Last weekend my mom and Emma came to visit me, which gave me the perfect excuse to show them some of my favorite spots in Zurich and explore a few of the city’s Christmas markets together.
They had already done some sightseeing earlier in the week: on Thursday they visited Lucerne, and on Friday Basel and Bern.
Friday
We started the day with breakfast and Grittibänz (the gluten‑free version can be pre‑ordered from Zufreeden). It’s a sweet milk bread shaped like a little man and one of the classic Swiss treats eaten during the Christmas season.
The tradition dates back to the 16th century. On December 6th, boys would parade through town wearing masks and would then receive a bread shaped like a woman called Grittli as a gift. The name Grittibänz appeared later, in 1835, when a baker from Aargau saw children playing with bread figures prepared for St. Nicholas. The name literally means “man with spread legs.” Bänz is short for Benedikt, a name that was once so common it was often used as a synonym for “man.” Gritti comes from the verb grätschen, meaning “to spread one’s legs.”
After breakfast my mom and Emma continued their trip to Basel and Bern, and we met again after work. The plan was to visit and have dinner at the Christmas market in front of the Opera House (Wienachtsdorf), which in my opinion is the nicest Christmas market in Zurich.
Starting from the main station (HB), we first stopped for a warm punch inside the historic Churchill Red Arrow train (a train built in the 1930s that still runs today).
We then walked along Bahnhofstrasse, which looks magical during the holidays. The lights are so iconic in Zurich that they even have a name: Lucy. We also stopped to listen to the choir at the Christmas Singing Tree in Werdmühleplatz. If children are performing, it’s especially adorable.
From there we passed through the Münsterhof Christmas Market (next to Fraumünster) before finally reaching the market in front of the Opera House. There are countless stalls selling food and crafts. As someone with celiac disease, I usually have very limited options at Christmas markets, so raclette has more or less become my go‑to tradition…and honestly, it’s always delicious.
Frozen and slightly numb from the cold, we eventually started heading home. But before that we made a quick stop at Weihnachtsallee, the Christmas market in Europaallee. It’s small but very charming. Last year we booked a table inside the wooden chalet they build there every winter and the fondue was excellent. If you want to eat there, or inside the gondolas scattered around the city during the Christmas season, make sure to book well in advance.
Saturday
Originally I planned to visit the Christmas market on Uetliberg, but because of the drizzle we changed plans and went to the Polytechnic (ETH Zurich) to see Einstein’s famous locker and admire the city from the Polyterrasse. From there we took the Polybahn back down to the city center, it always gives off slightly Harry Potter vibes.
We then stopped by the city hall to pick up the keys needed to visit the archaeological windows (I really wanted to show them Zurich’s old sewer system). The key system is actually a very fun way to explore Zurich from a slightly unconventional perspective. I even made a short video about it:
Before lunch we decided to visit just the cellar at Lindenhof. The view from there is beautiful, and if you watched Crash Landing on You, it’s definitely a must‑stop.
For lunch we decided to leave the city center and drive to one of our favorite restaurants: Waidhof. They serve incredible cordon bleu (including a gluten‑free version!). My mom and Emma loved it, it felt like eating inside a cozy alpine hut.
Since we were already driving around and the weather wasn’t great, we also stopped by the Villeroy & Boch outlet to buy a few last Christmas gifts.
On the way back we split up: Nico went home to work out, while we headed to another one of my favorite places in Zurich: Frau Gerolds Garten (with the inevitable climb up the Freitag Tower).
Freitag is very much part of Zurich’s cultural identity. The brand was founded in 1993 when brothers Markus and Daniel Freitag began creating bags from recycled truck tarps, bicycle inner tubes, and seat belts. Today it’s an iconic sustainable fashion brand (and one that Swiss people absolutely love).
While walking around Frau Gerolds we also discovered that on December 6th St. Nicholas traditionally brings children mandarins, hazelnuts, walnuts, and chocolates inside a jute sack. Once we knew that, we started noticing mandarins and nuts everywhere.
After that we headed back toward the city center and passed through Niederdorf before visiting the medieval drainage system called Ehgraben. It genuinely feels like stepping back in time. I highly recommend visiting the Ehgraben (it’s only accessible using the keys collected at the S counter in the city hall).
The Ehgraben (which roughly translates to “city ditch” or drainage channel) is what remains of Zurich’s medieval waste and wastewater disposal system. It’s not a sewer in the modern sense (a closed underground system), but rather a network of open or semi-open ditches that ran behind houses.
By the time we finished exploring it was already evening, so we met Nico again and took a train to Uetliberg to visit the last Christmas market (Uto Kulm) and admire the city from above. Unfortunately when we arrived… everything was already closed.
So we headed back to the main station (HB) to see the Lindt Christmas tree (although, at least in my opinion, not quite as impressive as the Swarovski one). Right next to the tree we grabbed Tibetan food from Roots of Himalaya. The name immediately caught my attention because at the time I was planning my next trip… to the Himalayas. It turned out to be a great discovery, and they are very attentive about gluten‑free food. Last stop of the evening: Illuminarium, which always feels magical. Then, tired but happy, we headed home.
