My husband and I are flying to Zurich, arriving 8.30pm, in order to head to Zermatt and other regions for 2-3 weeks of hiking in the Alps. Can anyone recommend a not-too expensive, quiet, backpacker type accommodation in Zurich where we can crash after a long flights (ex New Zealand), before setting off to Zermatt.
Also,any advice re train travel in Switzerland - is there a Swiss Rail pass of some kind?
Thanks

I have stayed at the Hotel St. Josef many times. Really clean-near to the train station-friendly staff and a wonderful breakfast. www.st-josef.ch

We stayed at Hotel Arlette, also near the train station. We booked on www.booking.com and they list the current price at 195 CHF. Very comfortable hotel and nice breakfast. There are Swiss Rail Passes -- several kinds. We used the Swiss Flexipass Saver. Get more information at www.raileurope.com

>is there a Swiss Rail pass of some kind?

Information on train passes: www.swisstravelsystem.com

Schedules for train trips:
www.sbb.ch (Swiss Federal Railways)

RailEurope is not a good source of inormation for anything except the price for passes (which may or may not be lower than at swisstravelsystems.com due to currency fluctuations)

Thanks everyone, that gives me something to go on. the rate for Hotel St Josef on their website is CHF 140 so that sounds fine to me.

Cheers

You will not be disappointed in Hotel St. Josef.