Zurich Airport (ZRH) to the city
A station under the terminal, twelve minutes to the main station, and 7.20 CHF because the city zone counts twice.
- The station is under the terminal and the train reaches Zurich HB in about 12 minutes.
- 7.20 CHF second class, valid an hour. There is no airport supplement: Switzerland charges the airport as an ordinary station, which puts it with Copenhagen and Lisbon rather than Madrid or Barcelona.
- The arithmetic is the ZVV zone system. The airport is zone 121 and the city is zone 110, which counts double, so a short ride is priced as three zones.
- Trains are frequent - several an hour, and Zurich HB is the hub for the whole country.
- Do not go into Zurich if you are not staying there. Direct trains run from the airport to Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St Gallen and Winterthur.
The train
Zurich Airport has a railway station directly beneath it, and Swiss trains behave the way people wish trains behaved.
- Zurich HB in about 12 minutes.
- Several trains an hour, from early until late.
- 7.20 CHF for a second-class adult single, 11.80 CHF in first, valid one hour.
There is no airport ticket and no supplement. The fare is what the ZVV zone system says it is, and the reason a twelve-minute ride is not a two-zone fare is that zone 110, the city of Zurich, counts double because its network is denser than the rest of the canton. Airport (zone 121) plus city (zone 110, doubled) equals three zones.
Children from 6 to 16 and Half-Fare Travelcard holders pay 3.60 CHF.
Onward, without going into Zurich
Zurich Airport is a stop on the national network rather than a spur.
- Direct trains to Basel, Bern, Lucerne, Winterthur and St Gallen.
- For Interlaken and the Bernese Oberland, change once at Bern or Lucerne.
- Check the direct service before routing through Zurich HB. With Swiss connections timed to the minute, the through train is usually both faster and simpler.
Fares beyond the ZVV area are national SBB fares, not zone tickets, so buy those to the destination station rather than by zone.
Tickets
- The SBB app is the easiest way and takes foreign cards.
- The ZVV app has a check-in feature that works out the zones for you, which is worth using if the zone maths above sounds like work.
- Machines at the station take cards and cash.
- Swiss fares are high and there is no cheap workaround for a single journey. If you are making several trips in a day, compare the 24-hour ticket for the same zones before buying singles.
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