It would have to be REALLY quick, but you could do it--you can take the train from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof downtown (the main train station)--it might take 20 to 30 minutes one-way...and then you could stroll down the Bahnhofstrasse--the main shopping street in downtown--very expensive, but it leads to the lakeshore...parallel to the Bahnhofstrasse is the Limmat River; pretty to walk along the quais...you could grab a quick meal, or just coffee and a pastry at a cafe, then head back up to the Hauptbahnhof and catch a train to the airport--it would be better than nothing, and you could get a quick feel for the vibe of Switzerland's largest city...Hope it works out!

Posted Aug 14, 2012

Absolutely, hop on th train which drops you off right at the beginning of the Bonhoffstrasa! Lots of little places on that end to grab a pastry or a sandwich. Beautiful stores on this street, no longer affordable, in my opinion due to the slide of the dollar over the years. Enjoy this lovely city!

Posted Aug 15, 2012

I had an 8-hour layover when I saw it. Plenty of time. We ended up strolling around for several hours and ended up chilling out somewhere (due to jetlag).

Two tips:

1) Watch it when you're on the train. We ended up getting confused, missing the city, and going to the country. Had to pay another fare too.

2) Don't be shocked by high prices. We ended up paying $24 Euros for just two salads and two diet Cokes from McDonald's...and we picked it thinking it would be cheap.

Posted Aug 15, 2012