# Rental Car in Zurich



## Lucky Larry (Apr 15, 2011)

This summer we are traveling to Germany and we are flying in and out from the Zurich airport. 

Is it worth the trouble to travel from the airport to downtown and from downtown back to the airport just to save a hundred dollars or so dollars?  My inclination first is to say yes - I'm cheap.  Then I think of the time to get downtown and back (especially back) and the cost of the transportation and I'm pretty sure it will not be worth it.  

Since I don't know Zurich or the transportation from the airport to where we would need to go in Zurich (319 Hardturmstrasse), I thought I'd ask your advice.


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## Carolinian (Apr 16, 2011)

Zurich is an easy city to get into from the airport.  The trains into the city from the ariport are frequent and reasonably priced.  The train station is very convenient downtown.  The ease of getting into the city is one of the reasons that Zurich is one of my favorite gateway cities for TATL travel.

BTW, on changing money, Zurich is also one of the few airports where you can get reasonable currency exchange rates (Mexico City and Chisinau are the only others I know of).  Two banks have exchange offices at the airport, one in each terminal.  The thing to watch is that one charges a commission and the other does not.  If you see a commission being charged, simply go to the bank in the other terminal.

On rental car prices, I usually find the best rates at www.economycarrentals.com which is a consolidator.

Most European car rental agencies either have a train station office or will arrange train station delivery often at no extra cost.  I recently had a car rental in France through Sixt, and they had an arrangement with a hotel across the street from the train station, where I picked up and delivered the car at no extra charge.


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## Carolinian (Apr 16, 2011)

One other thing about Zurich is that if you decide to go into the city, you should at least spend a little time seeing it.  From the train station, if you walk out the front door, you are at the beginning of the city's main shopping street.  Walk down it, or take a tram, 10 or 12 blocks and you get to the lake, which is very scenic.  Take a left a couple of blocks to the corner of the lake and cotinue uphill another couple of blocks and take a right and you are on the major street of the Old Town, where most of the historic sights are.  Either on that street or one more up the hill, there is the terminus of a furnicular that goes to the top of the hill, from which there is a great view of the city and the lake.

Generally on info on getting into any city from its airport, I find that this is a great site:

www.toandfromtheairport.com


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## Lucky Larry (Apr 16, 2011)

Arrg, I forgot about Switzerland not being part of the EU and needing to exchange into their currency.


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## alanmj (Apr 17, 2011)

Lucky Larry said:


> Arrg, I forgot about Switzerland not being part of the EU and needing to exchange into their currency.



Not all EU countries use the euro... for example UK, Denmark, most eastern European one, don't use the euro. Only 17 of the 27 use the euro in fact.

Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro


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## Carolinian (Apr 17, 2011)

alanmj said:


> Not all EU countries use the euro... for example UK, Denmark, most eastern European one, don't use the euro. Only 17 of the 27 use the euro in fact.
> 
> Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro



Quite right.  The citizens of Denmark and Sweden voted in referendums to keep their national currencies rather than going to the euro, and the two largest parties in the UK have promised their citizens a referendum on the subject but the polls show the people heavily opposed to the change so no one has bothered to waste the money on a referendum there.  Most eastern European countries also still use their national currencies.  Then there are Switzerland, Norway, Jersey, and Guernsey which are not even members of the EU.


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