We have 3 days in Zurich at the end of our trip of a life time. What should we see? Where should we stay? (near airport). Arriving by train from Paris. Will language be an issue? Are Euros accepted? Thanks.

If euro are accepted, it will be at a markup. You could extract some Swiss francs from an ATM..

Had no trouble with language on our visit...(from US).

If you search 'Zurich', you will find the answers to your questions on existing threads.

In all Zurich you are not far from airport (10 minutes by train).
You can visit Zurich, take a cruise on the lake, visit Lucerne, visit Stein am Rhine and Rhine Falls, etc..

I stay in Zurich rather than at the airport. It is only about 20 minutes by train to the airport. Lucerne is my favorite place to visit out of Zurich. I love it. Also, Schaffhausen is less than 1 hour away. There is a beautiful water falls there. At the Schaffhausen train station, you can take the bus to the falls. Anyone can tell you the bus to get. I've been going to Europe since 1983 and I speak so very little of any country's language, so this will not be an issue. I am from East Texas so no one could understand me even if I did speak there language. Our accent is very strong "southern".

What time of year will you be there? What activities do you prefer: outdoor, museums, walking, shopping, etc? Are you intersted in cultural events like opera or ballet? Where else are you going on this trip? do you have a budget for hotels? All these would be important for me in making a recco for activities in Zurich.

Thank you for your responses. We will be there in late June. My husband is a classic car fan I enjoy the theatre and anything new. Also I have a disability, use a wheelchair but can also get around on crutches, so I would also like to know how disability friendly transport, accommodation, streets are.

Thanks for that info, that is helpful to me in making reccos. June is a great month weather-wise, take a look at weatherbase.com for historical temps and rainfall. Also, it will be light early and stay light until quite late, so you can get a lot in each day, and also enjoy the sunsets and dinners outdoor in late evening light.

For classic car enthusiasts, the Rinspeed company, which remodels and restores classic cars as well as manufacturing really out there new cars, is located bascially in Zurich, in a suburb just a a mile or two outside the city. I believe you can vist their showroom, take a look at http://www.rinspeed.com for info and directions. If you want to go, I can give you directions for getting there (or most of the way there) by public transport.

Plays in theatres are generally in German, but take a look at the following websites to see if they might be running English plays. The two main theatres in town are the Schauspielhaus (www.schauspielhaus.ch) and and the Theater am Hechtplatz (www.theateramhechtplatz.ch). (Websites may be in German only, you may be be able to translate them with Babelfish.) There is also an amateur English-language comedy troupe that always puts on a good show in English, take a look at zcc.ch to see what might be on offer in June. If you like opera or ballet, there might be something on at the Opera House (a beautiful little jewel), take a look at http://www.opernhaus.ch/d/index.php, click in the upper middle of the page for English. For info on music and other cultural offerings generally, take a look at www.zuerich.com.

I am sorry to say that Zurich (and most parts of Switzerland) is not the most easy place to get around on crutches or a wheelchair. The old town has a lot of cobblestone streets and has some inclines/hills and stairs in some places, so a wheelchairs is problematic. If you take your time, you can get around on crutches, but don't try to see too much in one day. On the plus side, there are cafes at every turn so you can take a rest and have a coffee. Also on the plus side a lot of the old town is car free so you won't be fighting car traffic. The tram system requires that you step up two steps to get onto the tram, I don't know how easy this will be with crutches. The tram does not go to many parts of the old town anyway, so you will end up walking more than taking the tram.

The trains in Switzerland for the most part also require at least two steps to get up into the cars, and some trains have steps inside the cars as well. Some cars are wheelchair accessible and Swiss Rail can make arrangements to assist you. For info generally on Swiss Rail and accessibility, take a look at http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisezeit/d...rbereitung.htm. If you are taking the train from Paris and will have a wheelchair with you, you might want to contact Swiss Rail about making arrangements now for that trip, as you may need special arrangements to store the chair, etc. They should be able to help with the Paris-Zurich trip.

Ferries are actually pretty wheelchair friendly, you should be able to roll on the ramp and can stay on the lower level, no stairs required; you should also be able to get on board with crutches easily. The restaurants on board are located on the lower level, as are the rest rooms, so a ferry trip down to Rapperswil to see the castle would be a great half day trip for you on a nice day. (The castle is up on a hill and would require stairs and a good bit of walking, but the ferry ride down and back is great.) Take a look at www.rapperswil.ch, click on the UK flag for the English version for info on Rapperswil.

For accommodation, do you have a budget or belong to a frequent-guest program? Most hotels have elevators other than budget type places, so I wouldn't be concerned on that point, however some elevators can be quite small and may not accommodate a wheelchair, you might ask when making a reservation. Room size tends to be quite small in Euroep so again if you want to have room for the chair or to move around in the chair, you should ask about room size and get the largest room within your budget.

If you haven't already seen it, there is a website called Access-able, which gives information and links for handicapped travellers. Website it http://www.access-able.com

Personally with only 3 days I would not bother with Lucerne, which is not a favourite of mine anyway and is really just a city that looks at the mountains but isn't IN them. If you really wanted to make a side trip for a day, I would do the Bernina Express rail trip up to the glaciers and through the beautiful mountains. This would be a good trip for you as you can just sit and enjoy the scenery. You get a break in Tirano Italy where you have 2 hours for lunch before reboarding the train for the return trip. I have done this trip a few times and think it is the best of all the "scenic" train rides in Switzerland. It takes a full day but IMO is worth it. Take a look at rhb.ch. You could also take this trip and stop off on the way back for an overnight in the St Moritz area which is very beautiful. Of course, you could easily spend 3 days in the Zurich area if you wanted.

To answer your other questions: Lanaguage is not an issue in Zurich and the main tourist areas as English is widely and well spoken. Euros are not the legal currency and while acceptepd at restaurants and shops, you will not get a very good rate and change will be given in Swiss Francs. You are better off just going to an ATM when you arrive and getting Swiss Francs. You can use credit cards at hotels, most restaurants and shops. As noted above, the town of Zurich is quite close to the airport, so it is easy to stay in town and still be 10 minutes or so by train to the airport. The area around the airport is a quite sterile industrial area and I would not stay there for 3 days, I would stay in town. If you give a budget, I can recco hotels. If you have Marriott, Starwood or Hyatt points, there are hotels in town where you could use these.

Cicerone. Thank you very much. You have been a wealth of information, particularly with regards to the train info. If you are ever coming to Australia I hope I can be of similar assistance. Thanks Mate.

Well, as I am back living in Hong Kong you can pretty much count on me travling to Australia, and am always looking for good restaurant reccos. You could also start helping me by getting me a job. . . .I would move to Aus in a second!!

I used to go to Zurich on business. When things got too tiresome or tedious (doing business with Swiss bankers is a huge drag), I would walk down Bahnhofstrasse to the lake and board the boat to Raperswil. Nice little town. Have lunch. Take the boat back. Very refreshing, quite interesting, comfortable.