Where to enjoy art and culture in Zurich

Regarded as one of the world’s most fashion-forward cities by style bibles Monocle and Wallpaper, Zurich is nothing if not a crucible of art, design and cultural trends. The city also enjoys creative freedom like nowhere else in the Alps: it’s home to more than 50 museums, 100 art galleries and a wedding-cake opera house. Here are places not to be missed during your visit. 

Kunsthaus

Art-lover or not, no visit to Zurich is complete without a visit to this contemporary culture magnet. Highlights include the David Chipperfield-designed extension, which has made it the largest art museum in Switzerland and the world’s largest collection of avant-garde Dada. No wonder it has a tram stop named after it. The Merzbacher collection showcases many masterpieces created during the early 1900s, featuring big names ranging from Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso to Wassily Kandinsky.

Grossmunster & Fraumünster Churches

Of Zurich’s holy trinity of postcard-perfect churches – the other being St Peterskirche, with Europe’s largest clock face – these two monumental religious houses flank opposite banks of the Limmat River. Fraumünster’s magnificent stained glass windows, created by iconic Russian-French artist Marc Chagall, deserve more than a few minutes of your time. Chagall created the five windows and rosette in the 1970s when he was 80 years old, surprising the public for taking on such an ambitious project at such an advanced age.

Swiss National Museum

Also known as the Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum, this colossal heavyweight chronicles everything you’d want to know about Switzerland’s cultural history, starting from the country’s founding to present day. Housed in a fairytale-like castle right next to Zurich Main Station, it’s home to “Simply Zurich”, a free exhibition that playfully showcases the city’s rich past through 60 objects. Be sure to shop at the Swiss National Museum Shop, which is packed with over 2,000 creative and curious Swiss souvenirs. An ongoing exhibition here showcases how Switzerland has had a democratic constitution since the mid-19th century. The Federal Constitution of 1848 is said to serve as a model for all democracies around the world.

Le Corbusier House

Design enthusiasts will marvel at this last ever building from the late, great Swiss architect Le Corbusier. Its magnificent steel-on-glass design and picturesque location overlooking Lake Zurich make this museum a must-snap even for the most hard-to-please Instagrammers. Inside, visitors can see renowned furniture pieces by Swiss furniture legends such as Le Corbusier himself, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand.

Niederdorf & Lindenhof 

Despite their medieval streets and squares, these two neighborhoods, north of Lake Zurich, are home to stylish art establishments. A stroll through the nucleus of Zurich’s art-filled Old Town leads from these zigzagging lanes to the spirit-clear Limmat. In between, you will find loads of  little art stores, candy-box clock towers, urban beach clubs, as well as avant-garde galleries such as Cabaret Voltaire.

This art space-cum-café on Spiegelgasse is where writer Hugo Ball founded the counterculture Dada movement, in 1916. Even today, it hosts avant-garde art exhibits and live jazz, plus defiant humor, debates and temporary exhibitions in the cellar.

Ready for a cultural adventure? Fly directly to Zurich with Thai Airways.