Zürich Hauptbahnhof
Switzerland's largest station runs 2,915 trains a day — and a river flows through it in a tunnel, with tracks both above and below.
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This is where Swiss rail began: the original terminus of the Spanisch Brötli Bahn, the first railway built entirely within Switzerland. It was ranked Europe's best station in 2023 and 2024, and it sits on the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance. The Sihl river passes beneath the building in a buried channel while trains run over and under it across multiple levels spanning ground and below-ground.
What to look for
- The ShopVille underground mall that ties together the below-ground platform passages
- The multiple track levels — some above, some below the tunneled Sihl river running through the station
- The northern mouth of Bahnhofstrasse, one of the city's main shopping streets, starting right outside the main entrance
Inside ZVV fare zone 110, so any standard Zurich transit pass covers you here.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof is one of 17 sights worth the detour in Zurich, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Zurich pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Zurich
- LetzigrundOn this track, on 21 June 1960, Armin Hary became the first person in history to run 100 metres in 10.0 seconds.
- GrossmünsterThe church where Zwingli launched the Swiss-German Reformation in 1520 — and then his followers stripped out the organ and every statue to prove the point.
- Zürich Opera HouseThe first electrically lit opera house in Europe — built in 16 months, nearly razed by street riots, and winner of Opera Company of the Year at the 2014 International Opera Awards.
- Cabaret VoltaireHugo Ball borrowed a back room on Spiegelgasse in February 1916 and accidentally invented Dada — Lenin was renting a flat fourteen doors up the same street.
- Kunsthaus ZürichTwo buildings on opposite sides of Heimplatz, linked underground, housing one of Switzerland's most important art collections — the 2021 David Chipperfield sandstone block alone added over 80% more floor space.
- Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum)A French Renaissance chateau with dozens of towers sits on a river peninsula two minutes from the main train station — and it covers all of Swiss history from the Stone Age forward.