Zurich Business Travel Guide

Trains leave the station beneath the airport every few minutes and reach Zürich HB, the main station, in about 10–15 minutes, the fastest option at almost any hour. Tram 10 is slower, and a taxi takes 20–30 minutes at a notably high fare.

The airport is a business address in its own right: The Circle, beside the terminals, houses hotels, offices and a convention center, handy for fly-in meetings with European colleagues.

Stay around Paradeplatz and Bahnhofstrasse for banking and wealth management: UBS is headquartered on the square, and private banks line the surrounding streets. The lakeside Baur au Lac, open since 1844, sits at the foot of Bahnhofstrasse.

Enge, on the lake’s western shore, is home to major insurers and reinsurers. Europaallee, directly behind Zürich HB, is a newer district of offices, tech companies and hotels that makes early trains easy, while Oerlikon is the base for Messe Zürich.

Trams, buses and S-Bahn trains run on a tight, reliable schedule; buy tickets in the ZVV or SBB Mobile app. The center is compact and walkable, and lake boats are part of the network. Taxis are expensive, so most professionals ride public transport.

Swiss rail makes day trips easy: Basel and Bern in about an hour, Lucerne in under an hour and Geneva in under three.

Precision and discretion define business here. Arrive exactly on time, use titles and surnames until invited otherwise, and shake hands at the start and end of meetings. Swiss German is the local language, but English is standard in finance and international firms.

Confidentiality is part of the culture, especially in banking, so don’t ask about clients, wealth or salaries. Understatement beats salesmanship: present facts and avoid overselling. Dress is conservative and well made rather than flashy, and business lunches are efficient and rarely boozy.

The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos each January routes thousands of executives and officials through Zurich Airport, and hotels in Zurich and transfers to Davos, about 2½ hours away, book up months ahead. In April, Zurich’s Sechseläuten spring festival closes many offices on a Monday afternoon.

Also check Swiss National Day (August 1), Ascension and Whit Monday, the July–August holiday lull and the Zurich Film Festival in late September and early October.

Switzerland’s quirks are small but easy to get wrong.