This is a beautiful library that takes a classic, clean, simple facade and elevates it up many…read morenotches. The natural lighting compliments the area perfectly. It's a perfect place to study because of how well lit, quiet, and peaceful the building is. If it's your first time inside you'll likely be distracted by the architecture which is perfectly understandable.

Definitely worth a visit just to admire the impressive architecture by Santiago Calatrava, which…read moreyou wouldn't suspect to be hiding inside by the outer looks of the building. Make sure to also take the glass elevator all the way up. It's easiest to enter the building from the back. When entering from Rämistrasse, it's slightly tricky to find the way to the library. There are lockers to leave your bags, which you're not supposed to bring inside (need a 2CHF coin). No flash photography so that the people studying there won't be disturbed.

Yelp Review 2026 #80:…read more Abbey Library of Saint Gall or Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen is worth the hour train ride from Zürich. I had a day in St. Gallen so of course, I had to visit this library. The Abbey of St. Gall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been for decades. The library is one of the oldest and has the greatest collection of old architectural "blueprints". I'm not too familiar with St. Gall but apparently, he was an Irish (who might actually be French) saint who died in Switzerland. He helped bring Christianity to Switzerland. He's also the patron saint of geese, poultry and Sweden. The library is beautiful inside. If you have Swiss Travel Pass, you get in for free. You would still need to get a ticket and a map from the gift shop by showing them your Swiss Travel Pass. There's a locker to the left of the gift shop as they don't allow bags of any size. You can take the elevator or take the stairs to get to the library and just follow the signs. You have to put on slippers right by the entrance of the library - they're huge so the best way to walk is by not walking but gliding like your skating or mopping the floor with your feet. You'll be in awe of the contrast between the bright white ceiling with murals and the brown wooden bookshelves. There's a mummy inside the library and you must not take pictures of it. When I was in Giza, my tour guide told me it's bad luck to take pictures of certain mummies - they're cursed. I'd rather not find out if it's true or not the hard way. Mummies aren't Instagrammable anyway.

It's a beautiful abbey library! I initially wasn't all that interested in visiting it since I've…read morealready seen similar ones in Melk & Dublin. However, I must say that the history of St. Gallus is very well-presented here. The exhibition in the vaulted cellar is very informative with digital screens in many different languages. I didn't know that Gallus (Gall) was a student at Bangor Abbey in Northern Ireland. He would eventually leave Ireland to follow Columbanus to become a missionary. This is where the story gets murky. They would end up in Merovingian France, and eventually flee to Bregenz after Columbanus is banished from that country for his beliefs. Gallus retreated to a more secluded life in the Steinach Valley either due to illness, or he just didn't want to continue on to Italy. There's also a bear in this story. Just read about the legend of Gallus and the bear. Visiting the library was a good experience. There are these padded shoes that you must slip into before walking on the wooden floors. Everyone kind of slides through the different parts of the library. It's an extensive collection of about 170,000 books and transcripts. The docent was gracious in giving us a brief tour. He told us we could take pictures, but not of the mummified body of Shep-en-Isis. That's a no-no. Good to know. Another interesting thing to see is the exhibition in the Abbey Archive. It houses the oldest monastery blueprint dating back to 820-830 AD in a controlled environment with a presentation that can be adjusted to the language of your choosing. The map is shown for less than a minute to limit its exposure to light. It's all included in the admission price. Just check it all out if you happen to be near St. Gallen. It's worth a stop.

This is the central location for the Pestalozzi Bibliothek Zürich (PBZ) system, and it shows…read more Three floors of books, one floor just for friendly check-in and automated check-out, and a central location. It's referred to as the "Altstadt" branch in the PBZ literature and website. I'm not sure I'd consider the "café" area much of a cafe --- as far as I can tell, there's tables where it's OK to eat, and an automated Nescafe machine. "Library café" usually implies the option for a slice of cake to me. I do like that there's a bit of a kid's play area downstairs, near the kid's books --- but it's not much of one (certainly smaller than the kid's room at the library in Boulder, Colorado where I spent so much time). All in all, when the Höngg and Altstetten branches don't have the book I'm looking for, I turn to this one.

Everybody should profit from this opportunity that the city of Zurich offers...There are books (for…read morekids and adults), magazines, language courses, dvds and a wide choice of music. I love that place! Everything for a very affordable price (something like 30 chf per year for students) and very flexible loan conditions. There are several libraries throughout the city of Zurich. I advise everyone to go there and have a look of what I am talking about on their own. You can rent a book in one library and give it back in another one! Amazing! The building in the old city (the one I go to) is huge and the staff very nice!

This library is so awesome. You have to go on the very top floor and check out the view from there…read more I love walking through the bookshelves and looking at all the different books and looking at each floor. Such a cool experience to visit here highly recommended.

I have been here before (a few years ago) and it was a better experience then. I'm not sure if it's…read moredue to the pandemic or too many influencers but the security situation is over the top and rude. They have security standing at the entrance interrogating people about why they are there. Presumably if you say, "to use the library" or "check out a book" (why do people go to libraries?) they will allow you to pass unmolested. If you say, "to look around," this is what happened to me. The guy led me over to the sign and pointed at "20 minutes" and said "20 minutes." I speak German just fine and I don't know why we needed to do that visually. He handed me a clip with a card on it to indicate I was a visitor. Not sanitary. He also said no camera photos, only phone photos. I went inside and filled out the form that asked for my name, contact information and time of visit. That form is normal these days in Germany. The pens were communal. Not sanitary. They have a one way path through the library that gets you all views all the way to the top floor and back again. The tour is not accessible. You climb all the stairs up and down. On a hot day, there is no air conditioning. That was the case when I was there.

Convent of St Gall is part of the world heritage foundation…read morehttp://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268 very nice place to be