Zurich

The Bahnhofstrasse is the sweetest street in Europe. It starts at the station and ends at the lake, and along the way it passes Sprüngli on the Paradeplatz, Teuscher, Läderach and the Confiserie Honold, each with its own signature: the Luxemburgerli, the champagne truffle, the fresh chocolate slab broken to order, the Kirschstängeli. Swiss chocolate is a national industry, but in Zurich it is still a craft sold across a marble counter with a cup of coffee.

The hotels do the rest. The Baur au Lac has looked over its own park to the lake since 1844 and serves tea and pastry in the Pavillon; the Dolder Grand above the city has a pastry kitchen that competes with its art collection; the Mandarin Oriental Savoy on the Paradeplatz, reopened in 2024, brought the Hong Kong afternoon tea tradition to the oldest grand hotel in town. Péclard in the old Conditorei Schober is the fairytale tea room of the Niederdorf.

Zurich is expensive, punctual and quiet. Prices for a pastry match Paris, the tea salons close early, and the city’s sweetness is in its consistency rather than in surprise. Come for the chocolate, stay for the lake, and take the Luxemburgerli home in the fridge bag Sprüngli will sell you.