Dec 31, 2016 - 9:33 AM
Hi Kamal -
<<"Unfortunately, our flight out of Zurich is in the late morning so staying in Zurich for the night will be a must for us.">>
See attached screen grab from the timetable. I have stayed in Luzern and caught AM flights out of Zürich.
That said-
There are many trains per hour from Zürich main station to the airport, especially in rush hours. Times as short as 9 minutes up to about 20 minutes. Depending on how close you are to the station in Zürich, the time to destination may be similar to what you get from a hotel shuttle bus near the airport.
I always stay in downtown Zürich if I am flying out in the AM. That gives me easy access to the city and restaurants for walking around and sightseeing.
Others prefer to stay near the airport; remember that the shuttle buses of some hotels run on a schedule.......perhaps every 20 minutes....
Sometimes, if I have 2 or 3 people and a whole lot of luggage, I take a taxi. A taxi from downtown Zürich is supposed to cost about 55-60 CHF in the AM, since you would not be fighting traffic. I usually pay 55-65 outbound then. Figure 20 minutes transit time door to door. Inbound from the airport in the AM can be much more expensive, due to time on the taxi meter and slow rush hour traffic on the roads inbound.. And, make sure that you look at the taxi meter when you start your trip, or ask the fare. Sometimes, it can be a fixed fare, especially if your hotel gets the cab and does frequent business with the cab company. Once or twice in the last 10 years I have been overcharged, but not when my hotel got the taxi.
That is very very expensive taxi service by USA standards. However, if you have a lot of luggage or several people, it might be worth it.
You can leave luggage in lockers at ZHBf or ZFlughafen.
Slowpoke
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