Originally Posted by nwchgo
but I thought I would consult the experts.
My wife and I and 10 and 12 year-olds (all US citizens) are arriving on a Swiss flight from NCE to ZRH at 8:45 on a Saturday morning in April and connecting to a Swiss flight to ORD at 12:45 that afternoon. All but carryons will be checked through and we will arrive in Business class and depart in First class. We are seasoned travelers and have been to ZRH and Zurich before.
Do you think we should try to take the train into Zurich or just hang out in the lounge? This assumes we would be allowed to leave the airport.
My question is more about time/logistics, clearing immigration, re-entering the airport, etc. We are pretty familiar with the activity options, which is why we would prefer to go into Zurich instead of sit in the lounge.
All advice appreciated.
All schedules for trains from Zürich Flughafen to Zürich HB are online on the Swiss railway's web page (English) -
http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm
Please be adviced that intercontinental flights depart from Terminal E. Another thing you must think about is that there are strict security controls and often long queues for flights to USA. Hence, you must be AT LEAST one hour prior to departure in the airport - at least!
Clearing imigrations is an easy thing. If the flight from NCE is on time, you might have time in the airport from 09.30 - 11.30. The train takes about 15 minutes to Zürich HB and 15 back. This means for you that you will have maximum 1.5 hours in Zürich.
Seating in the Zuerich lounges is also not advisable. At least I don't like the Zuerich lounges. They are rather ordinary and simple.