I am flying into Zurich in early June; we will be four people traveling together in car. Hotels in Zurich look ridiculously expensive. Parking sounds like a nighmare. We would like to stay somewhere outside the city (where we can park) that has access to public transportation into town. Any ideas?

Your right about driving in the city, to be avoided if at all possible. Could you stay at one of the airport hotels? The airport has excellent links into town.

But the airport hotels are nasty and/or expensive, plus not so connected to the public transport.

Not sure of the prices, but really nice could be the Uto Kulm up Uetliberg. Train straight to Hauptbahnhof, fabulous views, nice walks in the evening through the forest.

Parking is not perfect however.. it depends will you be driving to Zürich then wanting to leave your car a few days while you City it before moving on. In that case I think it would be OK.

On the other hand, the city is not big or hard to drive in and parking is pretty easy, so you could stay even further out and drive an park. Say on the lake somewhere.

It would help if you gave a bit more colour out of what you hope to do in Zürich.

Daniel

There are quite a few threads on this, run a search with "hotels Zurich." Here is the latest one: Hotel recommendation for central Zurich?

Thanks for the advice about staying out of the city. Maybe the best bet is to spend the day in Zurich, then pick up our car at the airport and head for the Alps. Can we see most of the old part of Zurich in one day?

Not sure now whether we want to stay in Zurich overnight, or see what we can the day we fly in (6:30 am) and then head for the hills. Thanks sfor the information about the hotel away from Zurich. Will check it out.

Uto Kulm is a great hotel to stay at with great views from Uetliburg over the city and Lake - downside is the 15 minute 'hike' up the hill from the station to the hotel and same back again next day - not ideal for sightseeing but great for 'away days' from the city

you may want to check the new Marriott Courtyard Hotel at Oerlikon; this is a few minutes walk from the station which is just 6 minutes from Zurich HB on the train and costs 240 chf and has a courtesy bus to / from the airport so you wouldn't need a car whilst in Zurich

or if you really want somwhere new stay at the Sheraton Fourpoints at Sihlcity that opened last week but rack rate is a bit pricy at 380 chf but looks very nice - just ask for the CS rate which is probably around 250

If you are renting a car from the airport then absolutely dont bother picking it up first, conversely, drop it off first, check in the baggage and head back into town if you have an evening flight and can get to Zurich early. The airport has a direct rail line to the city centre, and even a taxi to town doesnt cost the earth.

Frankly you can "do" Zurich City in a day in my humble experience.

Daniel

If you are heading to the Alps, I would dispense with the car altogether & get the train. Depending on how long you are in Switz for, it may pay you to get a Halb Tax card which gives you a 50% on all rail fares etc.

Public transport is king

We are flying into Zurich and driving through Germany to eventually land in Carrara, Ilaly, for a baptism. Then we will drive back to Zurich to fly back to the States. It looks like we should take the train into Zurich from the airport on our first day, then come back to the airport, pick up the car, and head toward the Alps for the first night. I don't know how long it would take to drive from Zurich to someplace like Oberammergau. Maybe there is somewhere closer to Zurich that doesn't cost so much. We were hoping to spend about 140 swiss francs per night for en suite rooms. Maybe we are dreaming.

If you're here for a really long time, you could all walk, as long as you bring ropes, tent and stove, you can see parts of the alps few others will see, and leave no carbon footprint, just lots and lots of the old style ones.

This does bring to mind the story of a friend who was (seriously) climbing the Matterhorn, roped to his mates, and came across 2 Japanese is shorts, tshirts and trainers.. beyond base camp! Scary.

D

Check of www.mappy.com for driving times.

Try www.myswitzerland.com (run by the tourist board) for hotels, sorted by price.

Daniel

I think the Salvation Army charge the homeless more than 140 chf per night

Hi, i would suggest letting us know where you are going, i don't get the driving through Germany to get to Italy. If you want to stay overnight near Zürich there are "Hotel Garni" around kloten-zürich which are en-suite but not so expensive.

Oh the other hand, maybe we will be sleeping in the car.

Obviously you haven't been to London. Swiss hotel prices are a bargain and so is overnight parking in Zurich (as long as you drive round all day)...

We are planning to drive a circle from Zurich to Munich, Vienna, Zagreb, Venice, Florence, and to Carrara. The return will involve stopping somewhere between Carrara and Zurich for a night. Total trip time: 2 weeks.

Actually, we went to London and Paris two years ago, but it was in early January, so things weren't so pricey. We stayed near the V & A in London, and the Place de Catherine in Paris.
But I still hope we can find modest, inexpensive accommodations somewhere. Prices outside Zurich seem to be more reasonable, even in Winterthur.

Check out the Ibis hotels, they are well in your price range an their are a few of them dotted around Zurich.

etap/Ibis/mercure at Hardbrücke, cheap as chips, secure parking and one stop to centre of town.

dave