 minutes by regional train brings you to the falls, Europe’s largest plain waterfall by flow, 23 m high and 150 m across. Schloss Laufen has a lift and a trail down to a platform close to the water.

Ticketed rides in Zurich are short, scenic and mostly run by public operators. Here is what each one is, what it costs and when it runs. Prices are in Swiss francs (CHF) and are rounded, so check before you travel. River boat through the old centre The Limmat boat, run by the lake shipping company ZSG, is a low electric vessel with a glass roof. It leaves from the Landesmuseum landing next to the main station, goes under the bridges past the Rathaus and the two big churches, and carries on to Zürichhorn.

Visitors who plan around the season get the most from Zurich. In late autumn and winter the best choices are warm, covered or indoors; in summer the lake and river come alive. All prices are in Swiss francs (CHF). Warm water under old brewery arches Hürlimannbad & Spa occupies a former brewery in Enge (Brandschenkestrasse 150), where thermal pools sit below Romanesque-style brick vaults and a heated pool on the roof faces the city’s spires.