One of my favorite things about Zurich is the 1200+ fountains with drinkable water. Since I come from the semi-desert of southern California, the free-flowing fountains are both shocking and wonderful. You probably have your neighborhood favorites, but I want to share a few ways to discover more fountains in Zurich.
Fountain Maps
Zurich city provides maps all of the fountains in Zurich. They are available free online and you can also order physical copies, which my husband did for our family. We check off the fountains on the map as we visit them. The maps are a little hidden on the website, so here are direct links. I hope these links correct as time marches on.
Zurich Fountain Maps:
Overview
Kreis 1
Kreis 2
Kreis 3,4,5,9
Kreis 7 and 8
Kreis 11 and 12
I also love the blog, Zurich 1200 Fountains, in which the author visits and photographs fountains in Zurich. So far she has visited about 170 fountains. She even has a map. The last post was in 2014, so perhaps she’s given up on the project.
Skyplan.ch has another map of Zurich fountains (showing about 700 of the 1200 fountains)
Fountain Tour
Zurich city provides a free fountain tour during summer months, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. It starts at Lindenhof and lasts 1.5 hours. You can register for this tour online. I think this tour is in German only but not positive.
Favorite Fountains
Here are a few of our favorite fountains in Zurich. What are your favorites?
My kids love to play tag on this honeycomb fountain near the Mythenquai.
We love any fountain that freezes over in winter, particularly the one right in front of the Hauptbahnhof.
I feel like there must be a story that goes with this frog fountain in Wollishofen.
I love that even tiny fountains quiet streets have little details like this bird.
We particularly like the Arboretum Mosiac fountain at night.
We love that we can easily refill up our water bottles while out for a bike ride.
