Sitting on the northern shores of Lake Zurich, Zurich is teeming with bankers. But don't let that put you off. This also means enough decent restaurants, bars and boutiques (along the Paradeplatz), to make your credit card sweat! Start off by checking into the Widder Hotel! The Old Town and the prettiest parts of Zurich, span the river Limmat. On either side it's largely pedestrianised but also largely touristy. The cooler side of Zurich' drinking is in Zuri West, to the south-west, zones 4 and 5. It's also home to some decent nightclubs (despite their names,) Supermarket, UG and Labyrinth as well as a damn fine eatery, La Salle. For culture, head to the old town. St.Peter's church for example, has the largest clock face in Europe. While for the arty, the largest collection of Munch's works outside Norway, two of Monet's water lilies and works by the Dadaists are all inside the Kunsthaus. This is after all where anti-art all started.

Pur Pur

Seefeldstrasse 9
Zurich, CH 8008
Telephone: 00 411 419 2066

For those of you who’ve subscribed to all things Moroccan, ‘Pur Pur’ is a step in a similar direction. Low-level tables, Asian – Mediterranean cooking and hordes of Zurich’s bright young things remind me of the scrum in the bar of MoMo’s in London, and it is a place to see and be seen. There’s a DJ and live acts most nights and as it’s just behind the opera house you’re running out of reasons not to go already!

Acapulco

Neugasse 56 Longstrasse District Zurich

Another 70s-themed gem and, like nearby Liquid Bar, also located in Longstrasse, the once-seedy red-light district that's now all the rage. Expect retro seating and colourful walls - various hues which match the drinks on the extensive cocktail menu. Sunday is karaoke night which fits in with the theme, although the trendy hipsters who come in here sometimes don' t seem to get the joke. Put on your tropical shirt, imagine you're actually in Acapulco, and order a Mai Tai!

Café/Bar Odeon

Limmatquai 2
Zurich,
Telephone: 00 411 251 16 50

Legendary Bohemian landmark that's had countless eccentric artists and intellectuals in its red leather banquettes - not to mention the odd fascist. Mussolini apparently knocked them back in here before the Second World War. (And Lenin did before the first.) It's a cosy, classy, intimate café that does great lunches and fine cocktails it's also open until late if you can handle it, 4.30am on Fridays and Saturdays - anyone? Style is turn-of-the century art nouveau; there are cute banquettes to sit in; a curved wooden bar to order at, and pavement tables outside for summer sun. Despite its ageing status, it's still popular with a trendy, in-crowd and draws more than its fair share of Swiss beauties.

Kronenhall

Rämistrasse 4
Zurich,
Telephone: 411 251 6669

Legendary restaurant and bar with a history (and art collection) as storied as the Louvre. Great writers and composers and dancers, among them Strauss and Brecht and Joyce and Nureyev have whiled away the hours here, while work by Picasso, Miro, Chagall and Matisse is on display in the halls. Over the years the clientele has been drawn less to the unfussy European food as to the venerable atmosphere and intellectual chat. The banquet hall is grand enough but we most like the Art Deco bar, with its curved wood ceilings and walls - a work of art in itself. The curved green banquettes are great for sitting and sipping a glass of wine at, and look out for the ornate brass lamps designed by the Giacometti brothers. Need we say more?

Liquid Bar

Zwinglistrasse 12, Longstrasse District
Telephone: 00 411 291 1291

Part of the successful Liquid Group - a name we very much approve of - this is a perennially hip favourite based on fun, colourful lines. Expect much neon lighting, pastel hues, bubble light fittings, spacey décor, and a wood ceiling above the bar. Seating is in comfy, retro, low-level bubble chairs but the music played by top city DJs will probably make you want to get up, not sit down. Winning cocktails include margaritas by the pitcher. Heck, we even enjoyed the walk to the place - down infamous Longstrasse, the once seedy, now hip, red-light street.

Free Press Release @ Hotel & Tours Group