The vibrant urban life of Zurich

Located in the north of Switzerland, Zurich is the country's largest city. It is mainly known as one of the great financial and industrial capitals of Europe, forgetting that it is also one of the most fascinating cities to visit in Switzerland, and has so much to offer: a vibrant cultural scene with more than 50 museums and over 100 galleries, excellent hotel and gastronomic facilities, a pulsating nightlife, and a constantly changing cityscape that complements the valuable medieval old town. An example par excellence of Zurich's vibrant and vital atmosphere is the new Zürich-West district: in the industrial warehouses, where ships were once built and engines were bolted together, we now find art galleries, shops, restaurants... An iconic element of the district is the container tower of the flagship store of the Freitag company, famous for its bags made from the tarpaulins of trucks. Also quality design has found a new home in the Zürich-West district: the Museum für Gestaltung (Museum of Design), a national competence centre for graphics and design, moved into the Schaudepot in September 2014, into the premises of the former Toni-Molkerei company. The 500,000 objects from the rich collection of design, graphics and applied arts are exhibited in rotation both here and at the headquarters on Austellungsstrasse.

Also in Zurich-West is Im Viadukt, a railway viaduct built in 1894, under whose 35 vaults a new 500-metre-long urban meeting place has sprung up: a colourful mixture of speciality food shops, ateliers, galleries, sports and fashion labels. The heart of the structure is the covered market, where twenty farmers and food merchants from the surrounding area offer their products. Another unique feature of Zurich is its immense collection of 'public art': 1,300 works of art can be found all over the city, shaping people's everyday lives, stimulating imagination and discussions. With a small guided tour of the city, art lovers, explorers, amateurs and professional photographers can admire the works spread throughout the city.

Lovers of urban life and cultural buzz can easily reach Zurich from Italy by train, thanks to a joint promotion by Trenitalia and Swiss Federal Railways, whereby if you travel as a couple you only pay for one of the two 1st or 2nd class tickets. The offer, valid from 9 March to 16 April, connects the main cities of Northern Italy, (Milan, Genoa, Bologna and Venice), with several Swiss centres: Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lugano, Zurich, Geneva.