I need to catch a 5:45 PM flight from Zurich on Tuesday, July 4. I will be staying in Colmar, France the night before. I found a train that leaves Colmar at 12:23 and arrives at the Zurich airport at 14:42. There is a 9 minute transfer in Mulhouse Ville and a 7 minute transfer in Zurich HB. Getting tickets at the station and navigating the transfers is quite daunting, as this will be my first time in Europe. Anyone have any tips for me?
Posted by
Green Bay
21156 posts
Don't sweat the transfer in Zurich, as you can take any train and there are trains from Zurich Hbf to the airport every 5 minutes.
You could also leave at 11:23 and have single transfer in Basel with 22 minutes. Probably cheaper too as there is no TGV involved, getting you to ZRH at 14:04.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
That's good to know, thanks! That would get me to the airport around 2:04 for a 5:45 flight. Do you think it would be worth sitting around in the airport that long or should I go with the later, more complicated train route?
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
The eternal "how early to arrive at the airport" question. Where are you flying to? How long before the flight does the airline say you have to arrive at the airport? It varies a lot.
The normal way to do this would be change at Basel. There are regular (approximately hourly) trains Strasbourg - Colmar - Mulhouse Basel; and multiple trains per hour from Basel to Zürich airport.
Note 1: Terminating trains from France arrive at Basel in an annex (called "Bâle/Basel SNCF"). It is 5 minutes walk to the main part of the station, currently more complicated by building work.
But, no reservations are needed on Swiss trains, so you can have a break and get a later train.
Note 2: Don't panic about Zürich. 7 minutes are doable, but there are regular trains to the airport, it doesn't matter which one you get. Again a break is possible.
I hope you are looking up times on the SBB (Swiss Railways) website: https://www.sbb.ch/en/
Posted by
Green Bay
21156 posts
The train from Basel stops at Zurich Hbf before going to the airport. If you took an even earlier train, you could stop in Zurich and stash bags in a locker at the station (there are a lot of them) and visit the Swiss Historical Museum across the street from the station, if that is of any interest. Train tickets within Switzerland are not train specific, so you can break up the journey on the same day as long as you stick to the ticketed route. As I said, trains to the airport leave continually from the Hbf.
There are direct TER trains to Basel SBB at 8:53 and 11:23. Once in Basel, there are trains to Zurich Hbf 5 times an hour.
Posted by
California USA
4103 posts
People have given you good, detailed advice. Since this is your first time in Europe I'd go with the one connection option through Basel (note the special directions by Chris). We transferred through this train station last summer and needed to follow signage carefully. i don't think you will be bored along the way by leaving a little earlier and you may have a more relaxing journey to your destinations.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
I agree. I will take the earlier train to Basel at 11:23 since it will be more simple to get to Zurich from there. Visiting the museum is a great suggestion, thanks. I am flying from Zurich to Rome. I heard that there are many restaurants and stores in the airport, so I should be able to keep busy!
What would be the simplest way to purchase train tickets?