Originally Posted by
ffsim
I just finished reading through all the posts from 2012 -- I have to say you folks are helpful and incredibly friendly! I'd like to pick your collective brains if I may.
I'm flying YUL-ZRH-DME later this month in C and have a 6 hour scheduled layover in ZRH. According to this thread, I arrive in E dock but leave out of D. Does that mean I have to go through some sort of Swiss immigration process?
If the weather's lousy, I guess I could simply take a shower and hang out at the D dock *G lounge, but I'd really like to visit the city for a couple of hours. Someone already provided a "left luggage" link (thanks for that), but I'm a little unclear on the whole immigration process involved in visiting the city. Any helpful insight?
Thanks!!
Hi, no, you'll both be arriving and departing in Non-Schengen area, so no immigration into Switzerland.
6 hours is fine for a trip to ZRH, you should find some suggestions with a quick search what to do.
If the weather is lousy, there are some places you could also go, if you don't fancy to stay in the lounge for 6 hours. There is a nice indoor swimming hall with nice showers (I prefer them to the one in the lounges..), jumping area, swimming area and a fun slide, you can access it for 7 CHF all incl,
http://www.sportanlagen-wallisellen....id=32&Itemid=4 - without lounge access, this is actually the cheapest option (including transport there, it's still within the local area zone) to get a shower and some relaxation on a longer overlay in ZRH airport.
You can take either bus line 759 or tram 12 directly from the airport to Wallisellen train station, from there it's about 600m to walk, or a local bus (included in ticket) to "Hallenbad station".
Of course, there are also other options for bad weather, like visiting the large "Glattzentrum" shopping mall (directly with Tram 12) or going to Ikea or any other large store.. food is better anywhere but in the lounge in ZRH
Regarding immigration, just follow the signs for either "D gates" (If you don't want to visit Zurich or any other place) and then use the lounge there, or follow "Exit Zürich" if you intend to exit the airport. You'll enter (and leave) the so called "Schengen area" if you do so. As your flights from and to Switzerland are Non-Schengen area flights, you'll arrive and depart outside Schengen, so if you want to enter/exit Switzerland, you need to immigrate/emigrate of Schengen. If you don't need a Visa, it's usually 0-5min queue to enter Switzerland and 0min (I've yet to wait more than 30 seconds) to exit Switzerland, so you don't need to arrive back at the airport more than 60 minutes, even if you like to visit the lounge when heading back before your flight. Have a nice stay ^