SWitzerland free and easy: Things to do at Zurich LAke Boat Ride

 The pier. A beautiful sight. 

We took the short round trip

The boat ride usually cost chf 8.5, but is free for those with Zurich Card. Yes, my friends want to make full use of the Zurich card. I wanted to just another walking tour but it was two against one.

The whole boat ride took around 1.5 hours. There is indoor and outdoor sitting and also a small restaurant.

I think I choose the wrong timing to take the boat so I was not enjoying much of it.

Firstly, it is winter so is very cold and windy to sit outside. It is hard to get a good shot or enjoy the scenery without shivering. 

Secondly, we should not take the night cruise. It is so dark, we can't see the alps. We can only see lights and sometimes there was not much light.

The best timing to enjoy this boat ride should be somewhere around sunset where you can still see the alps and also enjoy the beautiful sunset and maybe a bit of the night lights.

To get to the pier at Biirkliplatz (trams 2, 5, 8, 9, 11)

http://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/navigation-company

Switzerland free and easy: Things to do at Zurich - Zurich National Museum

 I was a bit hesitant about visiting the museum. Thought it will be so boring. 

But our accomodation was only ready in an hour or two, so we decide to visit the museum which is just beside the train station. There was not much shopping at the station, and entrance was free so why not?

There is free storage of coats and luggage which is a good thing for us.

The exterior looks charming.

 A nice little carriage outside the museum

OUr tickets and the lockers. 

They have a storage room for big luggage, the lockers is for small bags and coats.

Normal price of tickets is chf10.

The place is much bigger than I expected, we spend one hour plus and we can't finish touring the place. The place is like a maze.

There is a variety of display from history, bank, watch and clothes. They try to present everything in a different way so it is just interesting to walk around. We were too tired to do much reading.

Worth dropping by for an hour or two.

SWitzerland free and easy : Things to do at Zurich Free walking tours Zurich Review

If you have only a few hours in Zurich or just intend to spend a few hours in Zurich as it is not an very interesting place. Can just the Zurich walking tour and learn something about Zurich with a free guide. Tips are encouraged, but to me is complusory. You can give according on how good you think the guide is.

There are few free ones available, ours was the downtown tour.

Meeting point. Near to credit suisee building, at UBS.

Can take the tram down

TRam service : 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13. stop PAraplatz

To spot the tour group, look for a person in blue

Do expect to walk and the plus is you will never be lost.

http://www.freewalkzurich.ch/

https://www.facebook.com/FreeWalkZurich

Our handsome guide explaining to us about the history and buidlings

This is not the highlight of the tour but I just find it cute to have nice seat cushion during winter

Christmas is approaching

Panorama

SWitzerland free and easy : Zurich Accomodation

Switzerland has very high cost of living.

So my first instinct was to stay at apartment instead of a hotel or hostel, I can cook my own meals at times.

I heard of people eating cold bread because meals are too expensive. Not a fan of cold fan except sashimi.

A fast food meal in switzerland can set you back by s$15 to 20.

We were deciding between Zurich and interlaken as Interlaken is a popular base for most tourist.

After adding up the train hours for all the journey, we realise staying in Zurich is only around half an hour extra journey time and is more accessible to Germany which we were be visiting too.

Looking a apartment at the right place and location was not easy, this place cost around CHF771 for 3 nights. which fits our budget of around S$200 for night for 3 person. 

The room was spacious and very nicely decorated..

 Wifi is free and fast.

There is a dining table, lot of shelves to put your stuff, a big kitchen, hangers and a toilet. 

Lot of pillows at the bed too. The kitchen is fully equipped, it has lots of pots, pans and cutlery, kettle, 4 stoves and also an oven. 

Sometimes when we are tired, just buy a pizza from the supermarket and just throw it in the oven. We can cook our own meal with food from the supermarket and we did brought something over from Singapore. Haha.. I bought rice, maggi mee, some mushrooms, chinese soup herbal pack and canned chicken curry. Not just cold sandwiches and maggi mee. We do eat some of our meals at restaurants.

The negative is there are only 2 chairs so it is hard for 3 person to have a meal together. The bed is a queen size bed so is a better fit for two person . As we are 3 small girls, we fit quite well. The toilet is a bit too dark. Downstairs is a pub, you may hear some voices at night but usually we are too tired to bother and it feel safer when you know is not too quiet.

Staying in an apartment means you have to do the cleaning up.

The location is great, walking to it from train station is around 10 minutes, or just a tram stop away.

There are shops and restaurants and supermarket within walking distance, less than 5 minutes.

The owner was super nice, I was allowed to check in early as the person who stayed left early and as there is no one booking the apartment on the day we are leaving, we were allowed to stay till 4pm so we can spend lot more time exploring switzerland and not running back to hotel to check out.

Normal hotel usually do not allowed late check out. 

There is a washer and dryer too. 

The flat is located on 1st floor which means you have to climb a flight of stairs as first floor means 2nd floor in Singapore terms.

I will definitely stay here again or recommend people to stay here for people who do not want to spend too much on accommodation but too not want a place too old and shabby.

Location is good and we save quite a lot on meals because of the well equipped kitchen.

From the supermarket, just throw into oven and yummy..