For its size (~350'000 people), Zurich has an incredible offering of entertainment, enlightment and leisure opportunities. Those Swiss don't seem to be THAT narrow-minded after all, at least the city-dwelleing ones.
Nightlife in Zurich rivals that of much larger cities, there's uncountable bars, clubs, hangouts, whatever you want to call them; vibrant, multicultural and ever changing. Zurich, together with London and Berlin, is one of the places where the electronic music revolution of the nineties happened and caught its incredible momentum. The street parade is an increasingly popular dance-enjoy-musiclistening-event that happens every summer in the streets, on the bridges... everywhere.
There are about 50 movie theatres in Zurich (compare that to the average 350'000 people city elsewhere). And... for those not interested in techno, movies, partying and such, there's a whole bunch of classical theatres (those with actors, not movie projectors), an opera, concert hall, museums...
And the best part of it is: It cann all be reached by foot or public transport. No fear of getting caught driving drunk. Public transport gets you home safely until late in the morning. They better should: Most clubs are open until 4AM or later. And, of course, 18 year olds can get in, have some beers or drinks, no ID-check or other harassment necessary.
This sounds great. Yes it is. And, just for the record, I am NOT being paid to write this, I just used to live there before I moved to the US and sometimes, I'm homesick. And, if you happen to be in Europe, just find out for yourself.