peterr

Need a good idea for last night hotel. We have a car and I speak decent German. We would like to find a place in a cute town or village within a half hour drive of the airport. Does not need to be fancy but "gemutlich" is required. Thanks.. Peter

Cicerone

Personally, I would turn the car in and stay in Zurich for the night, as there are many comfortable/cozy hotels in the old town area and many good restaurants. This will save you the hassle of returning the car on the morning of your flight. If you are scheduled to return the car at the airport rather than a town location, you could do this the night before and leave your heavy bags at the airport overnight and just take a small bag into town. You can take a train to the airport in about 10 minutes from any of the 4 train stations in Zurich, or a taxi in about the same time, or many hotels participate in a shuttle bus service.

Also, what is your budget. If you want to stay in Zurich, please give a budget range as this would narrow the list.

I lived in Zurich and can say that there is a little bit of a dearth of "cute" towns within 30 minutes. There are many nice suburbs of course, but these are not cute in the charming oriel window-outdoor cafe-cobblestone street way (for that you have to be in old town Zurich IMO). The one village I can think of is Regensberg, which is extremely small and charming, almost medieval. I think the population is like 200 people. It sits on a high hill in the midst of rolling farmers fields, and has wonderful views of the Alps on clear days. It would be better to have a car for this trip as it sits up on top of a hill and getting to and from it via train and then the bus might be a bit inconvenient. There is a tiny castle/fort and maybe two restaurants in town but really nothing to do at night and there is only one street in town, so don't expect to be able to see or do anything of note. There is one hotel there, I have not stayed, it looks charming from the outside and Karen Brown raves about it:

Rote Rose
Oberburg 17
Regensberg CH-8158
Switzerland
Tel: 41 (0) 1-853-1013
Fax: 41 (0) 1-853-1559
http://www.rote-rose.com/
or try http://www.karenbrown.com/property.a...0-8abe2a75e61e

There is also a Novotel in Regensdorf which is at the bottom of the hill, close to the train station. You would not need a car to stay at this location as you could hop the train to the airport. It is a modern hotel but looks comfortable.

You could also stay in Stein am Rhein which would be more like 45 minutes to the airport, but is certainly very cute and charming and has lots of atmosphere, good restaurants, you can take boat trips on the Rhine, etc. Can't recco hotels, but try to Karenbrown.com website above as she always has interesting hotels.

I know some people on this site will reccomend a town called Kuscnacht to you which is along the lake south of Zurich. There are a few hotels here and one or two good restaurants and it has a pleasant aspect on the lake. There is however no town to speak of, just a few shops along the quite busy Seestrasse and a railroad station. I don't think this is what you are looking for. It's also about 30 minutes by train to the airport from here.

Speaking German is nice, but not at all necessary.

peterr

Thanks for the long reply at what must have been a very early hour for you.

We try to stay out of the big cities and are comfortable driving to the airport. Our flight doesn't leave till 11 AM.

Regensdorf and the Rote Rose sounds great. Where we are in Calif is only an hour away from where K.Brown lives.
We've been to her B&B, met her, and follow her travel recommendations often.

Thanks again for your input and help !!!

Cicerone

Good luck with the Rote Rose. I know you have been to Switzerland before and hopefully have seen Zurich, which is a lovely town. It is NOT a big city, population 450,000. If your reason for not staying there overnight is because you think it is a big city, you have been misinformed. It is smaller than many many US towns and cities and of course tiny compared to most European cities like Paris, Rome, London, etc. Very charming and well worth a visit.

jmw44

I can recommend the Zum Goldenen Kopf in Bulach, about 15 minutes from the flughafen. The center of town is lovely and the hotel is in a historic building. Bulach is north of Zurich. I don't think it is a village, but the old part of town has a few attractive building, and my last supper in Switzerland is very enjoyable in the little terrace restaurant.

http://www.buelach.ch/en/index.htm

http://www.zum-goldenen-kopf.ch/

But along with this recommendation, I have to say that the little hilltop walled town of Regensberg has a lot of charm.

J.

swandav2000

Hi peterr,

And yet another idea. Though not "gemutlich," as Cicerone explains, the village of Kuesnacht is small and charming, right on the lake about 45 minutes from the airport. I stayed at the Seehotel Sonne once (www.sonne.ch), a Romantik hotel, and loved it. I posted a review with photos at www.tripadvisor.com.

Just fyi, this hotel is literally steps from the Kuesnacht train station, and there are plenty of direct (0 changes) trains to the airport, takes about 20 minutes. Just a thought.

Good luck! Too many choices!

s

fudgie

We Stayed in Kloten at a place called Fly away Hotel.Great Rest and pizza tavern on premises and free shutle to airport(10 min) We booked thru Hotels.com
I believe the airport is in Kloten.
Fudgie