When to Leave? Calculating the Right Pickup Time to Zurich Airport From Basel, Lucerne, Bern and the Mountains

The journey to the airport is the only leg of a trip where being early costs nothing and being late costs everything. Yet the pickup time is often chosen by gut feeling. This article works out what a reliable pickup time consists of and lists, for our most important routes, the driving times we plan with.

The formula: departure minus check-in minus driving time minus buffer

Start with the departure time. Subtract the time your airline recommends for check-in and security – usually around two hours for European flights, closer to three for long-haul and non-Schengen destinations. Then subtract the pure driving time. And add a buffer that matches the time of day and the season. The result is your pickup time – not the time you would "roughly" like to set off.

Driving times we plan with

Winterthur: around 25 minutes. Zug: around 35 minutes. Schaffhausen: around 35 minutes. Lucerne: around 55 minutes. St. Gallen: around 55 minutes. Basel: around 1 hour 10 minutes. Bern: around 1 hour 25 minutes. Interlaken: around 1 hour 45 minutes. Davos: around 2 hours 5 minutes. St. Moritz: around 2 hours 55 minutes. Zermatt (to Täsch): around 3 hours 30 minutes. These values apply in normal traffic; you find the details on our route pages.

Rush hours around Zurich

Greater Zurich is congested on weekdays roughly between 6:30 and 9:00 in the morning and between 16:30 and 19:00 in the evening. The approaches to the airport via the northern bypass and the Gubrist tunnel are the critical points. Anyone travelling from Basel or Bern for a morning flight should allow an extra 20 to 30 minutes in these windows. Our drivers know the alternative routes, but even they cannot conjure away an accident on the A1.

Winter and mountains: the biggest uncertainty

From December to March, snowfall, clearing and column traffic noticeably extend driving times from Davos, St. Moritz, Grindelwald or Engelberg. On Saturdays in high season, when the ski resorts change over, holiday traffic is added. Our recommendation for mountain routes in winter: at least 45 minutes of buffer on the normal driving time, one hour when snowfall is forecast. An earlier start costs you a coffee at the airport; a later one may cost the flight.

Why the pickup time is reliable with us

Your driver is at your address at the agreed time – not "shortly" and not "in ten minutes", but to the minute. He drives the route regularly, knows roadworks and diversions and chooses the route that is fastest on that day. You get in at your front door and out at the departures terminal. If you are unsure which pickup time makes sense for your flight, send us flight number and address – we suggest a time that lets you sleep well the night before.