Arrivals
A Zurich layover is worth leaving the airport for from about 5 hours: the main station is only about 10 minutes away by train.
Zurich Airport (ZRH) has its own railway station, beneath the Airport Shopping area by Check-in 3, with trains to Zürich HB, the city’s main station, every 5 to 10 minutes. The Bahnhofstrasse and the Swiss National Museum are at the station’s doors, and the Old Town is a 15-minute walk.
- Bags. On one ticket, checked bags normally go through to your next flight, so you only carry your hand luggage. On separate tickets you collect them after passport control. The left-luggage office at Arrivals 2 is open 6am to 10pm, from CHF 10 an item, and SBB lockers by Check-in 3 are open 24 hours.
- Tickets. Buy one before you board: there are no barriers, but tickets are checked on the train. You need a ZVV ticket for 3 zones, which covers the airport and the city: CHF 7.20 for a single until 12 December 2026, valid for one hour, so buy a second one for the way back. The machines take cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, CHF coins and notes, and euro notes.
- Money. Switzerland uses the Swiss franc (CHF), not the euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere; many shops also take euros, but give change in francs.
- Phone. Wi-Fi in the terminals is free for 8 hours. An eSIM set up before you fly lets you buy tickets in the ZVV or SBB app and keeps maps working in town.
Left luggage, showers and rooms: at the airport.
eSIM
Data before you land
Set up a Switzerland eSIM before you fly, so the ZVV or SBB app can sell you a ticket and maps work from the platform. The airport's Wi-Fi is free for 8 hours, but only in the terminals.
Get an eSIM from Airalo (opens in a new tab)Get a Saily eSIM (opens in a new tab)
Border
Whether you can leave depends on your passport, and whether you queue at passport control depends on where you’ve flown from.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Schengen, in brief. Switzerland isn’t in the EU, but it is in the Schengen area, the group of European countries with no passport checks between them. Arrive from outside it (London, New York, Dubai) and you pass Swiss passport control to leave the airport. Arrive from inside it (Paris, Vienna) and you walk straight out, then pass passport control on the way back only if your next flight leaves Schengen.
- No visa needed. Holders of US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports can enter for up to 90 days. The passport has to have been issued in the last 10 years and stay valid for 3 months beyond the day you leave the Schengen area.
- India and other visa passports. You need a Schengen short-stay visa to leave the airport, applied for before you fly.
- Staying airside. Between two flights outside Schengen, you stay airside and never enter Switzerland. Nationals of 15 countries, including Pakistan, Nigeria and Turkey, need an airport transit visa even for that.
- Time. Allow about an hour from landing to the train. Visitors from outside the EU and EFTA now give a photo and fingerprints at their first Schengen border; at Zurich there are self-service kiosks for it in the passport control hall, which save time at the desk. If the queue is slow, you simply have less time in town; the time to head back doesn’t move.
Who needs which visa: visa and transit rules.
Into Zurich
The train is the way in: one every 5 to 10 minutes, about 10 minutes to Zürich HB, the main station.
Not needed when you stay airside.
| Ride | Into town | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Train to Zürich HB, the best for most | About 10 minutes | CHF 7.20 single |
| Tram 10 to the main station | About 35 minutes | CHF 7.20 single, the same ticket |
| Taxi | 10 to 20 minutes | About CHF 50 to 70 |
Follow the signs for the trains down to the station under Airport Shopping. Any train that stops at Zürich HB will do: S-Bahn, InterRegio or InterCity, they all take 9 to 12 minutes and accept the same ticket. Trains start at 5am, so you’ll rarely wait for the first one, and the last one back leaves Zürich HB at 12:17am every night.
Tickets, the last trains and taxis: getting into the city.
What to do
Everything in the plans starts at Zürich HB: the Bahnhofstrasse runs from the station’s doors to the Fraumünster, and the Old Town is across the river.
Not needed when you stay airside.
The fastest plan for a short layover
- Take any train to Zürich HB, about 10 minutes from the airport.
- Walk down the Bahnhofstrasse, the city’s shopping street, to Paradeplatz: about 15 minutes, open at all hours.
- Turn towards the river for the Fraumünster and its Chagall windows: CHF 5, Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday from noon.
- Walk along the river and back to the station, and start back 2 hours 10 minutes before your flight.
Would you rather someone else handled the timing? No airline runs a transit tour at Zurich, and the layover tours on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab) and Viator (opens in a new tab) start in town, so check where a tour starts before you book.
Watch the calendar
- Mondays. The Swiss National Museum and the Kunsthaus are closed, so walk the Bahnhofstrasse and the Old Town instead.
- Tuesdays. The Grossmünster is closed, so see the Fraumünster or a museum. The Grossmünster’s tower opens only from Friday to Sunday.
- Sundays and public holidays. Shops in town are shut, apart from those at the main station and the airport, and the churches open to visitors only from noon. The museums open at 10am, so a Sunday morning suits the Swiss National Museum.
- Christmas markets. From 19 November to 23 December 2026 there are markets at Bellevue and in the Old Town, and the one in the main station’s hall runs to 24 December. Their daily hours aren’t published, so check on the day.
- Christmas and New Year. 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January are public holidays, when shops in town are closed. The trains’ holiday timetable isn’t published yet, so check your train back in the SBB app.
- Dated closures. The Fraumünster is closed on 18, 27 and 29 November 2026, and the Grossmünster on 14, 17 and 24 November.
Timed plans from 5 to 24 hours, including one for night arrivals: itineraries.
Transit tour
Layover tours from Zurich
Walking tours of the Old Town and longer trips with a lake boat or a cable car. They start in town, not at the airport, so add about 3 hours 35 minutes to a tour's length for getting out of the airport and back before your flight.
See tours on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)See tours on Viator (opens in a new tab)
Head back
Be back at Zurich Airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Time. Start back 2 hours 10 minutes before your flight: that covers the walk to Zürich HB, the wait for a train, the 10-minute ride and 90 minutes at the airport. That makes 5 hours the realistic minimum, with about 1.5 hours in town; 8 hours gives about 4.5.
- Why 90 minutes is enough. Coming back from town, you’re already checked in with only hand luggage. What’s left is the security check, a passport check if you’re flying out of Schengen, and the walk to the gate. The airport asks for 2 to 3 hours because most passengers still have to check in; if you do too, come back earlier.
- Flights from Gates E. Gates E are a few minutes from the main terminal on the Skymetro, a driverless train. The 90 minutes covers the ride, but if your gate is there, head straight to it after security and passport control. Gates are shown at least 60 minutes before departure.
- Late at night. No departures are scheduled after 10:45pm, so on a same-day return you’ll leave town by about 8:35pm at the latest. The last train matters only if you spend the evening in town and sleep at the airport: it leaves Zürich HB at 12:17am every night. After that, a taxi takes 10 to 20 minutes and costs about CHF 50 to 70; on Friday and Saturday nights, night bus N10 also leaves Bahnhofplatz, in front of the station, every half hour from 1:15am and reaches the airport in about 30 minutes.
Time in town at each layover length: how much time you’ll have.
Departures
Best for your layoverStaying at the airport instead: if one of your flights is outside Schengen, you can sleep past passport control without entering Switzerland.
- Transit Hotel & Dayrooms. In the non-Schengen area at Gates D, on the first floor. A couch in the rest area costs CHF 45 for up to 4 hours or CHF 70 for the night, and a single room from CHF 90 by day or CHF 150 at night. Bring your boarding pass and only hand luggage: checked bags must go through to your next flight. It’s closed for refurbishment from 9 to 22 November 2026 and is due to reopen on 23 November.
- Lounges. The marhaba lounge welcomes any passenger, 5:15am to 8pm, and Aspire charges CHF 48 for adults. They’re for a quiet seat and a meal, not for sleeping.
- Showers. CHF 19 at Airport Fitness, CHF 25 at the Transit Hotel and CHF 35 at the Radisson Blu.
- Before passport control. The Radisson Blu Hotel is in the public area at Arrivals 1, so you need to be able to enter Switzerland.
Rooms, lounges, showers and left luggage: at the airport.
Hotel
Hotel at the terminal
The Radisson Blu is in the public area at Arrivals 1, with direct access to the terminal, so you need to be able to enter Switzerland. The simplest choice if you land late and fly on in the morning.