Getting there & Getting around

Getting there

Unique Airport (www.zurich-airport.com), roughly 10km (6.2mi) north of the city centre, handles domestic and international flights.

The journey from the airport to Hauptbahnhof station takes 12 minutes by train. On average, five trains leave per hour between 06:00 and 24:00. Buy your ticket before boarding. This is a cheaper and quicker option than a taxi into the city which will set you back a hefty sum.

The busy Hauptbahnhof has direct trains to Stuttgart, Munich, Innsbruck and Milan, as well as many other international destinations. There are also hourly departures to most Swiss towns.

For drivers, the N1 is the fastest route from Bern and Basel; it also services routes to the north and east of Zürich. The N3 approaches Zürich from the south, along the shore of Lake Zürich.

Getting around

There is a comprehensive, unified and extremely efficient bus, tram and S-Bahn service in the city, which includes boats on the Limmat River (although not cruise boats on the lake). Tickets allow you to switch between modes of transport as you like. There's a 24-hour city pass, and a 24-hour pass valid for unlimited travel within the whole canton of Zürich. Taxis in Zürich are expensive and almost always unnecessary; even high-earning bankers tend to catch the trams.