How to arrive

After claiming your baggage, you can buy a ticket either directly on the red SBB-ticket machines before exiting from the Customs Halls 1 and 2 or into the machines near the SBB Reisebüro/Travel Agency, which is located bellow the Airport center in Checking 3 area (Follow the signs: “Bahn/Train” and “Bahnreisezentrum / Railway Center”).

To use the red SBB-ticket machine, follow this steps:

1. Touch the screen to activate the menu.
   
2. Change your language to “English” at the bottom-right corner.
3. Select “Zürich HB” (HB stands for Hauptbahnhof, meaning Main Station).
4. Click on “Immediate departure”.
5. On “Route” choose: “via direct – 3 ZONEN”.
6. Select: “One-way / 1 hour”
7. On “Class” select “2nd class”. On the “1st class” section you will have much more comfortable sits, but you will have to pay additionally: CHF 4.40. Please note that “1st class” is not available for traveling by tram, bus, or ship.
8. Under “Adults (w/o Half-Fare card)” select the number of tickets you want to buy, ie: “1x” (for one person), “2x” (if you are buying tickets for two persons), and so on.
9. Press “Next”
10. Pay the ticket price shown at the display with a credit/debit card, coins, or with 10/20 Swiss Francs notes. You can also pay with 5, 10, or 20 Euro notes. The price is CHF 6.80 pro person.
11. Your tickets and change will pop out on the slot at the bottom. If you paid with Euros, you will get Swiss Francs in return.

The ticket is valid during the next hour for any train to Zurich as well as for the trams and buses in the city, including the ETH (Suburbs outside the Zone 110 aren’t included, see: Zone map).

If you only have big notes with you, then you can buy the tickets on the counters from the Travel Agency. Please be aware that they are open only from 06:00 am. until 09:00 pm.

After you get a valid ticket, follow the signs: “Bahn/Train” until you find the escalator going down. Look for platforms (Gleis in German) 3 or 4 and check the screen in front of each escalator; look for: “Zürich HB”. Trains to city centre leave every 3 to 15 minutes depending on the day and time and take about 13 minutes to reach main station. For reaching the ETH, see “Arrival from the railway main station (Hauptbahnhof)” below.

If you prefer to go directly from the airport to the ETH without any changes, follow the signs of tram no. 10 heading “Hauptbahnhof”. Exit the tram at the station “ETH/Universitätsspital”. Trams will leave every 5 to 15 minutes and it will take about 30 minutes.

The best way if you have lots of baggage is definitely taking the train. On the trams you will have less space, the options are limited to only one route, and the departure frequency will be reduced after 11:00 p.m. and during the weekends.

Follow the signs to “Bahnhofstrasse / Bahnhofplatz”

Please note that if you buy a ticket from the airport until Zürich Main station, you don’t need to buy an additional ticket for going to the ETH. It is already included and it is valid for 1 hour counting from the moment of purchase.

During your next days in Zürich, you can use the blue ZVV-Ticket machines to buy your ticket, which is valid for: buses, trams, ships, and funiculars inside the Zürich center zone no. 110. Here the steps:

1. Change your language to “English” at the bottom-right corner.
2. Here you can choose:
   a. Short-distance: for traveling from the main station to the ETH. If you are departing from another location, look for the covered tram stations by pressing: “Short dist. stops”. Usually a maximum of 5 stops is included, but this may vary according to the distance, so, please check it to be sure.
   b. Single ticket – 1 h – Zone 110: if your station isn’t in the short-distance area and you want only a one way ticket valid for the next hour, then choose this option. You can change the transport (bus, tram, ship, or funicular) as many times as you need until reaching your destination.
   c. Day pass – 24 h – Zone 110: this ticket is ideal if you need to make two or more trips that last more than 1 hour. Please note that the ticket will be valid for maximum 24 hours, which means that you may use it for the next day as well.
3. Pay the ticket price shown at the display. Alternatively, you can buy tickets for more persons. Do not pay at this point and choose either:
   * “Multi-card (6x)“: here you will get a card for 6 tickets. After having selected this, you can proceed to pay the price shown at the display.
   * or advance to step 4 for buying less than six tickets.
4. Press: “Several tickets”
5. By “Number of Tickets”, choose the number of tickets you want to buy. The left column is for children and people owning a Half-Fare card. You have to choose the right column for paying the full price.
6. Pay the price shown at the display.

You can pay with a credit/debit card or coins; there is no option to pay with bills or euros. The normal prices for the tickets in Zürich (Zone 110 – Zürich City) are:

• Short-distance: CHF 2.70
• Single ticket – 1 h: CHF 4.40
• Day pass – 24 h: CHF 8.80

A “Multi-card (6x)” is the best choice for travelers who want to use public transport for several trips or are accompanied by more people. This option provides six tickets for use on any travel. The pass promises even cheaper travel: you save as much as 10 per cent compared to 6 individual tickets. The card is normally valid for one year and it must be always validated on the ticket machine before getting into the transportation media; you will find a slot for this purpose on one side of the machine.

• The best way of getting the time schedule is online from the SBB website
• or with the smartphone apps (SBB Mobile):
  • Android
  • iPhone / iPad
• You can also download the following time tables:
  • Schedule for tram no. 10 departing from the airport (Zürich Flughafen, Bahnhof)
  • All trains departing from the Airport to the main station (Zürich Flughafen)
  • Schedule for tram no. 10 departing from the main station (Zürich, Bahnhofplatz/HB)
  • Schedule for tram no. 6 departing from the main station (Zürich, Bahnhofstrasse/HB)