5-hour layover in Zurich on the way to Venice
 

Greetings:

I see this question was asked a few years ago, but I thought I'd post it again. My spouse and I are flying to Venice via Zurich and have a 5 hour layover.

Will we have enough time for a quick jaunt into the city center? Because the airport is only 8 miles from downtown, my gut tells me that this should be doable.

Is it doable and Is it worth the effort? Any tips on the best way to handle this and whether it can be done are appreciated!

Thanks

About 10 years ago I had a stop in Zurich on my way to Venice and I did go into town. I took the train which is very speedy and in no time I was in downtown Zurich. I didn't do much, I just walked along the river and had lunch. No regrets, it was good for me.

I forgot to answer your question about whether or not it's enough time, and yes I think it is. I had about 5 hours and it worked for me.

What do you mean by 5 hours? Is that incoming wheels down to take off time for your next flight? If so, you don;t have 5 hours - you have more like 2.5 hours.

Assuming you are coming from outside Schengen you will have to go through Immigration in Zurich - which can take minutes or can take close to an hour (if several international flights land at once). You also have to allow time to get to and fro the center of time - and should arrive at the airport 1.5 hours before take off since you will have to go through security again.

So you may any 2 to 3 hours - depending on specific conditions.

I think you should investigate getting downtown (and realize you won;t have much time there) but be ready to amuse yourself in=n the airport if there are delays.

NYtraveler: Our flight is supposed to land at 8 a.m., and our flight to Venice leaves at 1:05PM. So, we should be back at the airport by at least 11:45 or so. We plan to play it by ear, obviously. If there are a number of flights coming in at once and customs is crowded, then we'll stay in whatever the room is that is available for Star Alliance fliers.

It takes about 15 minutes to get from Zurich Flughafen to Zurich Bahnhof by train.

When your plane lands and you go through Passport Control and Customs, look for the >train< sign as you EXIT and walk into the Arrivals Area. For International Flights, the train station is directly across the street through the glass doors. You would walk across the road, enter the opposite building, and go downstairs--via escalator--and stand in line to buy your ticket to Zurich Bahnhof. This should take no more than 10 minutes. The cost is about 6 CHF per person for second class one way. Second class is very exceptable and I would never pay extra for a first-class seat.

Since you are returning to the airport, you would buy a return ticket.

When you get to Zurich Bahnhof, look for the giant yellow train schedule boards and look to see when you should take the train back to the airport (flughafen). This will also tell you the platform.

OR

You can go to www.sbb.ch and look at online schedules. Just plug in Zurich HBH to Zurich Flughafen around the time you want to leave Zurich and it will give you the exact time and platform number.

I don't know what you will want to do in Zurich with your two hours, maybe have lunch at Hiltl or wander down the VERY EXPENSIVE Bahnhofstrasse and look in the windows of posh shops with pricetags that would give the Sultan of Brunei the shivers.

The lake at the end of the Bahnhofstrasse (oh, yes, check out the snooty-snoots having a chocolate torte and coffee outside at Sprungli on your way down) is very pretty and you can sit on a bench and look at the beautiful swans.

You could also check out the Chagall windows in the Fraumunster or go up to Lindenhof Park and look down on the Limmat and the Old Town.

Tschuss,
Pippy

Hey JustJim70118 - I'm taking what sounds like the same flight next week. Please let us know if you decided to venture out of the airport and whether your adventure was worth it! I am considering the same, obviously dependant on lines and arrival times.

I too vote to go into Zurich! You can get off at the Hauptbahnhof stop and walk directly ahead along Bahnhofstrasse and the river to the southern end/Lake Zurich OR get off at the Stadelhofen Stop which is at the south/Lake end and walk north along the river to the Hauptbahnhof.
Beautiful shops and cafes along the way. You can stop in the Grossmunster and the Fraumunster cathedrals (each on opposite sides of the river) to see the beautiful Chagall windows.Orient yourselves along the river running North to South and you can't get lost!

Anyone know if the Zurich airport offers luggage storage?

<i>Anyone know if the Zurich airport offers luggage storage?</i>

Yes.

http://www.zurich-airport.com/deskto...spx/tabid-157/

Personally, I wouldn't bother going into the city for a morning arrival where you have to be back at the airport before noon.

Thanks travelgourmet! My husband and I are on that same flight with am 8am arrival and 1pm departure. We will obviously play it by ear depending on our level of jetlag also but good to know that it's doable if we do find ourselves itching to get out of the airport.

Milehigh, check your bags through if at all possible. Then you won't have to worry about storing and retrieving luggage--which would subtract more from your time for Zurich.

Or will you have to go through customs in Zurich?

I am just checking in on Zurich must-do threads. I will have a three-day lay-over in Zurich (Bangkok -home to Vancouver after 30 days in SE Asia), Feb 14-18th 2012. I am beginning to deal with the implications of going from 80F to 30F, perhaps I can stash winter boots and coats somehow…but that will take up half of my luggage….. or perhaps purchase cheap but warm gear in Bangkok on the way home (???winter boots in Bangkok?? I doubt it) I hate to have to buy winter clothes in Zurich airport, I would have to take out a second mortgage for that! Any and all ideas welcome....and one more thing please, any ideas on where to get information on clean respectable but very affordable lodging in central Zurich....B&B would be just fine. thanks, I appreciate all ideas....I am an old (60)but spunky fogey (female type) on a limited budget (but not reduced to backpacking yet!)

Go into town; when you get off at the main station GO DOWNSTAIRS to the shopping area where you may find some clothing items that are more reasonably-priced than you expected.

thank you for that tip.

To MileHighHC--did you end up doing the trip into Zurich during your layover? My boyfriend and I are going to Athens next week via Zurich and have from about 7 or 8 Am until a 1 PM flight...want to go into town as well. Would love to hear how it went for you...

Hi nerfie0404, just saw this and realized you've probably already gone. For the record, we did make it into town and thought it was absolutely worth it!

If I can recall correctly, we had only carry-ons for the trip, and took them out of the airport and into the train station. There was a cheap place to store luggage and the train into town was easy, direct, quick and cheap as well! We had just enough time to stroll up and down the Bahnhofstrasse, get a nice, non-airport lunch, and take the train back. It was easy and hassle free to pick up our luggage and go back through security. I would recommend this - let us know if you decided to go into the city!