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-   -   driving time from munich to Zurich airport (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/driving-time-from-munich-to-zurich-airport-795885/)

hx88 Jul 16th, 2009 01:03 PM

driving time from munich to Zurich airport
 
Hi,

My return flight is 10:20 am Sunday form Zurich airport. But I am going to live in Munich (near city center but close to highway) the previous night.

Can someone suggest a time that must leave Munich for ZRH and to be able to return car, pass security check and get to gate? (I will not check in luggage).

Thanks,
John

logos999 Jul 16th, 2009 02:00 PM

I would leave Munich no later than 3am.

hx88 Jul 18th, 2009 07:49 PM

Thanks logos. But 3am? That's probably not my style.

Google said the trip is going to take 3 hrs and 15 mins. Is one hour and half enough to return car and get to the boarding gate in ZRH airport (no luggage to check in)? Will more or less people travel on a Sunday morning?

Cowboy1968 Jul 18th, 2009 09:56 PM

You will need appr. 4 hrs from downtown Munich to Zurich-Kloten airport. That already takes into account little traffic on a Sunday morning and a certain necessesity to stop at least once for a short break. The driving times you get from Google or viamichelin are very statistical minimums.

Unless your car had been rented in Switzerland, you will need to get a motorway sticker for €27 for that drive. You should get it already in Munich so you won't lose extra time at the border.
For that short part of your trip through Austria, you get a special ticket for €2 from vending machines at the German/Austrian border. You need exact change.

If your return flight is to the US you want to add minimum check-in time at Kloten.
Check if car return is at the airport (which would be a matter of minutes then), or at an off-airport location (never encountered the latter at Kloten, but maybe there are some).

logos999 Jul 19th, 2009 01:36 AM

hx88, 90min isn't enough to be on the safe side. 3 hours are usually recommended by the airlines (but needed only in rare cases). They do all kind of weird things and ask strange questions to people going to the US! This may not affect you, but many of the non US citizens and adds quite some delay.

So if you're there about 3h 20min before departure, it should be o.k.

logos999 Jul 19th, 2009 02:06 AM

>travel on a Sunday morning?
During holiday season? It can get real bad on the Autobahn.
Usually there's no traffic in town.

hx88 Jul 19th, 2009 08:41 AM

Cowboy, Thanks for your post. I will rent a car from Avis's downtown office in Zurich and return it to Kloten airport (ZRH). So I guess I don't need to buy the €27 sticker. Is it possible to buy the €2 special ticket beforehand as I will cross the German/Austrian border on the way out? Finally do you think 75 mins enough for getting boarding pass and pass security check?

Logos: I am taking AA flight back to US on Aug 16. I don't think it's a holiday.

I don't want to spend too much time at the airport waiting for my flight. Another reason I don't want to leave too early from Munich is that my family is traveling with me and their Delta flights are 2:30 pm in the afternoon so I don't want to drag them off beds too early. Our plan is that once they see me off at the aiport, they will return Zurich to do some sightseeing.

logos999 Jul 19th, 2009 10:37 AM

>I don't think it's a holiday

http://www.schulferien.org/Schulferi...rien_2009.html

School in NRW will start again the next day. Not a peak day but more traffic than usual. Leaving much later than 3am can be a big mistake. No risk no fun ;-)

bob_brown Jul 19th, 2009 04:50 PM

I am not sure I am following all of this. You want to drive from Munich to the Zuerich airport located in the suburb of Kloten? And you want to drive it the day of departure from Munich?

I have driven from Munich along the same route. Yes Google says it is about 3 hours and 20 minutes. You will need at least 2 hours at the airport to return the car, check in, go through security and find the correct gate.

To be safe, and to allow for any traffic tie ups, I would allow a little extra time. Besides, I think it will take longer than 3 hours and 20 minutes.

You have a considerable distance to drive on Austrian and Swiss roads when you make the interchange between the autobahn in Austria and the autobahn in Switzerland.

I have driven a similar route twice but I went a little deeper into Austria before crossing the Rhine into Switzerland because my destination was south of Luzern.

Your car should have a Swiss highway sticker on it, but you will need one for Austria unless you want to play a game with the Austrian highway cops. The route Google gave you takes you through the Pfander Tunnel which is a freeway and is much faster than using the surface streets through Bregenz. But Austrian cops have a way of watching traffic entering the tunnel and you are easy prey and a source of income!! I hate to sound cynical about that, but most travelers to Austria will tell you about not having the autobahn sticker.

Also in Switzerland you may not see traffic cops on the Autobahns, but if you are speeding what will see you is cameras.

You should allow a minimu of 20 minutes to stop and buy the Austrian vignette and resume your trip.

Were I doing this caper I would spend the night in Kloten rather than Munich.

Depending on which airline you are flying, check-in time can be rather lengthy because of the long lines. Last summer when we flew home from Kloten via Delta, had we not been flying business class the wait to check-in would have been at least 90 minutes. Then there is the security check which is very much like what you will find in the US, only more quietly done at the gate. (I always have fun because of my titanium hip.)

But if you leave later than 5 am, you are in danger of not getting their in time.

I would certainly have Google maps in detail of the interface between the Austrian autobahn and the Swiss autobahn. For some wierd reason, those two don't talk to each other except indirectly.

I frankly would not do it. I would drive to Kloten the even before and stay in any one of several hotels fairly close to the airport. I have used two of them and don't fully recommend either.

logos999 Jul 19th, 2009 05:03 PM

bob, I don't think anyone would do it, but since I'm sarcastic, I think it's a lot of fun seeing someone taking such a risk of missing the plane just for a few more hours of sleep. It would be even more fun getting the feedback how he/she didn't make it arriving one minute too late by leaving at 5.

Yet, I'm only watching, no need to listen to sound advice :D :D

mjs Jul 19th, 2009 09:37 PM

What happens if you miss your flight?

Cowboy1968 Jul 19th, 2009 10:07 PM

You don't need any longer the €7.70 7-d vignette for Austrian motorways IF you use ONLY the motorway around Bregenz to the exits for Switzerland.
Check the website official Austrian motorway authority for more info on the special €2 Korridor Vignette
http://www.asfinag.at/index.php?idtopic=1050

75 minutes for an intra-Schengen flight from Kloten? Any time. For a flight to the US? Never.
At least I would be a bit too nervous for it.

Cowboy1968 Jul 19th, 2009 10:21 PM

P.S. As you can read on the website, you can buy a return ticket when leaving Switzerland, but it is also only good for 24 hours. So in your case, you cannot buy in advance but will need to buy two single tickets on each day of travel, respectively.

bob_brown Jul 23rd, 2009 07:16 PM

I am happy to read where that korridor vignette is now available. Last summer and the summer before, I debated with myself for an hour between Munich and the border as to whether or not I should take the slower Bregenz route or the Pfander tunnel route which required the more expensive 7 day vignette which I used for about an hour.

I really don't know the odds of getting caught if you do not have the sticker on your windshield. For Switzerland, it was a slightly different story because I was there for over a week and drove the main highways for considerable distances.

Does anybody have any info on the chances of being apprehended near the Pfander Tunnel if that Austrian sticker is not visible?

Cowboy1968 Jul 23rd, 2009 10:40 PM

The chances are pretty good. The motorway authority will know that the areas near the border are the most sucessful to catch anyone without a vignette.

For the Bregenz by-pass/ Pfänder tunnel you have 2 options now:
EITHER the new corridor vignette (which is just a paper ticket) OR the 7-d vignette (if you want to proceed further on in Austria).
Since the corridor vignette is only 2 Euros, I would not know why someone would not get it. And you don't line up at a desk, but get it from a machine. So there isn't even a big waiting time involved.

bob_brown Jul 24th, 2009 11:50 AM

I have been told several times that motorists are a cash crop in Austria. As a result I have always bought a sticker.
So far, no tickets.

hx88 Jul 28th, 2009 09:08 AM

Cowboy, Thank you for the detail information and URL. Since we are going to visit Salzburg and Vienna, should we buy the €7.70 10-d sticker? Am I right in assuming with that sticker, we don't have to pay other tolls in Austria? Not bad a deal actually.

Is "Chci, aby moje auto sem park na dvě noci." a good translation of "I want to park my car here for two nights."?

Thanks!

Cowboy1968 Jul 28th, 2009 10:27 AM

Yes, if you plan to drive around on more Austrian motorways than the small section from Switzerland into Germany, the €7.70 sticker is a must.

<i>Am I right in assuming with that sticker, we don't have to pay other tolls in Austria?</i>
Unfortunately, that is not true. The are several parts of the motorways (usually tunnels) that require extra pay-as-you-go tolls (toll plazas).
If you plan to go (from Zurich to Munich) to Salzburg and further East on A1 motorway to Vienna, there will be none of those extra toll sections.

<i>Is "Chci, aby moje auto sem park na dvě noci." a good translation of "I want to park my car here for two nights."? </i>
It may be but I would not know in which country :-)
Not in Austria or Germany (or Switzerland), though.

hx88 Jul 28th, 2009 10:56 AM

Sorry that I intended to ask you whether it's a good translation into Czech. I saw you posted the other day phrase for "sticker" in Czeth. I know you are not a native speaker of Czech but you definitely know a lot than me.

Thanks again!

treplow Jul 28th, 2009 06:11 PM

Actually, the fastest way from Munich to Zuerich - Kloten is by way of Lindau - Meersburg - Konstanz - Kloten.

Take the Munich - Lindau autobahn to exit #3 (Sigmarszell) north of Lindau (145km). Take the B-31 to Meersburg (44km) and pick up the car ferry to Konstanz (Staad). Monday through Friday it starts running every 15 minutes at 6AM, on Sat, and Sun. at 8AM. It takes 24 min. After the ferry take, the short road up the hill , and head toward Konstanz. Shortly thereafter you will see the signs to the Zuerich autobahn A-7. You will leave it in Winthertur for Kloten, before you get to Zuerich (70km from Staad). No hassle about Austrian vignettes. You rental car should have the Swiss vignettes when you pick it up in Zuerich.

I have done this trip before.


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