Train travel from Zurich to Stuttgart
 

We are flying into Zurich in late April and would like to take the train from there to Stuttgart. Can you give us some help/suggestions?

Thanks.

You can go directly from the train station right in the Zürich airport--it takes 3 hours. You can view schedules at www.sbb.ch or www.bahn.de

ttt

Since the Zurich Banhoff station has only 4 track platforms, finding the correct track to connect should be easier than Donald Trum insulting Rosie O Donell. ;)

Be sure to have the passport handy though.

Only once have I ever been asked to show a passport on a train, but it did not happen. Always a good idea to have tickets and passport hand jusy in case.

Are you planning on using a rail pass, or buying a single ticket? If using a rail pass you will need to stop by the station and have someone stamp your ticket first. (I've never had anyone ask to see my passport on a train in Europe.)

I believe you are referring to the airport station. Zürich Hauptbahnhof had 28 tracks last time I counted :-)

Between Zürich and Stuttgart you cross the EU external border. There are often random passport checks on the border (nothing big - just "show yoor passport, please", then they leaf through it, and give it back to you.)

Let me see if I can give you a more complete picture.

There is a rail station in the Zürich airport. It is located in what I would call the basement, with a ticket office on the floor above. There are elevators to take you down, which is very convenient if you have the normal amount of luggage for an overseas flight.

Unfortunately, no trains go directly from the airport station to Stuttgart.
You will need to travel from the airport to the main Zürich station and change for a train that goes directly to Stuttgart.

These trains leave the main Zürich station at 9:14, 11:14, and 15:14.

About 10 to 12 trains per hour travel from the Airport station to the main station, so you can take any of those.

You can also get to Stuttgart by taking a bus from the Airport to a town called Bulach and transfer to a train there.

I suggest a seat reservation because according to the German rail website, the train is a non smoking train in Switzerland. I don't know about Germany. Ask. Seat reservations are fairly cheap and they do assure you of a seat, although often you don't need one.

I have found that some of the trains can be full upon occasion, so I normally buy the cheap assurance of a reserved seat.

Once in the main station in Zürich, you will need to find the correct track. The Zürich HBF (main station) is large, but the signs are good and there are several large boards displaying departure times, destinations, and the track number.
(Gleis in German = track in English.)

In addition to those connections requiring just one change of trains, there are quite a few others that require 2 and 3 changes.

If you have heavy luggage, I suggest that you opt for one of the connections that requires only one change.

Usually clearing customs and passport control in Zürich is no big deal.
Once you have legally entered Switzerland, then you can go directly to the rail station and purchase your tickets to Stuttgart. You can buy the whole thing at one time.

The SBB web site is currently showing that the Stuttgart departures leave from Gleis 17, but that is of course subject to change. At any rate you can check the Gleis number before leaving home and have a good idea of where you will need to go, or the agent that sells you the ticket probably can give you the same information.

I was talking about the Zurich bahnhof station. Unless they magically grew more tracks since last September, they have 4, just 4. lol

Only time I ever got asked for the passport was when I was taking a train from Austria into Switzerland.

I was wearing a Pink Floyd 94 tour shirt. That might have had something to do with it ;)

I meant the airport train station has 4 tracks. I vere stiooed to count how many tracks they had at the main station downtown. I knew it was a bunch.lol This is the thrid time I have posted this. Third time is the charm right? Someone did say that?? lol

Yeah, prolly should reserve ya a seat on the German portion of the trip. Many times seats are reserved and finding a seat can be a pain.

Just to add to Bob's excellent description: the Zurich airport RR station is also equipped with special escalators which can accommodate luggage trolleys.

Remember the old escalators in the Zürich airport? We flew into Zürich for the first time in 1998. As we were descending to the train ticket window level, some moron insisted on trying to manipulate his luggage trolled down the old fashioned escalator. He lost control of it. Fortunately it did not cascade down the steps. Instead, luckily, it somehow got jammed in the steps and locked up the whole system.

Some guy in a panic hurry to catch his train actually ran down the up escalator.

Fun and games at the old escalator.

Given the new bank of elevators, I just wheel my suitcases onto the elevator and take the easy way down. I think they have 4 of them now that descend to track level.

One other note about the Hotel Fly Away.
Our room was satisfactory. I think the restaurant would have been our best evening meal option, but it was very crowded. Had I known, I would have made a reservation. The pizza place that is also in the hotel was so crowded that we would had to have waited until after 9 pm, more than an hour, for a table.

The guy in charge felt a little sorry for us and told us that because we were staying in the hotel he would fix up a carryout for us and that we could leave the dishes in our room to be picked up by the cleaning crew in the morning.

We looked around that part of Kloten and did not find a place to eat that really struck us as being what we wanted.

I am not sure what our problem was that night!!

<<<<As we were descending to the train ticket window level, some moron insisted on trying to manipulate his luggage trolled down the old fashioned escalator.<<<<<

I have seen others do that also. lol

I think the Swiss rail system is just very tourist freindly. Everything seems so well organized.

Before I travel to another country from the Zurich train station, I always try and get all the first class upgrades I can get.

I don't think this person should not have any problems. The people that work the Zurich train information office are very used to answering questions from huge amounts of tourists.

Speaking of the Zurich airport. Several years ago, they made some changes to the airport. They added one of those trains that transports traveler from one terminal to the other.

The area by the train station on the lower level got some new changes. The track and platform are the same though.

Anyway, Bob Brown gave you an excellent layout of the Zurich train system area.The train station is easy and even fun to use.

Many thanks to everyone who replied. Bob Brown's detailed information was extremely helpful. I took the train several years ago with my sister to Freiburg, but really don't remember much about it.