Best Parks and Nature in Zurich for Lake Walks, Forests and Hill Views

Best Parks and Nature in Zurich for Lake Walks, Forests and Hill Views

Guide: Lake Shores, Forest Hills & Botanical Gardens

Zurich's compact center opens quickly onto lake shallows, wooded hills, river islands, scientific gardens, and a wild forest reserve. These ten landscapes make nature part of everyday city movement rather than a separate excursion.

• Lake Zurich PromenadeContinuous waterfront paths, swimming lawns, mature trees, and lake-and-Alps views connect central quays with parkland on both shores.
• UetlibergZurich's local mountain combines forest trails, a panoramic ridge, and direct rail access, with broad views over the city, lake, and Alps.
• Botanical Garden of the University of ZurichThree domed glasshouses, systematic beds, ponds, and global living collections make this university garden especially valuable in poor weather and changing seasons.
• Old Botanical GardenA medieval herb garden, old trees, and a palm house survive on a quiet bastion above the Sihl, creating an unexpectedly secluded central refuge.
• Chinese GardenPavilions, stone, water, and symbolic planting form a compact scholar's garden near the lakeshore, designed as a friendship gift from Kunming.
• ZürichhornLakefront lawns, specimen trees, sculpture, and swimming access create a broad park sequence where the Hornbach stream reaches Lake Zurich.