Can anyone tell me how frequently they run and how long it takes? Thanks

Swiss Rail website for timetables:
www.sbb.ch/en/

As a general rule figure about a hour trip and they seem to run almost hourly at least during the day as I recall.

Hi. I frequently see folks recommending Lucerne as a last night place to stay, so I feel that I must mention a couple of things that surprised me recently. (Just in case you don't zip back and forth to Europe often, as I don't.)

It took me ten minutes or so to get from the flughafen station to the airline check-in desk. (Actually, if I have to confess, it took longer than that, because the Zurich flughafen has three different check-in centers, and because their publicity makes it sound like you have your choice, I naively forgot to check with Delta regarding which one I should approach. As others have mentioned, the flughafen has been re-designed.) Then, it took another 20 - 30 minutes to get checked in because of the lines, the security interrogation, and the computer system which went 'down', causing us all to stand around helplessly. (Don't tell me that doesn't happen; I know better.) Next, it was another 25 minutes to reach the E international concourse via the new train, passport control, and the big security procedure. So if, let's say, your Delta flight is scheduled to depart at 10:10, boarding begins at 9:15 and closes 30 minutes before departure. So we're talking about 90 minutes just to end up in the right place at the right time. And, alas, that's if you've not hoped to do some last-minute browsing and spending. (My personal favorite, Swiss Heimatwerk.)

What's your point, jmw? Well I guess it is that you'll need to catch an early train from Lucerne (the 7:10?). Now if your flight is later than the one in my example, forget all the above advice. Or, consider spending your last day enjoying Lucerne, then catching an evening train to Zurich to stroll and have dinner and sleep, or my choice, the town of Bulach, which has a nice hotel, the Zum Goldenen-Kopf, and a lovingly restored town center. Bulach is 13 minutes by schnellbus from the Untertor stop to the flughafen, and Zurich is even faster. J.

Staying new Zürich is certainly one option.

Another option is to check-in the night before and then return to your hotel.

See: http://www.zurich-airport.com/ZRH/?I...amp;t=Check-in

Well. Delta doesn't have night-before, but if I had found this particular webpage of the flughafen site, I would have known which check-in area to go to. Thanks, schuler, lesson learned. J.

For a transatlantic flight it's wise to be there, ready to line up for the pre-check-in interview ("look me in the eye and tell me where your luggage has been&quot, no less than two hours before the scheduled departure.

The first train leaves Luzern at 04:55, no need to change in Zuerich, it goes to the airport and gets there at 06:13.

If you remember to look up where you need to go to find your airline's check-in, and you go straight there, you should be in line by 06:30.

So - if your flight leaves at 08:30 or later, you can stay the night in Luzern, but don't forget to set the alarm, and settle your hotel bill the night before.

There are lots of trains after that first one, but most require a change in the principal city station of Zuerich (Hauptbahnhof), so if that hangs you up, pick a direct one, like the 07:10, 08:10, 09:10, 10:10 (you get the idea).

WK

Thank you all for such useful information. This will be our first time spending the night in Zurich or Luzern to catch a plane the next morning. We have departed from Zurich twice in the last three years, but have just flown there that morning and transferred planes. I assume that the flughafen station is the train station beneath the airport. We most likely will be staying in the center of Zurich. Should we decide to take a cab, how long does it take from the center to the airport at about 8:30 a. m.?

Hi packed,

Please re-consider taking the train!

Taking a taxi will cost you about 50 chf and it will take longer, especially if you are departing on a workday.

Taking a train or the S-bahn is quick and easy!

s

>Should we decide to take a cab, how long does it take from the center to the airport at about 8:30 a. m.?

To be sincere, I fail to see the sense of taking a 20-25 min taxi ride in the morning rush hour for 50 Fr when you can be there by train within 10 min for 5 Fr. The trains run every 10-12 min.

Absolutely. We all agree on this one. The trains from the Zurich station to the flughafen are a breeze. Folks at this forum will recommend a number of good hotels w/in easy walking distance from the train station. And the flughafen train station is literally in the airport. Just an escalator or two from check-in. J.

We're appreciative for your info and have decided to stay in Zurich and take the train. For mid Sept, looking at Helmhaus because it has air conditioning, or Florhof or Kindli. Any thoughts? We want to be able to sleep before our flight and are worried about noise.

The chances that you would need A/C mid september are very very slim. Usually there are a few weeks in the whole summer when A/C is useful, and mid-spetember is not really summer any more. Even if the days can be quite warm it will get very cool very fast after dark.