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Weekend roundtrip getaway from Zurich by train?

Posted by (Portland Oregon) on

I'll be spending a week in Zurich at the beginning of May for work, and I'm considering extending my trip a few days to see other cities nearby. I thought if my wife and I got a train Friday (May 2) we could get to another place, and return Monday (May 5) to fly home to the U.S.

Most interesting to us is just seeing the culture of cities and towns in Europe that are cool or interesting: cafe culture, history, etc. A special museum or sight is nice, but not the most important. After 5 nights in Zurich, another place might be fun. I've been looking at the map, but I don't really know how far is reasonable to travel by train over a weekend.

In the past 15 years we've been to Paris, Strasbourg, Carcassonne, Munich, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Amsterdam already, and enjoyed them all. We've never been to Italy. Any recommendations that seem reasonable to visit by train from Zurich would be great! Thanks in advance.

Posted by
907 posts

Luzern is an obvious choice less than an hour away, with the Lake Cruises south and back. Lots of Swiss history around there.

Innsbruck to the east is about 3 hours through Switzerland and western Tirol in Austria.

Lausanne to the west is about 2 hours to the French part of Switzerland where there are wineries along the Lake of Geneva and a huge Olympic Museum. Great different food too.

Lugano across the Alps in Ticino Canton is a very fun change from Zurich too in about 3 hours. Also great Italian-Swiss food.

Murten is a lovely historic town on the small Murtensee west of Berne less than 2 hours away.

Have fun.

Posted by
33814 posts

I might head for the lakes near Milan. Either settle in to Lake Como or Lake Maggiore, maybe Varenna or Bellagio on Como or Baveno or Stresa with easy access to the garden islands of Isola Madre and Isola Bella of the Borromean Islands.

That would be a real change from Zurich, and May is a perfect month in northern Italy.

Both easy by train from Zurich. Take short sleeves. Enjoy.

Posted by
4853 posts

if you're going to do Innsbruck, may as well keep going a bit and do Salzburg.

rome2rio and google maps give travel times.

Posted by
17417 posts

If you like the idea of visiting Stresa on Lago Maggiore, you could do a nice loop of 3 lakeside towns.

On Friday head to Stresa which is only 3.5 hours away from Zurich, with one or 2 connections at Bern and maybe Domodossola. Overnight here, maybe on one of the islands.

Saturday make your way to Locarno, at the other end of Lago Maggiore in Switzerland. You travel either by ferry up the lake, or train, using the scenic Centovalli railway. Overnight in Locarno I’m a lakeside hotel.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/vigezzina-centovalli-railway/

Sunday take the scenic Treno Gottardo, a direct train to Luzern in 3 hours. Overnight in Luzern. You can easily reach the Zurich airport in just over an hour for a Monday flight.

Posted by
4 posts

Thank you all for the great responses. We have not yet finalized our plans, but we are considering Lucerne for the proximity to Zurich and Zug.

Friends have also recommended to “see the peaks” wherever we can access mountains. If that can be done close to Zürich or Lucerne, great.

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