Zurich is a small city in comparison to other European cities so it might look as a boring city as first sight.. But if you have good company and the will to have fun you can end up dancing until 5am and then watching the sunrise in a very cloudy lake (Not that I actually did that last friday).
You can't beat the fact that in Zurich (and Switzerland) is very safe. The only time I felt the same safe was in New Zealand and it was a couple of years ago. For me, I don't honestly care if the party is not all around the city with huge bars and clubs if I can't make home safe and sound after some drinks. I can do that in here. So that's a major bonus.
Like I always say: you make your own party and honestly.. if you get bored in Zurich you can always go to other cities... some of them are just an hour away by train or plane..
My goodness, Zurich is the gateway to doing anything you might ever want to do. You can find many things to do in Zurich and the Swiss train network is so efficient that you can be in another city or country in a matter of hours.
I think there is something for everyone in Zurich and Switzerland as a whole. Outdoor people are brilliantly served and those less adventurous can find plenty to do.
My busiest years in my social and personal life were those I spent in Zurich.
A place cannot be boring, it's a human emotional state.
unfortunately, a 6-8 hour round trip will not really allow you to go to those places on a working day.
besides, the OP asked about zurich, the fact that everybody seems to point to the fact that you can escape the city/country relatively easily is telling!
the OP didn't ask "am i boring". of course how bored you are depends on you, and what one person considers a boring level, may be fine for another person.
though insofar as a city can be boring, i'd say, yes, of the major 'world' cities (london, ny, barcelona, hong kong) zurich falls into the boring camp. of course, some may be of the view that there 'is no such thing as a boring city '. in which case, your world view can't accommodate the question in the first place.
She did ask about Zurich yes, but I was simply pointing out that if you do find yourself with a free weekend you can simply jump on a train to any of these cities very easily.
Zurich pretty much always has something going on, whether that suits your needs or not is another question.
Walking, running, biking, swimming (in fact most sports), bars, clubs, shops (ok not on a Sunday), cinemas, museums what else do you need for it not to be boring?
It might not have the same 'energy' as the cities you mention but there is certainly plenty to do.
Do you never miss that "edge" though? I do. Some of the reasons I came was because Zurich is "safe", and "clean", and all that. But... damn... I don't miss seeing rubbish everywhere or screaming sirens every minute of the day, but I miss the "vielfalt" of London and other UK cities.
I love Zurich, although I never thought I will say this. It seemed very "boring" when I first arrived to Switzerland. I guess it depends what you expect from the city and how you like to spend your free time. If you love sports, hiking and nature you wouldn't have the slightest problem to adapt. It is sort of provincial as some Swiss describe it but safe, organized, very pretty with cute houses and impressive architecture and I feel like I can really rest there.
Is it boring? When you look at the comments under this clip you can also spot this one:
"Imagine humourless, introverted, and hellishly boring people..." It would be best if you could hop on the plane and come here for the weekend to get the taste of it and feel the atmosphere of Zurich and if you come in the summer time you can get the famous morning swim right in the city center... Imagine!
i lived in london for many years and had little problems there.
i've been in zurich only 4 years, but in that time 2 of my friends have been killed. one as a result of a racially-aggravated beating.
while switzerland does have a low-crime rate, i do wonder how much of it is due to under-reporting both officially and also managing perception through non-reporting in the media.
like everything, it depends on your disposition, age, frame of reference, etc., but the short answer is "yes". this is particularly true if you are a person who requires crowds, noise and "goings on", and less so if you are more reserved and happier spending time by yourself or in small groups.
personally, I absolutely love the city, likely for all the reasons that others find it "boring"...
After 5 years here I'm still not remotely bored of the place. Always new people to meet, new and familiar places to go to when you want to go out, it has a lake you can swim in summer, and big mountains to bike ride on in summer and ski on in Winter. Oh, and 150MB internet.
How people get bored of this place I will never know.
Typical complaints of boredom I hear pertain to social interactions. I hear it mostly from extroverted personality types; or certain cultural backgrounds, e.g., Australians, Western North Americans, Africans, Latin, or cultures living closer to the equator.
The complaints are typically about the kinds of social interactivity that can be experienced and expected from the local population, often described as "energy". I think most people can agree that Swiss culture can be characterized as being more reserved. Some individuals are accustomed to a more "open" culture.
If a person is accustomed to being able to interact and converse with a total stranger, and come to accept that as normal civility, they can experience a feeling of being "put off" here. They conversely would describe the social atmosphere of Switzerland as being "dead", and boring. To add to this, the lifestyle here is industrious, and everybody is typically busy taking care of their own things.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to this. One can't really say that this is true 100% of the time. For example, I find the young Swiss to be generally approachable, and there is a critical mass of foreigners here who know a more open culture that you can develop a social lifestyle that does not even interact with the local Swiss. But this takes time and concerted effort. It tends to happen more spontaneously in other parts of the world, and it might be awkward to try to intentionally develop this. But it can be done.
In Switzerland, you may need to find your own individual recipe for your own sense of well-being. Some ingredients may happen naturally, without effort, in other places. But here, you may need to cultivate and grow your own for some ingredients. If you are able to manage it, this is a great and interesting place to live. I don't really want to be living anywhere else at the moment.
After living in Zurich for 5+ yrs, I always tell people that the best thing about it is that it is so easy to leave... Trains, planes or car, Zurich is close to lots of great places. And we found that we could go stay in top hotels and eat at great restaurants and save more money than if we stayed at home... provided you leave the country. Italy/Germany/France, take your pick.
And Zurich itself, and the mountains/lakes nearby has stunning scenery. The city itself, not so much going on compared to Berlin, but in Zuri West, we could always find live music or something going on. And jumping in the Limmat in July and floating down the river for 15 minutes, was always fun.
So would I recommend it? Depends on what your other options are and your family situation. Certainly many GOOD things about it, but if I were in my 20s and not making a LOT of money, I would go elsewhere.
This question pops up a few times a year on these boards, and it's always met by the same varied responses- from an unequivocal "yes" to the ever so helpful "it's what you make of it". I have to say that since living in Central CH and often working and/or visiting in Zurich, I understand both sides, depending on the day. In a way, the universal "boring is as boring does" is a bit ignorant (no offense), and discounts the rut that many foreigners can feel from time to the when they find themselves in the middle of Pleasantville.
I think the problem is with the question. "Boring" is always subjective. So nobody can ever answer whether another person will find a place boring. So it's better to try and figure out what the right question is.
Is there plenty to do in Zurich? Sure
Is there much to do at night? Not during the week, maybe on the weekends, but most of it requires drugs and bad music.
Is life in Zurich predictable, repetitive, safe and secure? Most definitely. And that's the million dollar question. Life in Zurich is predictable. That's probably what most people are wondering when asking if it's "boring". Zurich and most of Switzerland, at least the German speaking part lives by the clock, the Swiss Franc and making sure that tomorrow is the same as yesterday. There's little risk taking, great respect for privacy and solitude and Zurich in particular has the highest concentration of wealth, which means it's a bit stuffy at times.
None of that means you can't have a good time. But I guess people asking if it's boring are thinking of a city that throws excitement at them at every turn. That's definitely positively absolutely without a doubt NOT Zuerich.
Genuine thanks to those who have responded and your very useful and impressive input.
I agree (and I didn't define boring from my perspective in my question) what is boring can be very subjective and personal.
The decision is made to move to Zurich - I guess I asked this question as I am somewhat apprehensive and wondering what lies ahead for me.
I am Brazilian and my husband is Irish (late 30s). We feel a young couple but have mostly put our binge drinking/late night bar days behind us and now much prefer out and about day life. We are moving from St Albans (half hour outside London where my husband worked) which is an English market residential town of approx 200k people. I do find St Albans a bit too quite sometimes and yearn for my weekly trip to London but at the end of the day in London I yearn for my week in St. Albans.
I generally like being around people (not in so much as in approaching strangers to chat) but I like the feeling of walking down a few (even if it is only a few) busy shopping streets on a weekend and feeling that there is people life around me. I am interested in fashion and would like to blog about Zurich fashion life/Zurich life if there are enough elements to work with. The great Swiss outdoors definitely has appeal and hopefully we find that Zurich is a place that makes us feel "alive" (sorry! not really sure how to define what I mean by that).
In St. Albans/London we have definitely had to use the tactic of (and thankfuly have been able to save the cash to) breaking away for a weekend abroad every four months or so to help break up day to day life a bit, so if some people feel that this is a helpful part of Zurich life this is something we are familiar with.
My husband is interested in sports, travel and new cultures.
I just wanted to add some additional background on myself given some have mentioned this would be helpful in answering my question.
As someone recently pointed out to me - if you arrive with pre-conceptions, you will find them, because you're automatically looking for them. So keep an open mind, or at least positive pre-conceptions.
Basically if you expect Zurich to be boring and sit at home waiting for the action to come and find you (which it won't) you will be bored. If you make an effort to get out and about, meet people, try new things, find new ways of doing the things you like to do in St Albans, then you'll have a whale of a time and there's no limit to the fun you can have.
It will always be different to 'home' but you get out of it what you put in.
There is a large Brazilian community here. Personally, I tend to avoid my compatroits, or any specific set of similar types of people, as it tends to promote ghettoization, and can be suffocating.
A close friend of mine is from Sao Paulo, married to a Swiss. She's not very happy here, and misses the "cool" side of life. She finds the local venues to be rather dorky and uncool.
There! I finally got around to being able to say it! It can get pretty dorky and uncool here. Now I feel better.
So imagine this: Shops close early. On Sundays, very few places stay open. There is no Sunday shopping. The streets look like a ghost town. Can you live with that? That is what is like sometimes. You may want to prepare for it. But it sounds like you already are.