Im Viadukt: Zurich's Railway Arches Reimagined as a Market Street

What Im Viadukt Actually Is

Im Viadukt is a 500-metre strip of commercial and cultural space built into the stone arches of the Aussersihler railway viaduct in Zurich-West. The viaduct itself opened on 18 August 1894, originally as industrial infrastructure carrying suburban rail lines over the Industriequartier. For over a century, the arches sat underused. The conversion, completed in the early 2010s under the management of Stiftung PWG (a Zurich housing and urban development foundation), turned approximately 36 arch-shaped units into a linear market street: independent retailers, a covered produce market, design studios, galleries, and food spots occupying spaces that are, quite literally, built into the base of an active railway bridge.

What makes this worth visiting is not the shops alone. It is the combination of raw industrial architecture, a walkable format, and an atmosphere that has stayed closer to neighbourhood convenience than tourist spectacle. Trains still run overhead. You can hear them.

The Architecture: Stone Arches and Active Rail

The Aussersihler viaduct is a late 19th-century masonry structure, and the arches themselves define everything about the experience of Im Viadukt. Each unit opens through a rounded stone arch, roughly uniform in width but fitted out differently by each tenant. Some shops have left the brick interior largely exposed; others have installed minimal modern fittings that contrast with the curved ceiling above. The floor plan of every unit is essentially the same: a narrow wedge running back from the arch opening, widening slightly as it goes deeper.

Standing at one end of Viaduktstrasse and looking down the length of it, the repetition of arches creates a visual rhythm that is genuinely striking. The promenade between the arch frontages and the street edge is roughly level, which makes the whole 500-metre stretch accessible without steps along the main walkway. Above, trains pass with a low rumble that fades quickly — it is background noise rather than intrusion, and it keeps reminding you that this is working infrastructure, not a heritage set piece.

The conversion is a useful reference point for anyone interested in Zurich-West's broader industrial-to-urban trajectory. The same neighbourhood contains the Schiffbau cultural venue and the former Puls 5 gas container, now repurposed as a shopping and residential complex. For context on how this district fits into the wider city, the Zurich-West neighbourhood guide covers the area's evolution in more detail.

The Market Hall: The Strongest Reason to Come

The covered market hall (Markthalle) sits within the arches and is the most concentrated draw for people who live in the area. Produce stalls, cheese vendors, butchers, bakers, and specialty food sellers occupy the interior space. The selection is weighted toward quality: regional Swiss products, organic and artisan goods, and ingredients that are harder to find in a standard supermarket. Prices reflect that positioning.

Saturday mornings bring the highest foot traffic to the market hall. By around 10:00, the space fills with local shoppers who treat this as a weekly routine rather than a destination. You will hear Swiss German conversations alongside a mix of other languages, which reflects the neighbourhood's demographics. The smell at that hour is a combination of fresh bread, aged cheese, and coffee from the adjacent counters. If you want space to browse without being jostled, arriving at opening on a weekday gives a quieter version of the same goods.

The Shops and Studios: Independent and Uneven

The retail along the arches spans a wide range. Design shops, fashion boutiques, a bicycle workshop, florists, artisan goods, and smaller studios occupy different units. The tenant mix has been deliberately kept away from chain retail, which gives the strip its character but also means quality and interest vary considerably from arch to arch. Some units are genuinely compelling: well-curated independent shops with a clear point of view. Others are modest local services that happen to be in an interesting building.

This is worth stating plainly: Im Viadukt is not a tightly edited retail concept. It is a long street of independent businesses under a railway bridge. If you arrive expecting a perfectly curated design market, the reality is more ordinary. The architecture is the consistent element; the shops themselves are as hit-or-miss as any neighbourhood high street.

Browsers with an interest in Swiss design and independent retail may also find value in the Zurich shopping guide, which covers Im Viadukt alongside other areas of the city with different retail characters.

How It Changes Through the Day

Weekday mornings before 10:00 are the quietest window. The market hall is open but uncrowded, the coffee spots are doing a slow morning trade, and the arch promenade has a calm, almost residential feel. This is when the space reads most clearly as a neighbourhood facility rather than an attraction.

Lunchtime on weekdays draws office workers from the surrounding Zurich-West district, particularly to the food vendors and the small restaurants tucked into the arches. The promenade becomes noticeably busier between roughly 12:00 and 13:30, then quiets again through the afternoon. Late afternoon on weekdays, from around 17:00 until closing at 20:00, sees another moderate surge as people stop in on the way home.

Saturdays are the most animated day across all hours from opening to mid-afternoon. After about 15:00 on Saturdays, crowd density drops and the atmosphere becomes more relaxed. Note that Sunday closures are firm — the entire complex, market hall included, is shut.

Getting There and Moving Around

The most straightforward public transport options from central Zurich are tram lines 4, 13, and 17 to the Löwenbräu stop, which places you directly adjacent to the viaduct. From Zürich Hardbrücke S-Bahn station (served by a large number of suburban rail lines including S3, S5, S6, S7, S9, S11, S12, S15, and S16), Im Viadukt is a short walk of around five to seven minutes. Bus lines 33 and 72 serve the Schiffbau and Hardbrücke stops nearby.

Walking from Zürich Hauptbahnhof is feasible and takes approximately 20 to 25 minutes on foot. The official route follows Sihlquai, Zollstrasse, Hafnerstrasse, and Josefstrasse. An alternative path goes via the Landesmuseum, along the Limmat and through Lettenviadukt — a route that adds interest if you are not in a hurry.

If this is your first time navigating Zurich by public transport, the guide to getting around Zurich explains the ZVV fare zone system and how to buy the right ticket.

The main promenade along Viaduktstrasse is level throughout, which makes the principal route through Im Viadukt step-free. Accessibility within individual arch units depends on each business's own setup and is not centrally documented. Visitors with specific mobility requirements are advised to contact the managing foundation via the official website before visiting.

Photography and Practical Notes

The arch repetition makes for a strong geometric photograph from either end of Viaduktstrasse, particularly in flat morning light when shadows are softer. The interior of the market hall is dimmer and works better with a camera that handles mixed lighting reasonably well. Individual arch frontages, with their stone surrounds and varied shopfronts, reward slower, closer photography rather than wide shots.

There is no dress code or specific gear required. Comfortable walking shoes are sensible if you are combining Im Viadukt with a longer walk through Zurich-West. In winter, the promenade is outdoors and exposed to wind along parts of its length; the market hall interior provides cover. In summer, the stone arches provide shade along the frontages, which makes the midday visit more comfortable than it might be on a fully open street.

Im Viadukt fits naturally into a half-day or full-day circuit through Zurich-West. The area around it is also covered in the guide to Zurich's less-visited spots, which includes other corners of the district that reward exploration.