World Travel Guide

City Guide  - Zurich  - Nightlife
Nightlife

The most popular place to go out is the Old Town, on either side of the River Limmat, with many bars and cafés tucked away on the side streets such as Niederdorfstrasse and Oberdorfstrasse. New bars and clubs keep opening up in the city, especially to the west of the Hauptbahnhof in the fourth and fifth districts, around Langstrasse. The majority of bars and clubs close around 0200, but there are bars and discos open until 0300 or 0400. The minimum drinking age is 18 years. Very few clubs have a dress code and most charge SFr15-30 to enter. Information on club nights and performances (as well as theatres, concerts and opera) is listed in Züri Tipp, published in Friday's Tages Anzeiger, and in Thursday's Ticket, part of Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Bars: Quite a few of the city's best bars serve food or have a restaurant attached. Kaufleuten, Pelikanstrasse 18 is a popular bar with a hip restaurant. Upmarket and hyper-trendy Café Bar Odeon, Limmatquai 2, attracts the beautiful people and those who think they are. Somewhat more irreverent is Iroquois, Seefeldstrasse 120a bar with a Tex-Mex restaurant. Babalu, Schmidgasse 6, is a rather eclectic place, sometimes with interesting live music.

Clubs: Many of Zurich's clubs are part of larger arts and entertainment complexes. In the Rote Fabrik, Seestrasse 395, are the Klubraum and the Aktionshalle, where a mix of dance music is played as well as live acts. Likewise, Limmatbar is part of the Palais X-tra, Limmatstrasse 118, and attracts a young and trendy clubbing crowd. Kanzlei, Kanzleistrasse 56, near Helvetiaplatz, plays different music on different nights - anything from techno to house and disco. For alternative dance music, clubs such as Rohstofflager, Binzmühlestrasse 86 in Zürich-Oerlikon or Rif Raff on the corner of Langstrasse and Josefstrasse are good bets. A new arrival in the area is Dynamo, part of the Jugendkulturhaus, Wasserwerkstrasse 21 - there are also some good concerts played here.

Live music: Large rock concerts are usually held in the Hallenstadion, Wallisellenstrasse 45 in the Oerlikon district, or the Volkshaus, Stauffacherstrasse 60. For jazz in a striking setting, there is Moods Jazz Club, Schiffbaustrasse 6, which is part of the major cultural centre in the former shipbuilding works of Sulzer; the building also has a restaurant and theatre. There are concerts for SFr20-28 (more for well-known acts) from Tuesday to Sunday, but there are only two concerts per week in summer. An older clientele is drawn to the elegant Dolder Grand Hotel Bar, Kurhausstrasse 65, for piano music.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
GENERAL
City Overview
City Statistics
Cost of Living
History
Language
Accommodation
 
GETTING THERE
Air
Water
Road
Rail
 
GETTING AROUND
Getting Around
 
BUSINESS
Business
 
SIGHTSEEING
Sightseeing
Key Attractions
Further Distractions
Tours of the City
Excursions
 
ENTERTAINMENT
Nightlife
Sport
Shopping
Culture
Special Events
Food and Drink