Short trip to Switzerland

We had planned five days in Zurich.

Unfortunately, things turned out a little differently. We braved the cold and wet weather in Zurich in February 2025.

This week started off quite stressful on the plane and ended with us missing our connecting flight in Vienna.

We flew with Austrian Airlines and we have to say we were very satisfied.

Everything went perfectly, except for the fact that we only had 35 minutes for our layover, but the flight itself was unfortunately delayed by 25 minutes.

We got a hotel room immediately and another flight the next morning.

Our dinner and breakfast were paid for by the airline.

Once we arrived in Zurich, we spent three days in the rain and cold.

Zurich is actually a beautiful city, but the entire old town was a construction site, so it wasn't really possible to stroll around comfortably.

And constantly walking in the rain isn't exactly fun either.

Our hotel was in Stadlhofen, right next to the opera house. The Ambassador is part of the Hilton group and was very nice and clean; the staff were very friendly and accommodating.

This time we tried the continental breakfast. It took some getting used to, as everything was weighed down to the exact gram. Anything extra was expensive.

For example: a boiled egg cost €4.

                            Cappuccino €9

Butter €1 per mini pack; this continued throughout the entire breakfast.

But it wasn't just the hotel that was incredibly expensive. As beautiful as Zurich is, the prices they charge for food and drinks are insane.

For example: a bratwurst in a roll costs €12.00.

                           Spaghetti Bolognese €21.00

Cheese fondue (200 grams) €45.00

Glass of wine (0.1l) €9.00 and so it continued.

But there's also some good news: we had already bought the Zurich Card in advance, so we could travel from A to B without a care in the world.

In Zurich, there are seemingly thousands of trains, trams, and buses, so you can always reach your destination without long waits. This is in stark contrast to Germany, where trains, trams, and buses are constantly being canceled.

The little funicular up the hill was also fantastic, just like in Lisbon. It's tucked away in a building near Twin Square. The University of Zurich is located on that hill, and all the students are lucky enough to be able to take this funicular up.

The return flight went smoothly, although we have to say we'll never again have such a short layover. It was pure stress, as we had to walk across the entire airport and only had 15 minutes.

We arrived back in Paphos just in time for the carnival parade and enjoyed the parade and the sunshine.