I've got some friends from England who I have to keep entertained this weekend, so I thought we go to Zurich Friday afternoon and stay for a few drinks etc. Where would you recommend?

The new night club in sihlcity in zurich is supposed to be good, very big, and plenty of pubs around

What are you into, nightclub, restaurant, bar, "Irish" pub? It would help if you gave a wee it more info....

Well.. To be be honest one of the main reasons I left England was to get away from the louts that plague English cities in the evening.. But it does just so happen that my friends could be described as 'louts' by some, so I would like to show them something else then just generic pubs and godawful clubs.
So more bars and interesting nightclubs, i guess.

cheers

There's a good few bars n' things listed on this wiki.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Zurich

Actually I think English Forum'ers should have a go at expanding and updating this page.

If the weather is nice go to Pump Station on the lake (it's right across from the opera house). Wonderful place to get a couple of beers.

Well, I am showing a mate around on Friday night and the sunny weather makes it a whole lot either... I am biased but you cant go too far wrong with Kries 5.

Few evening beers by the Letten Badi, decent bars/restaurants around the Langstrasse when the sun goes down (Long Street bar, Acapulco, Mata Hari, West Side, Josef, Cafe Rossi etc),

If you want to go on, then its a 15 min walk down towards Hard Strasse and all the places there (Hive, Supermarket, Besame Mucho, Toni, Moods, Labor).

Niederdorf is also good for a 'taste' of Zurich. Maybe start off at the News bar to check out the local tottie^W^W^W^W^W^Wresidents, and then wander down Niederdorf. Check out Forecast, Big Bens, Nachtflug, Twist, Zic Zac, Andorra, ... there's enough vaguely 'English' places there that one could settle in, if desired. Maybe even Bierhalle Wolf for a bit of surrealism.

One good thing about Zurich nightlife is that there are very few lager louts. There's almost no aggro anywhere. You may see occasional groups of army boys out on the p*ss, but they tend to be pretty well behaved.

Cheers all. I'm taking this all on board.

Big Ben ? Life's too short.

For Britons I would suggest meet at Movie for a preamble and strategy meeting, walk across pedestrian bridge and take in Bierhalle Wolf for some surreal german culture. Then ramble down Niederdorf stopping at random bars. You can't go wrong really.

That said I would skip the forecast bar, it is full of pretentious tossers paying too much for drinks. I would skip the Nachtflug which is full of prententious tossers paying too much for drinks served by pretentious rude bar staff. The Regenbogen opposite on Rosengasse is far more chilled.

End up in Zic Zac at about 12 and will be busy enough to make them think they are in a british establishment, but without the interesting people.

Alternatively, you can start at the other end of Niederdorf and try The Otter, and Andorra and buy me a drink.

dave

Ah!

The only interesting people left at that time in England are us "auslander", the locals are too drunk to move

Are you drinking in The Woolpack in Salford again ?

dave

If you want to take them to get a pretty non-touristy Swiss meal with some of the locals Johanniter in the Neiderdorf near central is quite tasty (most dishes are under CHF 25)


Damn it, I just learned I'm a pretentious tosser who pays to much for beer (although I don't think CHF 8 for a big beer in Zurich is that bad). I like starting out at Nachtflug on a weekend night.

Sounds like Neiderdorf is a good bet then. From looking at multimap this area is just across the river(/lake) when you leave the train station, and a bit south.

As to buying you a drink Dave, would we get a directions to the better bars in exchange?

Never been in that one actually, The Crescent though, that's a proper old boozer and good choice of ales too.

I'm out tonight, with bloody Danes, which means I'll end up in Hard Rock Cafe drinking Budweiser...

Mmm The Crescent... last time I was there was in 1984... it used to be owned by the University. I used to work in the Woolpack until several people got stabbed there in some of the more friendly incidents...

dave

I hear Labyrinth is going off these days...

He's right. Don't forget surveying the asymetrical haircuts outside the Xenix (Helvetiaplatz). A great place to loiter, skin-up and chat to the femmes. Ask if you may join in a game of boule. See an old skool movie. If you stick around Zurich long enough on the Friday night, bump into Saturday morning by returning to the Xenix for the Flea market.

Great nourishment at the Aladdin Kebab shop (forget New Point)

Which one is that Uncle Max? The tiny one on the Langstrasse, opposite the Xenix/school(!)yard, between Kanzleistr and Anwandstr? Often buy a kebab there to take back to the Xenix.

The Aladdin is opposite the taxi rank (otherwise known as the epicentre of the Swiss heroin scene...allegedly) near the decidedly unsexy sex shops. Aladdin rocks my kebab world because the meat is really lean: a crunchy kebab, full of green stuff and lean veal...mmm. It's about a minute from the Xenix.

Also, for a full-menu adventure, try the Meridien restaurant for whackula menus from Afghanistan (veggie). Other side of the tracks near the Riff Raff bistro / cinema. Don't expect tablecloths or non-stoned service. It's magnificent. At the end of the meal, you play 'Guess the bill'. The waiter / owner's no idea, so you kinda make it up. Fun and different!