Zurich Airport to Interlaken
About 120 km southwest. SBB trains reach Interlaken Ost in ~2h with one change; advance fares from ~€38, private transfers from ~€320 for a car.
Interlaken, ZurichRectilinium / Wikimedia, CC0Interlaken lies on the flat land between Lakes Thun and Brienz, a springboard for the Jungfrau peaks, paragliding launches over the Höhematte meadow and the cog railways up to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Interlaken, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €320).
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €320 | Private transfer |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €320 | Private transfer |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €320 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Cheapest fare | From €38, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Train
Around 2h05 to Interlaken Ost, where the Jungfrau railways connect. Full fare is roughly CHF 66 (~€70); book a Supersaver a few days ahead and it can fall to ~€38. Trains split at Interlaken West and Ost — most hotels are near Ost.
Where to catch it: Zürich Flughafen station under the terminal; change once at Bern onto the Interlaken intercity.
Best for budget travellers near a stationPrivate transfer
One vehicle the whole way with no Bern changeover — the practical pick for families with children and gear who don't want to juggle platforms. Fixed whole-car price for up to ~4 people.
Where to catch it: Driver meets you in the arrivals hall and handles your bags to the car.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
A scenic ~1h50 drive via Lucerne and the Brünig road, or the faster motorway through Bern. Sensible as a base for touring the Bernese Oberland, though note the mountain villages above Interlaken are largely car-free.
Where to catch it: Rental desks in the Airport Center.
Best for travellers who want to exploreInterlaken & Zurich in photos
Buying tickets in Zurich
Zurich Airport has its own rail station beneath the terminal. A single ZVV ticket covering the zones to Zurich HB (zones 121 + 110) costs CHF 6.80, and S-Bahn trains take about 10 minutes; a 24-hour pass for the same zones is CHF 13.60. Buy from the blue SBB/ZVV machines or the SBB Mobile app, or simply tap a contactless card/phone at the yellow ZVV readers on the platform. A ZürichCARD (unlimited transport plus discounts) is worth it if you plan several trips or sightseeing.
Taxi scams & safety in Zurich
Zurich is one of Europe's safest airports for ground transport. Metered taxis at the official rank are legitimate but expensive, typically CHF 50-70 to the centre; there is no fixed fare, so a train is far cheaper. Touts are essentially non-existent. Uber operates in Zurich and picks up from a designated ride-hail zone, though prices are high and not always below taxi rates; Bolt has little presence here. Keep a valid ticket, as ZVV inspectors fine fare-dodgers on the spot.
Getting from ZRH to Interlaken
Interlaken is the town you sleep in so you can spend your days somewhere higher. It sits on the strip of flat ground between Lakes Thun and Brienz, and almost everyone who books a room here is really booking a base camp for Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, the paragliding meadow at Höhematte and the cog railways that grind up toward the Jungfraujoch. From Zurich Airport it is about 120 km southwest, roughly two hours by SBB with a single change. The useful thing to know before you compare options is that the train is not a chore you endure to reach the mountains — it is the first mountain view of the trip, and it drops you at the exact platform where the Jungfrau railways begin.
Two hours to Interlaken Ost, and the ride earns its keep
Come down one level from the arrivals hall to Zürich Flughafen station and you are already in the system. Intercity trains run one to two times an hour from around 06:00 to 19:00, and the standard routing changes once at Bern before the final run alongside Lake Thun into Interlaken Ost — about 2h05 in total. Full second-class fare lands near CHF 66, so about €70; book a Supersaver ticket on the SBB app a few days ahead and the same seat can fall to roughly €38. There is no taxi rank pretending to be a sensible choice for a trip this long, which tells you something. The last half hour, when the lake opens up on your right and the peaks stack behind it, is the part people photograph, not the part they sleep through.
Ost, not West: getting off at the platform that matters
Interlaken has two stations, and the difference is not cosmetic. Trains from Zurich call at Interlaken West first, then terminate a few minutes later at Interlaken Ost. Ost is the one that counts: it is where the Berner Oberland-Bahn and the other mountain lines connect, so if your hotel is in the eastern half of town or you are pushing straight on to Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen the same afternoon, stay in your seat until Ost. West suits a handful of lakeside hotels toward Lake Thun. Check your hotel's own directions before you leave the airport — it saves a needless walk with luggage across a town that takes twenty minutes to cross end to end. Either station keeps you inside the Swiss rail net, so onward tickets and passes carry straight through.
Where a private car actually pulls ahead
A pre-booked transfer runs the whole way in one vehicle with no Bern changeover, and the honest case for it is narrow but real. Expect somewhere around €320 to €420 for the car, a fixed whole-car price covering up to about four people. Set that against four separate Supersaver rail tickets and the gap shrinks; load in a couple of children, a stroller and a week of hiking or ski kit, and the appeal of not lifting bags on and off a train at Bern starts to outweigh the cost. A late-evening landing, when the last convenient Interlaken train has gone, is the other moment a door-to-door car saves the day rather than merely spending money. For two travellers with normal luggage, though, the train remains the cleaner call by a wide margin.
Renting a car, and the catch above Interlaken
The rental desks are in the Airport Center, with per-day rates opening around €45. The drive is genuinely pretty — about 1h50 either via Lucerne and the Brünig road or faster on the motorway through Bern — and a car makes sense if Interlaken is one stop on a wider Bernese Oberland loop. But here is the catch the rental brochure skips: the villages you have actually come to see are largely off-limits to cars. Wengen and Mürren are car-free, and even Grindelwald pushes most visitors toward the mountain railways for the final climb. Plenty of drivers end up parking in Interlaken and switching to the cog trains anyway, which raises a fair question about why they rented at all for the high-valley days. Keep the car for touring; leave it parked for the peaks.
Put simply: take the train. The two-hour ride with one change at Bern is cheaper, scenic in a way that starts the holiday early, and it ends at Interlaken Ost where the railways up to the Jungfrau region are waiting on the next platform. Save the private transfer for a group of four with a mountain of gear or a flight that lands after the timetable has closed for the night, and rent a car only if your trip stretches well beyond the peaks. Book a Supersaver a few days out, watch for the Ost stop, and you will step off the train already at the foot of the mountains.
