A lovely and informative tour along the river in Zurich - This was a great, informative tour! Although Zurich is not unknown to me, this was an eye-opener and a discovery of new parts of Zurich and I learnt a lot. What was very amazing was that you walked from the main station to the former industrial part without having any traffic at all, only walking paths. Maria was a terrific guide. She has a very good knowledge about the history of Zurich and could explain and tell stories about all the landmarks and the buildings we saw along. She knows her way through all areas of Zurich. What I appreciated very much was her flexibility about the pickup point and the length of the tour. It was a very personal and enjoyable evening tour. I can warmly recommend her.

The Hip Zürich West - We did the tour with the Guide Maria a hot early Monday evening mid July. We booked the tour as we wanted to get to learn more about the new Hip Zurich West Area, that in the 80ies and early 90ies was a “black chapter” in the history of Zürich, however since some years is the area with new urban restaurants and bars. The tour started at Central, we walked over to Landesmuseum and walked through the Parc Platzspitz along the river Limmat. The parc became “world famous” for the “open drug area” end of 1980; but is now totally cleaned up, with regular cultural and festive activities. At the end of the Parc, we headed over the bridge and followed the river along the old railway tracks to Zürich West. The area along the river was packed by people swimming and jumping into the river, sunbathing along the river walk or sitting in one of the restaurants or bar along the river. We made a stop here for a drink as the atmosphere was so cool and Maria had nothing against it. She said we can decide the tempo and the tour takes 2 hrs, she would bring us to an area at the end we’re we can find a restaurant and then get back to the main station by the train or bus. We followed the “old railway” track down to the arcades (a little like the High Line in New York), were you have shops, a huge Parc for kids and families, restaurants. Now in summer, you could really feel this has become a living part of the city, once only old fabrics and a lots of traffic existed here. We made a stop at the “Surf-wave Bar” don’t remember the name, but there is a big wave-machine in a pool and surfers are training and showing tricks. We continued to Frau Gerald Garten for Dinner which is a very well known alternative easy-going out-door restaurant were Maria dropped us off. Maria explained the way to the Railway station Hardbrücke just some minutes away so that we could come back to the main station after our dinner. The tour is great for couples and friends, young people (at least young in mind) and mid-agers like myself, that want to feel the pulse of the city. Next time I come to Zürich, I will bring a friend and do the tour myself with more time, take a short swim, do some shopping at the arcades, pic-nic in the Parc and make a stop in the Freitag container pop-up store store (they create bicycle bags made of recycled plastic, very popular by students in Switzerland). The tour is different and more personal than the tours I have booked in the past through a tourist company. You have a private Guide and can create the tour as you like - Maria was very knowledgeable and told us small stories to the areas, both historical and personal experiences. Warmly recommended