12 Hours in Zurich – Explore the City on Two Wheels – Experience the World

8 Nov 14

12 Hours in Zurich – Explore the City on Two Wheels

I arrived in Zurich by train from Feldkirch, Austria quite early in the morning and had almost half a day until my bus back to Prague would depart. Three days ago, I took an overnight bus from Prague to Zurich, hopped on a train from Zurich to Feldkirch Austria, my base to visit Liechtenstein. I quickly stored my backpack at the train station and inquired about the free bike service. Yup, you could rent a bike for free in one of the most expensive cities in Europe. Perhaps the city wants to encourage people to switch to bike and free the streets of cars, attract more tourists or experiment different method of advertising.

Getting the bike was the easy part. The more difficult part was to navigate through busy traffic. Zurich is a typical major European city, designed with many narrow streets. The streets were packed with people, buses, cars, and trams. It was crazy! Fortunately, you could ride on the pedestrian pavements which was illegal in some other countries. There were designated lanes for bicycles, but they were narrow because the streets were narrow. There was no bike lane on many streets, so you would have to share the streets with cars, buses, and trams.

A narrow street of Zurich

Why am I complaining? I grew up in Saigon. The traffic there was a hundred times worse. Being on the street of Vietnam is a work of art. Road accidents happen every single day in Vietnam to the point that it becomes a part of life there. The difference between Swiss and Vietnamese is Swiss make rules and follow them. (Gosh, I shouldn’t even put Swiss and Vietnamese in the same sentence.) Thanks to the notorious law-biding tradition of Switzerland, drivers here obey traffic laws and have the common courtesy when they’re on the road, making them good drivers. With that perception and assumption about the Swiss people in mind, I became relaxed and started ignoring all the blasting engine noises and huge trams behind me patiently waiting for me to move away from their tracks.

Slowly, I got used to the rhythm of Zurich and began to zoom through the streets as if this wasn’t my first time. I got even more comfortable and rode the bike with only one hand on the handlebar. The other hand held on to my camera and pressed the shutter. I completely entrusted my life to the hands of the Swiss. Long live order!

A tram passing close to my bike

I walked the bike along the Limmat river and explored the old quarter.

View from Limmatquai

Soon I got annoyed having to stop every few minutes, getting down to take photos of interesting spots or to avoid the tram, so I resorted to just head straight along the main street until the scene became utterly boring. I hit a construction block and had to make a right turn to a side street. It was there that I saw what seemed to be water and a lot of pedestrians biking and strolling.

There it was, Lake Zurich.

Lake Zurich

I was glad to have found the lake after seeing it on the train to Feldkirch, Austria. I had given up finding the lake because I thought it was somewhere in the suburb of the city, and I wouldn’t have much time to explore the city center and the lake. But here it was.

I continued the ride until I reached the end of the park and backtracked to search for a good lunch spot. I saw a Chinese garden right in the middle of the park and a Chinese restaurant right next to it. I bought fried noodle (chow-mein) and found a nice lunch spot underneath a tree. Next to a group of swans, ducks and birds, I chowed down my noodles while watching still boats and residents of Zurich.

My bike with the Chinese lunch box in the basket

I thought that I would chill at the lake and go back to the train station to drop off my bike and catch my bus at 19:30 o’clock. Well, my longing for serenity ended after only 30 minutes in the calm, dreamy environment surrounded by boats, ducks, dogs and peaceful Swiss, who being Swiss they lack the dramatic flair of the Italians. I got bored and rode back to the Old Quarter along the river where I passed a few hours ago.

Lake Zurich

The Old Quarter

On the way back, I saw a few old buildings on my right and turned to that direction. Once again not following the map served me well; I had found the other part of Zurich’s Old Town.

After traveling for a while, I rid myself of the urge to see every single sight and destination mapped out in a tourist guide. You should too. Sure you want to see as many things as possible if you can, but now and then, let the senses be your guide. Follow the trail of aroma from a house hidden somewhere, chants of a street protest, stray melodies from an apartment building.

I was ready to go back to the train station, dropped off the bike and got ready for the bus. However, I kept running into beautiful scenes along the way which pulled me into small alleys full of lovely sights that characterized Europe.

Zurich’s old town

By accident, I found the church with the largest clock face in Europe doing what I did best: peeking my head here and there in every alley to see if it hid anything unusual. I read about this church in a mini guide but already told myself that I would not be able t find it. I wouldn’t want to find it anyway because it requires me operating a map. Not only I found the church, but I also found an unbelievably peaceful neighborhood that struck me of how much European it was. A few people were sitting on a bench reading a book or composing themselves against the enormously large clock face. Someone played a piano sonata from an opposite building. Not too far from the bench, a woman stopped to take a sip of water from the fountain before moving on with her walk.

The area next to the church with the biggest clock face

A woman drinking at the fountain

Just like that, I had seen many pretty things in Zurich. It would have been impossible if I used the public transportation or walked as I normally did whenever I traveled to a new city.

Riding a bike takes you further and faster than walking on foot, and it isn’t too fast that you will miss nice things along the way.

If you have limited time in Zurich, rent a bike and explore the city. You will not be disappointed. Be warned that the city is not designed for the fainted heart bikers.