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Travel: Zurich, the city where Christmas runs like clockwork

© Zurich Tourist BoardZurich in winter.
Zurich in winter.

The Christmas tree is singing. No, I have not had too many gluwheins. At the corner of a small Christmas market off Zurich’s fanciest shopping street there is a giant green conifer-shaped stage.

Filled with a choir. Singing My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music.

It’s definitely Alpine, if not particularly Christmassy. But the twinkly lights, chalets selling hot booze and sausages and the fact they all seem to be dressed as elves makes up for it.

Zurich gives great Christmas. The combination of Switzerland’s legendary efficiency and national habit of taking things slightly seriously creates a festive season that is packed with unthreatening charm. No garish fairground rides, knock-off Burberry or mulled Buckfast at their markets.

Zurich in winter. © Supplied
Zurich in winter.

Instead there is a rota of choirs – children, professionals, community – tabled to perform in the Christmas tree throughout Advent.

And do they overrun their allotted one-hour slot? They most certainly do not.

The city’s market stalls sell a mixture of the useful (hats, gloves, groovy kitchen utensils), the hand made (wooden spoons are a thing) and the specifically Swiss (cutters and rolling pins for making elaborate biscuits). The mass produced silver earrings and tie dye tote bags are kept to a merciful minimum. And there’s not a bong, Disney character or football slogan in sight.

Looking at fancy iced gingerbread hearts is hungry and thirsty work. Luckily there are as many stalls selling snacks as nicknacks. Melted cheese features heavily, poured over boiled potatoes as raclette or with sliced potatoes and ham as tartiflette. Both combinations are tremendous.

Then there are sausages, chips, warm spiced wine, epic hot chocolate … the Swiss know how to eat and drink their way out of the winter blues.

A toboggan ride at Uetliberg. © Alex Buschor
A toboggan ride at Uetliberg.

Their markets are full of cosy nooks where it’s possible to sit down and enjoy these goodies. Chalets with seats and blankets are dotted between the stalls and anyone can sit down, take the weight off and enjoy the atmosphere. Purchase not required. Scottish market organisers, please take note.

There are markets sprinkled around Zurich. One of the best for shopping is within the main railway station, Hauptbanhof. Bonus, it’s under cover. Zurich’s winter can be more Scottish dreich than dry Alpine dazzle.

There’s also one up in the mountains at Uetliberg, a short train ride from the centre. Zurichers combine their obsession with hill walking – some get off the train a stop or two early to march to the summit – with their desire to ingest complex carbohydrates under a fluffy rug.

The tower at the top of Uetliberg that gives visitors impressive views. © Zurich Tourist Board
The tower at the top of Uetliberg that gives visitors impressive views.

Overlooking the city there’s a luxe hotel which does a decent job of converting its grounds into a winter wonderland with fir trees, firepits, ice sculptures and a nativity scene. There’s even a tower – with a 2CHF pay gate – in case the views from the ground are not impressive enough.

Outside is for food stalls. Inside, one of the hotel’s function rooms has become a small craft sale. This is also the venue for the city’s other festive obsession – candle dipping. No December in the Swiss capital is complete without an hour of wick-based DIY. Customers pick their string length then dangle it in and out of vats of molten wax. There are special low vats for children.

Some dippers get bored of the drying time required between layers and leave with skinny articles that look like waxy matches. Others get carried away and produce the candle equivalent of prize marrows.

Show offs can twist their candle, create an ombre effect with different colours and even add on wax embellishments (purchased separately, this is the second most expensive city in the world). Families go together. It is very wholesome.

Zurich Christmas markets. © Zurich Tourist Board
Zurich Christmas markets.

In fact the whole city gets into the festive spirit. Santa – or Samiclaus to the weans of Zurich – drives the Marltram on a 20-minute hurl around the city centre. Angels escort the small passengers on board this no-adults service and tell them Christmas stories during the trip.

On the first Sunday in December a troop of maniacs, sorry keen outdoor swimmers, jump into Lake Zurich and plough across to the other side. They endure these four joltingly cold minutes for charity and are rewarded with soup, sausages and an endorphine glow that lasts all day.

Many of them drive to the lakeside on scooters, dressed in full Samiclaus finery, and tootle around waving to everyone for several hours afterwards.

What adds to the delight of the scooting Santas and candle chalets is how brilliantly Zurich works. The trams are regular, clean and easy to use. Every stop has a digital display that speaks the truth about when the next one is due.

Inside the tram there’s a helpful screen with details of where you are going and what other trams are leaving from the next stop. And how long it will take to get there.

A traditional tram. © Supplied by Zurich Tourist Board
A traditional tram.

The trains are just as reliable. It takes about 10 minutes to get from Hauptbanhof to the airport. The compact city is highly walkable but, if it’s drizzling, there is always an easy public transport route to the Kunsthaus (the main art gallery), the Fifa museum (football nirvana) or Globus (Zurich’s Harrods). Only the old town – gentrified and still boasting proper shops, taverns and beer halls – has no tram on its steep streets. But walking is no hardship.

And surely 12,000 steps must mean it’s time for hot chocolate. Or another sausage.

Factfile

Anna Burnside was a guest of Switzerland Tourism. For more information on Switzerland, visit switzerland.com Edelweiss and Swiss fly directly to Zurich from Edinburgh. Easyjet direct flights start in May 2025.

One-way fares with Edelweiss start from £76. Swiss starts at £163.

The Zurich Card gives free public transport plus free or reduced entry to museums, boat cruises and other attractions. It costs 29CHF for 24 hours or 56CHF for 48 hours.