Zurich lies at the centre of the canton of Zurich on Switzerland's central plain, with the elevation rising towards the south and the Alps. The Old Town spans the River Limmat, and some of the most interesting lanes and buildings are clustered on its banks.

The city's most familiar sites are the Fraumόnster and Grossmόnster minsters, which face each other across the river, while the nearby Lindenhof was the site of a Roman customs post founded in 15BC and is a good vantage point. Surrounding the Old Town, the Kreis (districts) of Zurich are arrayed clockwise around the centre and the numbers correspond to the last digit in the postcode.

Zurich dates its origins from Roman times and by the tenth century had acquired the status of a city, it was at the centre of the Swiss Reformation movement in the sixteenth century, under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli. His motto “pray and work” was to have a profound effect on this diligent city, which, by the nineteenth century, had grown into the commercial and financial centre of Switzerland.

The modern Zurich is a city of bankers in a country of banks, and this concentration of wealth can most readily be seen along the lime tree-lined Bahnhofstrasse. All the major banks have a presence here, notably at the Paradeplatz where elegant shops and designer boutiques line the street, interspersed with trendy bars and attractive caf??s stretching from the Hauptbahnhof right down to Lake Zurich.

The Museum of Fine Arts is one of the most important of Z??rich’s many museums. The large permanent collection ranges from 15th-century religious art to the various schools of modern art. The work of big names such as Dali, Arp, Man Ray, Hockney, Bacon, C??zanne, Renoir, Manet, Monet and Gauguin is on display. There’s a fair sprinkling of Picassos, a whole room devoted to Marc Chagall and the largest Edvard Munch collection outside Scandinavia.

Housed in a pseudo-castle built in 1898, the Swiss National Museum gives the ultimate rundown on Swiss life and times from the prehistoric to the present. It exhibits a good selection of church art, plus weapons, coins, room interiors, costumes and utensils. The fresco in the Hall of Arms, the Retreat of the Swiss Confederates at Marignano, is by Ferdinand Hodler. In the basement there’s an interesting section on book-inscribing in the Middle Ages, including some fine facsimiles of 14th-century books to leaf through.

The elegant Bahnhofstrasse was built on the site of the city walls, which were torn down 150 years ago. Underfoot are bank vaults full of gold and silver. Z??rich is one of the world’s premier precious metals markets, but the vaults (for some reason) aren’t open to the public. However, the famous street’s large department stores and specialty shops are happy to offer you a peek at their goods.

Dating from the 13th century, the Fraum??nster Church nearby is noted for the distinctive stained-glass windows in its choir section that were created by Marc Chagall in 1970 and completed when he was 83 years old. The building itself dates from the 13th century. It’s closed at lunchtime.

On the Z??richberg, this is Switzerland’s largest zoo and one of its most important. There are 350 animal species from all around the world, in all about 2500 animals. Two of the more famous residents are Asian elephant Ceyla-Himali and her son, whose birth in June 2000 was broadcast live on the Internet. The pleasant zoo backs on to Z??richberg woods, ideal for walks away from the noise of the city.

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