I am arriving at Zurich airport on 9/11 at 7:50 am. I want to take a train to Konstanz and a ferry to Friedrichshafen for 2 nights. I have been trying to read the train and ferry schedule with no luck. Can/should I buy the train or ferry ticket before leaving? There looks to be a 50% sale on ferry tickets but I can't figure out the time schedule. Any suggestions would be great!
Konstanz - Meersburg - Hagnau - Immenstaad - Friedrichshafen -
You don't need to buy tickets before leaving. A train from ZRH to Konstanz departs every hour and the trip takes just over an hour (see raileurope.com). You could check with the tourist information office in Konstanz when you get there for ferry schedules to Friedrichshaven. An alternative is to take the car ferry over to Meersburg & then the train to Friedshaven (would include using a taxi from bahnhof to ferry docks).
thank you for the suggestions. Do you think I will have a problem coming back to Zurich the same way to catch a 5 pm flight?
IMO, RailEurope is just about the worst possible place to look for schedules because they only show them if they sell that tickets. Use the German Rail (Bahn) website query page at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en.
You can get schedule info for Zurich to Friedrichshafen via that ship, but it is a little tricky, since it will tend to pick the train or the faster ferry from Konstanz to Friedrichshafen instead of the slow ship via Meersburg, etc. To get the schedule you want put in "Zurich" and "Friedrichshafen Hafen" for end points and "Konstanz" and "Meersburg(Bodensee)" for the "vias". If you are going directly from the airport, use "Zurich airport". The train from Zurich HB to Konstanz stops at the airport station.
"Do you think I will have a problem coming back to Zurich the same way to catch a 5 pm flight?"
Shouldn't be a problem. The Bahn site show you can take the ferry from Friedrichshafen (dp 12:41) across to Romanshorn and a train from there to the airport (ar 14:37) or the ferry to Konstanz (dp 12:02 or 13:02), change to a train in Konstanz, and arrive at the airport at 14:07 or 15:07 respectively.
You can find other schedules on the Bahn site.
BTW, be sure to take in the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen.
