Open-air concerts, lake and river lidos, summer festivals, garden restaurants: welcome to the great outdoors!

For the size of its population, the Zürich Region offers an astonishingly rich variety of pleasures of every kind.

Living life out in the open

Zürich stages a packed calendar of events through the summer. In August, for example, the Street Parade sees hundreds of thousands of revellers dancing through the city at the world’s most colourful techno-party. In total contrast is the Zürich Festival just beforehand in June/July, with performances of classical music at celebrated city venues such as the Opera House and Tonhalle concert hall.

The atmosphere? An infectious mix of exuberant party mood, multicultural cool and creative joie-de-vivre. The stage for all this is the Old Town on Lake Zürich, along with other stylish city quarters; the backdrop, the snow-capped Alps; and all around lies the uniquely fascinating Zürich Region.

A wealth of excursions

It’s a leisurely boat ride along romantic lakeshores to the far end of Lake Zürich and Rapperswil, the “City of Roses”, site of a mediaeval castle as well as a delightful rose garden. The culturefilled city of Winterthur, meanwhile, is alive with music in summer – and, as home of the Swiss Foundation of Photography and the Fotomuseum Winterthur, can claim to be the European capital of photography. Baden is a wonderful place for a summer dip – whether in the extensive outdoor pool complex or in the thermal waters, richer in minerals than any other in Switzerland. Zug offers not only the legendary Kirschtorte (cherry brandy cake), but delightful cruises on Lake Zug. Best of all, you can reach any of these by train in less than half an hour from the main station in Zürich.