limmat river cruise reviews

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Limmat River Cruise: The Most Relaxing Way to Discover Zurich

• May 9, 2023 December 18, 2023

The Limmat River is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Zurich, and taking a river cruise is an excellent and relaxing way to explore the city. The river flows from the southeast to the northwest direction, through the heart of Zurich. Looking up from the boat’s transparent roofing during the river cruise offers stunning views of the city’s historic landmarks.

Whether you’re a first-time visitor, a seasoned traveler, or a local, the Limmat River Cruise is a relaxing and enjoyable way to see Zurich. In this article, we will cover what you need to know about the Limmat River Cruise .

Overview of Limmat River Cruises

The Limmat River is a relatively calm body of water that runs through the city of Zurich, Switzerland. Taking a river cruise down the Limmat is a fantastic way to see the city from a unique perspective. Limmat River cruises are a popular activity for tourists and locals alike, and many cruises depart every day.

Limmat River Cruise: What to Expect

The Limmat River cruise is generally a sightseeing cruise that is designed to show passengers the top sights along the river. As opposed to lake cruises, they do not offer culinary experiences. Mostly they take people around Zurich’s main sights or transport them from one part to another.

On selected days per year, Limmat River cruises are combined with a guided tour. However, this guided tour is only available in German. If you are interested in the Underground-Limmatboot Tour , you can check it out at https://www.zsg.ch/de/erlebnisschiffe/angebote-erlebnisschiffe/underground-limmatboot-tour .

Limmat River Cruise Stops

• Landesmuseum

Scenery and Landmarks

A Limmat River Cruise is an excellent way to see Zurich’s beautiful scenery and landmarks . While cruising along the river, you can admire some of Zurich’s most famous landmarks, such as the Grossmünster church and the Fraumünster church.

The river cruise also goes under six bridges : Walche Bridge, Bahnhof Bridge, Mühle Bridge, Rudolf Brun Bridge, Rathaus Bridge, Münster Bridge, and Quai Bridge.

These are the highlights of the Limmat River Cruise that you can easily see from the boat:

Preparing for Your Limmat River Cruise

When to go on a limmat river cruise.

For me, the best times to take a Limmat River Cruise are spring and fall, when temperatures are cooler and crowds are smaller. Summer is also nice, but I would recommend a refreshing dip in the water rather than a river cruise.

The Limmat River Cruise does not run in winter.

What to Wear on a Limmat River Cruise

For your Limmat River Cruise, make sure you dress appropriately. It is not necessary to bring extra layers with you on board because the ship is fairly warm and everything is covered.

As you’ll be going up and down the steps in potentially moving water, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. Sunglasses will also protect your eyes from the glare of the sun.

How to Get to the Limmat River Cruise

I suggest starting from Landesmuseum and riding the ship to Bellevue. You could also ride from Bellevue going back to Landesmuseum. Within an hour, you can complete a round-trip from Landesmuseum.

The ship has a maximum capacity of 60. I would avoid riding it from Limmatquai or Storchen as the ship might be already too full and you will have to wait for the next one. A few people in our queue were disappointed that they couldn’t board because the ship was already full.

Limmat River Cruise: 7 Practical Tips

• If you get seasick easily, consider bringing motion sickness medication or acupressure bands to help alleviate symptoms.
• Please bring your water and snacks, as food is not sold.
• You might want to pack your camera and sunscreen. It’s recommended to bring a camera with a wide-angle lens.
• Be respectful of other passengers.
• Smoking is not allowed on board.
• Bicycles are not allowed on board.
• Children’s strollers need to be folded.

Final Thoughts: Limmat River Cruise

Visiting Zurich is not complete without a Limmat River Cruise. Taking a cruise provides a unique perspective of the city and its landmarks, and it can be a relaxing way to spend some time.

The Limmat River Cruise begins right next to Landesmuseum, Switzerland’s National Museum. Those interested in learning more about Switzerland should visit the museum, which exhibits the country’s art, history, and culture.

Passing by Zurich’s main landmark, the Grossmünster , located on the banks of the Limmat River, is one of the highlights of the cruise. Furthermore, it passes under six bridges, particularly between Landesmuseum and Bürkiplatz.

It’s also great that the Limmat River Cruise is suitable for all ages. The experience will be as enjoyable for families with children as it will be for couples or solo travelers.

The Limmat River Cruise is a great way to discover Zurich and its surroundings. Don’t miss this relaxing and enjoyable experience.

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Darla Uhl is the owner of TouringSwitzerland.com. Her home is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Having lived almost 20 years in Switzerland, she's traveled extensively all over the country.

Darla's favorite regions to visit in Switzerland include Engadin, Lake Geneva, Bernese Oberland, Ticino, and Valais. She loves spending time with her family, hiking, visiting museums, and reading books.

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Limmat River Cruise

• City river cruise on the Limmat
• Through Zurich’s Old Town
• Tour past tourist attractions

Free Ride with the Zürich Card

• 24 or 72 hours
• Public transportation included
• Free admission to museums
• Over 50 discounts

Past the historical guild houses, Zurich’s Town Hall, the Lindenhof and the Grossmünster church: a Limmat River Cruise takes you from the National Museum up the River Limmat to Lake Zurich and back again. Since April 2023, the electric boats, “Fluvius”, “Navalis”, and “Pontus”, have been operating on this route. The three new riverboats are not only electrically driven for the first time, but also offer a larger passenger capacity and are air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. Passengers can enjoy the views of the picturesque Old Town and Lake Zurich through the glass roof from wherever they are sitting.

The Limmat River Cruises operate between April and October. The stretch between the National Museum and the Zürichhorn takes approximately 25 minutes, while the entire round trip lasts around 50 minutes.

Opening Hours

Open on these days.

March 29 to October, 2024

See timetable: www.zsg.ch/limmat-river-cruises

In the Vicinity

Restaurant Spitz

National Museum Extension

National Museum Zurich

Brasserie Federal

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Limmat river cruiser

Zürich Tourismus Im Hauptbahnhof 8001 Zürich Phone  +41 (0)44 215 40 00 zuerich.com

The Limmat river cruiser takes you in comfort past the most beautiful sights of Zurich’s old town until the view of Lake Zurich opens up.

Glide past guild houses, Zurich’s town hall, the Lindenhof fortress and the spires of the Grossmünster: a boat trip on the Limmat takes you from the National Museum up the Limmat to Lake Zurich and back again. The “Felix” and “Regula” cruisers are named after the patron saints of Zurich, while the “Turicum” bears the city’s Roman name. They all have glazed roofs so that passengers can enjoy the view of the picturesque old town and Lake Zurich, no matter where they’re sitting.

Stage: Swiss National Museum, Zurich – Zürichhorn Journey time: 30 mins

Excursion tips

• Grossmünster & Fraumünster churches
• Bürkliplatz
• Sechseläutenplatz

Food & drink

A place to eat and drink is offered in the form of the ship’s own restaurant.

All connections here

Tickets can be purchased online , at the sales outlets on Bürkliplatz, or on board the ship itself. 

Reservations

No need to reserve a seat – you can sit where you like.

*** Leading

General information

Discover the surroundings.

Zürich Tourismus Im Hauptbahnhof 8001  Zürich Switzerland

Phone  +41 (0)44 215 40 00 [email protected] zuerich.com Show Route

Zürich Tourismus Im Hauptbahnhof 8001 Zürich Phone  +41 (0)44 215 40 00 zuerich.com Show Route

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Limmat River Cruise or Lake Zurich Short Cruise? - Zurich Forum

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Limmat River Cruise or Lake Zurich Short Cruise?

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As I understand, the Limmat cruise is about an hour and the latest trip in May is 9:05pm. The Lake Zurich short cruise is about 1.5 hours.and the latest trip is 7:40 pm. Please correct me if I am misundrestanding the timetables :-)

They are both very nice and picturesque...but different, and you can easily do them both (take the limmat boat from landesmuseum to burkliplatz =15 min), and then the small loop lake cruise from burkliplatz.

Thanks Canswiss,

http://www.zsg.ch/en/limmat-river-cruises.html

"Departures every 30 minutes from LANDESMUSEUM (roundtrip duration: about 1 hour)

The seven bridges of Zurich's "home river" Limmat must be experienced on this tour that takes you to the lake and back again. This trip provides extremely attractive perspectives of the Old Town and the most beautiful sights of the city."

Is that what you were thinking about?

For comparison, the "short River Cruise" I was thinking about is this one:

http://www.zsg.ch/en/fares-scheduled-trips-round-trips.html (scroll to 'Short Round Trips')

Which trip do you think would be more scenic?

If you have time enough, I would do a combination: Take the limmat boat from Landesmuseum to Bürkliplatz (about 15 min.) and change there to a larger boat and do the short lake cruise . This would offer you a good combination of city sightseeing by boat on the river and views of lake of Zurich as well as of the alpine mountain range (if the weather conditions are fine).

The ticket, which is 24 hrs valid and includes, in addition to the city area of Zurich, the zones 150, 151, 152, can be purchased at the boat's departure in Burkliplatz:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/fare-networks/zurich-transport-network.html

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g1809165-d6589646-r203202260-Au_Penisula-Au.html

PS During the Limmat " cruise " you can get off whatever you want

The trip to Rapperswil is certainly nice and also the stopover at Au (a stop at isle of Ufenau would also be recommendable). However this trip will take longer, at least half a day. Zone 150 is already included in your Zurich Card, but you would need to purchase the additional zones at the ticket booth on Bürkliplatz.

Thanks so much.

If we were to do the Limmat cruise to Burkliplatz then take the short Lake cruise , would we need to queue up in both locations to get tickets or could we get them both at Landesmuseum prior to the Limmat cruise ? I am assuming that although we will have the Zurich Card, we will still need paper tickets to get onto the boats?

hello, we will be in zurich oct 30. can we take the limmat river cruise one way only from Burklipatz to landesmuseum? i will buy a zurich card so this trip is included right? thank so much

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Limmat River Cruise - A Relaxing way to... - Limmat

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Limmat River Cruise - A Relaxing way to see the old town from the Limmat river

Take a relaxing 1 hr cruise along the Limmat river in Zurich. It is a great way to see the old city from the river. The trip is about 4 CHF or free is you have a Zurich card or an all ZVV transit day pass. Their are multiple stops along the river and two stop on Lake Zurich.

This was short and showed the charming bits of the old city. Very worthwhile. The two guys who run the boat were pretty unfriendly, not at all welcoming or warm. It seemed like the tourists getting on and off were an inconvenience to them and this was an unpleasant job that they’d rather not be doing. Were there an even neutral service experience this would have been a 5/5.

The Limatquai is Zurich's riverwalk, it is actually the river in Zurich and you can't miss it if you are heading towards the lake. In summer it must be very nice sitting outside in the cafes or just walking to the towards the lake

Walking along the limmat is a must in Zurich. Starting from central (tram stop), you can walk either towards the lake (south) or north. Both directions are very nice, but north is recommended especially in the summer. If you go towards the lake, you will pass by many shops and cafes and it is very pleasant to have a coffe directly on the limmat. Otherwise, go north if you want to reach the area where you can swim in the limmat, play beachvolley or sunbath.

This is an excellent spot to have walk. It divides the old center and the new shopping area. Walking through the bridges will lead to several different attractions, such as historic church, stores, museums, train station, Lake Zurich etc.

Limmat is the kind of river which I like a lot. It doesn't divide the city, it completes it. Walking down the river from the Lake Zurich is a top thing, You can take so many photos!