Where to stay the night before flying out of Zurich?

Well there are loads of them but i'd consider Lucerne, not a small town but not a huge town like Zurich and one of the most gorgeous towns in Europe on one of the most gorgeous Alpine lakes in Europe - the fjord-like Lake Lucerne and Lucerne will have trains to Zurich at least twice an hour that take about 45 minutes and probably some that go right to Zurich airport

From Strasbourg i suspect the fastest route would go via Zurich but if coming via Basel then you'd get direct trains from there to Lucerne that take a tad over an hour - Basel is just a few hours at most from Strasbourg.

Hi ZombyWoof,

You may just want to consider turning in your car a day early and getting to the airport without hassle and worry. There is a train station in the basement of the airport, and getting there without traffic, getting lost, or worrying about traffic jams may be a good end to your vacation.

I really like the Hotel Sonne (www.sonne.ch) in the suburb of Küsnacht right on Lake Zurich. It sits across the street from the train station; in fact, as you exit the station and cross the street on the underpass, you are at the entrance to the hotel. There are one or two direct trains to the airport, and they take about 40 minutes.

Driving from there to the airport will probably take longer as you'd have to fight traffic --

Have fun!

s

I am always a big one for being in your departure city the day before your flight - you never ever know when some problem with trains, etc. may pop up - or even driving to the airport - with a non-refundable ticket, etc.

I am familiar with the suburb swannay talks about and it is neat - subdued and though not a proverbial small village a nice leafy suburb and as swannay says good train service.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with staying in Zürich, it is a fascinating city and well worth seeing.

I agree with Quokka - zurich is a really fascinating city and lovingly set on a lake - check out the Bahnhofstrasse, often called the world's glitziest street, for the fancy shops and banking HQs - and walk a bit along the lake - hit the Old Town south of the main train station - take a hill-climbing tram up a mountain - hop a boat on Lake Zurich, etc.

I would just spend the night in Zurich. Hotels will be expensive, however. Staying at the airport could save some money, though, and you are still only 10-15 minutes from the city center.

Palenque - I have no idea where this notion of Bahnhofstrasse being the glitziest street in the world comes from. I mean, it has some fancy shops, but it pales in comparison to the high-end streets in bigger cities.

I have heard the term used but not sure why either - though upscale enough maybe this is a dated term that once applied more than now

Personally, I prefer to stay in my city of departure the night before a flight unless it's late in the day, which your isn't.

I highly recommend the Radisson Blu in Zurich, a place we discovered last April, which is conveniently connected to the airport, and has really good rates on weekends, not-so-much during the week.

http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-zurichairport

On all of our previous pre-flight stays in Zurich, we’ve stayed near the airport in Kloten or in the city, taking a shuttle and train combo to get to and from the airport. Staying AT the airport was the perfect solution for us – easy access to both trains and planes - the hotel is attached to the airport and the train station is downstairs. Super convenient, excellent hotel, no noise, but expensive during the week.

I would stay right in Zurich and enjoy a day there. You can enjoy Bahnhofstrasse for the snootiest and most expensive, if not the glitziest shopping Stop for some chocolate at Sprüngli, and see old town on both sides of the river, and take a little boat ride on the lake and if you like art there is a great museum. (There is an historical museum as well but I've never been.) You've got a few churches to visit - one with gorgeous Chagall stained glass windows. In fact, one day in Zurich is just perfect. Stop up at Lindenhofplatz for a pretty view of the old town, river, lake and mountains. Have Bratwurst from the stand on Bellevue for lunch and go out for a nice final dinner of Zürcher-geschnetzltes and rösti later.

I would recommend the Hotel Opera for a great location and comfortable if small rooms. We have stayed there a number of times and put up friends there as well:

http://www.operahotel.ch/en/index

Additionally, if you search here on Fodor's there are some other threads reviewing Zurich hotels.

Zurich is home for us now, so we're rather fond of it. I think you might enjoy it for a day too.

gruezi