Zurich advice
Leaving Como, Italy early on a Monday morning in May 2012 to transit to Zurich where we fly home to USA on Tuesday morning. Looking at rail schedules, looks like a 3 hour trip so planning on being in Zurich by noon.
The questions : 1 - Better to stay at airport hotel or in town given 10:15 am flight on Tuesday. Hotel recommendations for either would be appreciated. Modest budget ($150 US). 2 - How to structure time in Zurich (which will admittedly be short). Have never been to Zurich before so any thoughts on best way to utilize time we have is appreciated. |
Definitely stay in town and walking distance from the train station. Trains run very, very frequently to the airport. We stayed here, which was fine and convenient, but nothing special. Current rates seem to be outside your parameters, but remember that Switzerland is quite expensive.
http://www.hotel-du-theatre.ch/default-n41-sE.html We had fun taking a boat ride on the lake. |
Definitely stay in Zurich. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to get to the Zurich Flughafen from Zurich Bahnhof.
Check out www.sbb.ch for train schedules. A good hotel near the Zurich Bahnhof is Pension St. Josef. (The Pension St. Joseph gets a THINGORJUS stamp of approval, which is no small feat, as Thin is one of the top posters in the history of Fodorville.) On exiting the main entrance of the bahnhof, turn left. It is about a 5-minute walk away, past the Coop, Starbucks, and the tram stop square. Zurich is VERY EXPENSIVE. Expect Cartier and Louis Vuitton prices. A takeaway coffee at Starbucks is almost $7. Tell your wife not to even think about going into Chanel on the Bahnhofstrasse. You will have a massive coronary when you look at the pricetags. A good vegetarian restaurant is Hiltl. It is a Zurich institution and everyone eats here. It is nice to walk along the lake at the end of the Bahnhofstrasse and look at the swans. You could take a boat ride on the lake if you choose. I like to walk up to Lindenhof Park and look out over the Limmat and the old town of Zurich. Check out the Chagall Windows at the Fraumunster, then go get a coffee (expensive but a nice view) at Zum Storchen Hotel on the Limmat. Lots of people stop at Sprungli for a piece of cake, but I find it pretentious. Pippy, just back from Zurich, Wengen, Luzern, Thun, and Kleine Scheidegg (and the Shynige Platte, Miss Thing) |
We stayed at Hotel Alexander last May...suited our needs.
Just a 10 minute flat walk from the RR. |
Zurich is a big loud modern city
Lucerne is small and one of Europe's most exquisitely gorgeous cities, lovingly set on a fjord-like lake and it is only about 45 minutes from Zurich by train with perhaps direct trains to Zurich airport. so unless you have a really early flight consider Lucerne for something so so special. |
It takes almost 1 1/2 hours to reach Zurich Flughafen from Luzern Bahnhof.
I took the 9:12 train from Luzern last Friday and I didn't get to Zurich Flughafen until 10:30. For a 10:15 AM flight, I would stay in Zurich. I would also never describe Zurich as loud; I find it rather sedate. In fact, it is one of the most boring cities in Europe. Pleasant, yes, and a nice place to live. But, for tourists, it is rather a snooze. Pippy |
I'll second the recommendation for the Hotel Alexander
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