Zurich and ??? Head West or East?

From where does your return flight leave?

With 9 days you can realistically see 3 places.

In and out of Zurich

I figured on 3 places as well. I fly into Zurich on a Friday morning. I figured I would stay in Zurich until Sunday and then head somewhere. I could also land in Zurich and head straight to somewhere else and then finish the trip in Zurich as I'll be flying out of there.

Zurich doesn't seem to trip anyone's trigger as far as being a city to visit for any amount of time. I'd say head west to Luzern straight from the airport for those 3 days instead of Zurich. Then it is an easy train ride up to Colmar, then Strasbourg.For a scenic train trip, head back to Zurich via Offenburg and the Black Forest railway to Singen, then Zurich.

Strasbourg and Colmar are significantly closer than Salzburg. You can check out Basel along the way and from there it's just 45-80 minutes by train. This would leave you plenty of time to explore more of Switzerland.

Have you thought about Innsbruck? It would still give you a taste of Austria but is 2 hours closer to Zurich than Salzburg. You could possibly even sneak it in to the "west" option if you were really ambitious! Or if you decide to go for the "east" option, why not take the train to/from Zurich all the way to/from Vienna? There is a night train in both directions which is a great timesaver and offers single compartments or women-only couchettes. To me, a trip to Austria without Vienna is not complete so if it's not included it in the "east" option, then my vote would go to the France "west" option as Strasbourg, Colmar and more of Switzerland will give you a broader mix of scenery, urban/rural destinations and languages.

And I definitely second the idea of going directly from the airport to your first destination, be it Luzern, Basel, Innsbruck, whatever. When I have family visit from the US, we never spend any time in Zurich. If you don't have anything specific you want to see there, a single day is plenty.

I concur. Unless you're a banker or in insurance, the REAL Switzerland is outside of Zurich. Take the direct train from the airport right to Luzern and begin your vacation!