Venice to Zurich

It is 7 1/2 hours with a single connection in Milan for 116 chf full fare. You can also check Swiss, they have 3 flights a day and are reasonable unless the flight is booked up. Car rental would involve an international drop charge for big bucks I would imagine. You'll have to get quotes yourself for that.

You will have to get a car rental price quote directly from a rental agent but it's not likely to be the cheapest way. Rates for 1, 2 or 3 days may all be similar, then a price break after that, but there may be a fee of hundreds of dollars to drop the car in a different country. The only reason to do this would be to drive through the mountains, making several stops.

Instead, I'd probably choose train, about 7.5 hours with a connection at Milan. See schedules through the same link provided earlier. Reserved tickets are sold with significant advance purchase discounts through the main Italian railway, www.trenitalia.com, starting 90 days ahead. Regular-fare tickets are sold in stations with no deadline to commit (shown as about $135 per person on that link).

You already have the link to compare flight prices, www.skyscanner.com. I don't see any flights that are cheaper than the train on my test date of July 21.

I have no idea about the rental costs but I do know that you WILL have to add to the cost the following at the very minimum:

A huge drop charge for hiring it in one country and leaving in another.
A CHF40 mandatory charge for a Swiss Vignette to enable to drive on Swiss major roads
If you are North American around $20 for a mandatory IDP, different prices in different countries, for each driver
A fair amount of money for all the Italian tolls
A good knowledge of the Italian traffic laws, including ZTLs and Tutor so you don't inadvertently incur large fines.

And, not a money cost, but a physical one - not being nervous about long confined spaces. You will driving through one of the longest vehicle tunnels in the world - the Gotthard Tunnel - which is over 10 miles long.

Or you could take the train with zero or one change, very inexpensive, and faster.

Thank you for all your responses. Where can I book the train from Venice to Zurich. please advise the website. thanks for much. Sorry for asking all these questions, I am getting confused. I am from North America and don't know where to start.

www.sbb.ch or www.trenitalia.com. Check them both to see who has the best price. Trentitalia requires you use Italian names like Venezia Santa Lucia and Zurigo. SBB will be in Swiss Francs and Trenitalia will be in Euros, so make the conversion so you can compare prices. Trenitalia looks to be a lot cheaper. Same trains though.

Trenitalia lets you book all the way from Venezia San Lucia (assuming your not staying Mestre) all the way to Zurigo in 1 transaction for as low as 59.5 Euro which is a very very good price. Alternately you may book Venice -> Milano Centrale in 1 transaction that Milano Centrale -> Zurigo in a 2nd transaction and you might even be able to get lower fares.