Zurich makes shopping a pleasure - elegant boutiques, department stores and speciality shops are clustered in the Old Town, interspersed with cafes and bars for those necessary breaks. Most shops are open Monday to Friday 0900 or 0930-1830 and Saturday 0830-1600 or 1700. Many, except for the large stores, close for lunch. Late-night shopping on Thursday is until 2000. By law, shops cannot stay open longer than 2000 on weekdays and 1700 on Saturday.

VAT is charged at a rate of 7.6% and can be reclaimed for single items purchased for SFr400 or more, as long as the purchaser is resident outside Switzerland and the goods are exported within 30 days.

The most fashionable shopping street is Bahnhofstrasse, which stretches from the Hauptbahnhof past Paradeplatz to the lake. High-quality Swiss goods, jewellers, watchmakers and international designer labels can be found here. There are more boutiques tucked away to the east; Rennweg, Limmatquai and the pedestrian alleys of the Niederdorf are a good starting point. More alternative (and cheaper) shops can be found in the newly-fashionable districts of Sihl and Zurich West.

On Saturdays from May to October, Bürkliplatz fills with stalls during the weekly flea market. Interesting antiques and hand-made artefacts are sold at Rosenhof in the Old Town, Thursdays and Saturdays from March to the end of November.

Uniquely Swiss gifts are fine chocolates, Swiss Army knives, watches, embroidery, linen and handmade clocks. Schweizer Heimatwerk, Bahnhofstrasse 2 and Uraniastrasse 1, has a good selection of traditional and modern Swiss design especially wooden folk toys, while Confiserie Sprüngli, Bahnhofstrasse 21, is renowned for its chocolates. It is also Zurich's oldest pastry shop and the first to permit women to drink coffee in public. The shop also serves dozens of savoury hors d'oeurves and over 50 types of chocolate. However, their speciality is the tiny patented Luxemburgerli biscuit, which is sold in a variety of flavours. Another famous Swiss chocolatier, Teuscher, which specialises in hand-made truffles and seasonal confectionery (including chocolate flowers in spring and chocolate chestnuts in autumn), has its main store in the Old Town (Storchengasse 9).