Niederdorf (Old Town)

The Niederdorf is the part of Zurich's Old Town that runs along the right bank of the Limmat, from Central station up to the Stüssihofstatt, with Niederdorfstrasse as its main street. Locals call it the Dörfli, the little village, and the name sometimes covers the Oberdorf too, which continues towards Bellevue. Like the parallel Limmatquai along the river, the Niederdorf is free of cars, which makes it the most pleasant part of the city centre to explore on foot.

By day it is a place for browsing. Narrow lanes branch off the main street, lined with small shops, a traditional grocer's and guild houses, and the picturesque facades make it one of the most photographed parts of the city. Wander off the main drag into lanes such as Spiegelgasse and you find a remarkable cluster of history: Georg Büchner died at Spiegelgasse 12 in 1837, Lenin lived at number 14 in 1916 and 1917, and the Cabaret Voltaire at Spiegelgasse 1, where the Dada movement began, is now a museum, bar and cultural space. Pestalozzi lived at Münstergasse 23 as a young man. In the late Middle Ages Zurich's Jewish community lived mainly on Froschaugasse and Brunngasse.

On Hirschenplatz, the Hotel Hirschen at Niederdorfstrasse 13 dates back to the 14th century and is the oldest hotel in the quarter; its Beat Club hosted concerts by Pink Floyd and The Kinks in the 1960s. The Predigerkirche, one of the Old Town's four main churches, and the Zentralbibliothek stand at the northern end, near the bottom station of the Polybahn funicular, which climbs from Central to the ETH terrace.

In the evening the mood changes, and the Niederdorf becomes one of Zurich's main nightlife areas, with bars and traditional taverns that draw a mixed crowd. It is also a good place to eat, with Swiss restaurants such as the Swiss Chuchi and cafés such as Café Henrici close together. At the end of August the Dörflifäscht street festival brings DJs, stalls and food, and in Advent a Christmas market fills Niederdorfstrasse and Hirschenplatz, with a small children's ice rink on Rosenhof square.

The Niederdorf is about 600 metres from the main station, a few minutes on foot. Allow an hour or two for an unhurried stroll, and continue to the Grossmünster at its southern end.