Coach Hire Across Switzerland

Zurich Coach Hire for Clubs, Classes and Company Outings

Zurich gives a coach a proper base: the bus station on Sihlquai, directly behind Zürich HB, with 28 spaces and no booking. The old town is another matter. A coach cannot drive in, so the plan is a set-down at the edge and a short walk.

Start at Sihlquai

Zürich Bus Station, once called Carparkplatz Sihlquai, sits in Kreis 5 right behind the main station. It has 15 boarding bays and 13 waiting spaces, no height limit, and it is open all night. Parking is paid at the machines. For a group arriving by train and leaving by coach, it is the obvious meeting point.

The waiting room and toilets in the building close from 22:00 to 06:00. Keep that in mind for an early departure or a late return.

Full-size coach interior with reclining seats and aisle
Full-size coach interior with reclining seats and aisle

Old town, bays and permits

Coaches stay out of the Limmat old town, the Münsterhof and the shopping stretch of Bahnhofstrasse. The exception is a day permit from the city: valid for a single vehicle on a single date, it allows a set-down and nothing more. For most groups a coach bay on the edge and a short walk is simpler.

The city lists a few metered coach bays near the old town and the lake, mostly for two hours, and unmetered bays near the Kongresshaus, the zoo and the Letzigrund. Signs at each bay say whether waiting is allowed, and the driver checks them on the day.

Airports for a group arriving in Zurich

  • Zurich Airport (ZRH) — about 13 km by road to Paradeplatz, in the centre of Zürich, about 20 min by coach in light traffic; longer at peak times

Stadiums and arenas a coach can reach

  • Stadion Letzigrund — Home ground of FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich, the Weltklasse Zürich athletics meeting and open-air concerts; in Zürich-Altstetten, opened in 2007 (city-owned). About 25,000 spectators for football and athletics and about 50,000 for open-air concerts. There is no parking on the stadium site; the underground garage and the Schlachthof car park are for permit holders only. Public car parks nearby: Letzipark shopping centre and Parkhaus Hardau II (about 5 minutes on foot) and Park and Ride Altstetten. The city parking register lists four unmetered coach bays on Baslerstrasse next to the stadium (in service since 2 September 2026).
  • Swiss Life Arena — Ice hockey arena of the ZSC Lions, also used for corporate and other events, in Zürich-Altstetten a few minutes on foot from Zürich Altstetten station; stops "Bändliweg" (tram 17, buses 78, 307) and "Seidelhof" (buses 20, 31). Only very limited parking on ZSC Lions match days (Engrosmarkt and Aligro sites, bought online in advance); the arena's own garage has a 2.10 m height limit. No coach parking is published.
  • Hallenstadion — Indoor arena for concerts, shows and sport at Wallisellenstrasse 45, 8050 Zürich-Oerlikon, beside Messe Zürich; 8 minutes on foot from Zürich Oerlikon station, stop "Messe/Hallenstadion" (tram 11, buses 61, 62, 94). The arena sends coaches and buses to the coach spaces at the Parkhaus Messe Zürich (Hagenholzstrasse), about 500 m away on foot.
  • Stadion Zürich (Hardturm site, project "Ensemble") — Planned football stadium for 18,000 spectators on the former Hardturm site for Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Zürich, approved by Zürich voters three times (last in September 2020). Not built yet: appeals delayed the project and, according to the club, construction could start in 2027 at the earliest. Until then both clubs play at the Stadion Letzigrund.

Coach day trips from Zurich

  • Lindt Home of Chocolate (Kilchberg) — about 6 km, about 15 min
  • Rapperswil — about 40 km, about 40 min
  • Einsiedeln (Kloster Einsiedeln) — about 40 km, about 45 min
  • Rheinfall (Rhine Falls), Laufen side at Schloss Laufen — about 49 km, about 55 min
  • Luzern — about 53 km, about 55 min
  • Stein am Rhein — about 58 km, about 1 h
  • Insel Mainau (Lake Constance, Germany) — about 82 km, about 1.25 h
  • Engelberg (Titlis) — about 86 km, about 1.5 h
  • Basel — about 86 km, about 1.5 h
  • Appenzell — about 94 km, about 1.5 h
  • Vaduz (Liechtenstein) — about 109 km, about 1.5 h
  • Andermatt — about 109 km, about 1.75 h
  • Interlaken — about 120 km, about 2 h
  • Bern — about 123 km, about 1.75 h

Where a coach can stop in Zurich, and other rules

  • Zurich Airport (ZRH) is about 13 km by road from Paradeplatz, about 20 min in light traffic. Journeys take longer at peak times.
  • Zurich Airport (ZRH): coaches load and unload at the Bus Station Kante R (coach and tour zone, stands R1 to R5); for longer waits they must use the waiting area P12-300. Parking at Kante R is paid on site.
  • Zurich Airport curbside lanes: the terminals are served on two levels (Departures/Check-in upstairs, Arrivals downstairs), each with a public outer lane and a private inner lane. The inner lanes (Check-in Services and Arrival Services) need a permit from the airport operator. The "bus and coach" permit is only for coaches, minibuses with more than nine seats including the driver, and vehicles over 2 m high, for pre-ordered pick-ups and drop-offs; it is applied for at the ZRH Center with the form and a copy of the vehicle registration. Commercial users who come only now and then can take a one-time ticket at the entry barrier instead, without applying. Vehicles may not stop in the lanes except in the marked spaces.
  • Zürich Bus Station (Sihlquai, between Limmatstrasse, Sihlquai and Ausstellungsstrasse, directly behind Zürich HB in Kreis 5; formerly called Carparkplatz Sihlquai) is the city's terminal for coaches and long-distance buses. It has 28 coach spaces (15 boarding bays and 13 waiting spaces), is open 24 hours with no height limit, and has one entry and one exit via Sihlquai/Ausstellungsstrasse. Parking is paid at the pay machines on the side of the operations building. The waiting room and WCs in the operations building are closed from 22:00 to 06:00. No travel tickets are sold at the station.
  • Street coach parking listed in the city of Zürich parking register (Dienstabteilung Verkehr, status 4 October 2026), all paid at meters: Bahnhofquai 5 (2 spaces, max. 2 hours), Stadthausquai (3 spaces, max. 2 hours), Pelikanstrasse 9a-11 (2 spaces, max. 2 hours) and St. Annagasse (3 spaces, max. 2 hours), Hafen Enge on Mythenquai (7 spaces, up to 15 hours) and Hardstrasse under the Hardbrücke (4 spaces, max. 4 hours, since May 2026).
  • Further coach bays without parking meters in the same register: Alfred-Escher-Strasse in Enge (2; the FIFA Museum calls them set-down bays), Claridenstrasse at the Kongresshaus and Tonhalle (2), General-Guisan-Quai (2), Stadthausquai at the Münsterhof (1), Zürichbergstrasse near Zoo Zürich (5, since September 2026), Baslerstrasse at the Stadion Letzigrund (4, since September 2026) and Hagenholzstrasse in Oerlikon (2). Whether each bay allows waiting or only setting down is shown by the signs on site.
  • Stockerstrasse (Enge): by an order of August 2024, two bays along house No. 20 are reserved for coaches to set passengers down and pick them up only (no waiting); the city plans to keep them permanently.
  • Old town and Bahnhofstrasse: the Altstadt on both banks of the Limmat, Bahnhofstrasse between Augustinergasse and Kuttelgasse and the Münsterhof are restricted-access zones with pedestrian zones. A vehicle may enter a pedestrian zone only with a day permit ("Tagesbewilligung für die Zufahrt in die Sperrzone") from the Dienstabteilung Verkehr or a Stadtpolizei station, issued for one named vehicle and one day, and only to set passengers down or deliver goods. The permit never allows parking; drivers must take the shortest route and drive at walking pace in pedestrian zones, giving way to pedestrians.
  • Messe Zürich and Hallenstadion: coaches park and wait at the 17 outdoor coach spaces in front of the Parkhaus Messe Zürich, access from Hagenholzstrasse (the car park itself has a 2.50 m height limit on the ground floor). Kunsthaus Zürich sends coaches to Stadthausquai 3. The FIFA Museum uses the set-down bays on Alfred-Escher-Strasse. Lindt Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg has a drop-off zone at Seestrasse 204 but no coach parking on site. Swiss Life Arena, Stadion Letzigrund, Kongresshaus and THE HALL publish no coach parking.
  • Mythenquai / Hafen Enge (works): the city is turning the Hafen Enge car park into a park. The 2024 order moves its seven coach spaces to a temporary site with six coach spaces at the Parkplatz Strandbad Mythenquai (Monday to Friday 08:00 to 19:00, Saturday 08:00 to 16:00, up to 15 hours) and later to permanent spaces on Alfred-Escher-Strasse, expected at the end of 2028. In October 2026 the city register still lists the seven coach spaces at Hafen Enge; check the signs on site.
  • Pelikanplatz (Kreis 1): the street project around Pelikanplatz removes the coach stand at the junction with St. Annagasse; new coach spaces on Pelikanstrasse and St. Annagasse are part of the Uraniastrasse street project.
  • Zürich Bus Station: the city decided in 2019 to keep the coach station on Sihlquai for 15 more years and renovated it, with a new operations building, a waiting room for 50 people and a drivers' rest room (works planned from January 2023 to September 2024).
  • Zürich HB (Hauptbahnhof): the main station and a major rail hub with direct trains to Paris, Milan, Munich, Vienna, Hamburg and other European cities; Zürich Bus Station on Sihlquai, directly behind the station, is where coaches load and park.
  • Zürich Stadelhofen: S-Bahn station on the east side of the old town, near Bellevue; trams 8 and 11 run from here to Bürkliplatz.
  • Zürich Oerlikon: station in the north of the city, 7 minutes from Zürich HB with trains every six minutes; tram 50 and buses 61 and 62 run to Messe Zürich and the Hallenstadion.
  • Zürich Flughafen: the airport's own railway station, with frequent trains to Zürich HB and long-distance trains towards Bern and Geneva (about 350 train connections a day); for Basel there is an hourly direct InterRegio train, and most other journeys to Basel need a change at Zürich HB.
  • Zürich Altstetten (for the Swiss Life Arena and the Stadion Letzigrund), Zürich Stettbach (for THE HALL) and Zürich Enge (for the FIFA Museum and the Kongresshaus) are further S-Bahn stations used by event visitors.
  • Cabotage: under Article 20 of the EU-Switzerland Land Transport Agreement, a coach operator established in an EU state may not carry passengers between two places in Switzerland. A group journey that starts and ends in Switzerland therefore needs a vehicle from an operator established in Switzerland. Coaches may carry groups across the border in both directions; these occasional services need no authorisation, but the coach carries a journey form (Fahrtenblatt).
  • Road charges: coaches and other buses over 3.5 tonnes pay the flat-rate heavy vehicle fee (pauschale Schwerverkehrsabgabe, PSVA) for every day they are in Switzerland, on all public roads, and need no motorway vignette; foreign-registered coaches pay the PSVA online through the BAZG "Via" portal or app before entering Switzerland. Minibuses and cars up to 3.5 tonnes need the motorway vignette (the e-vignette linked to the number plate, or the sticker) to use motorways and expressways (Autobahnen / autoroutes / autostrade).
  • Speed and driving bans: on motorways and expressways coaches may drive at up to 100 km/h (articulated buses and scheduled buses with standing places excepted); heavy vehicles are otherwise limited to 80 km/h. The Swiss night driving ban (22:00 to 05:00) and the Sunday and public-holiday ban for heavy vehicles do not apply to vehicles carrying passengers.
  • Drivers' hours: coach drivers follow the Swiss ordinance ARV 1, aligned with the EU rules: at most 9 hours of driving a day (10 hours twice a week), a break of at least 45 minutes after 4.5 hours of driving and at least 11 hours of daily rest, recorded by tachograph. Drivers of foreign-registered coaches must keep the same driving, break and rest rules in Switzerland. In domestic traffic, professional drivers of cars and of minibuses with up to 16 seats besides the driver follow ARV 2 instead.
  • Winter: Switzerland has no general winter-tyre obligation, but a vehicle must be fit for the road conditions and the driver must keep control of it at all times; the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA) recommends winter tyres from October to Easter. Where the sign "Schneeketten obligatorisch" / "chaînes à neige obligatoires" / "Catene per la neve obbligatorie" (sign 2.48) is shown, at least two drive wheels on the same axle must be fitted with snow chains.
  • Cross-border day trips: a coach based in Switzerland may take a group into a neighbouring country and back. The road rules, charges and any low-emission rules of that country apply on its roads, so the operator checks them before the trip.

Museums, chocolate and the lake

The Kunsthaus wants groups registered in advance. The Landesmuseum beside the station runs private tours for at most 25 people, booked two weeks ahead. A class of 50 therefore needs two guides.

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg is 15 minutes by road. Coaches use its drop-off zone and may not park on the site. Lake boats leave from Bürkliplatz, which has no official coach stop, so the operator confirms the nearest one.

Day trips and long days

Lucerne and the Rhine Falls are each just under an hour away. Einsiedeln takes about 45 minutes, Appenzell and Vaduz about 1.5 hours. Interlaken is about two hours, which leaves room for a mountain railway in the middle of the day.

A coach driver may drive 9 hours a day at most, with a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours. A return day to Interlaken fits; add a late dinner and it may not, so ask for a second driver if the day runs long.

What organisers ask us

Can the coach drop us at our hotel in the old town?

Only with the city's day permit, and only to let passengers and bags off. Otherwise the coach stops at the nearest bay and the group walks.

Where does the coach wait during a fair at Messe Zürich or a show at the Hallenstadion?

Outside the Parkhaus Messe Zürich, where 17 open-air coach spaces are entered from Hagenholzstrasse. It can stay there for the whole event.

Is there a coach stop at the Fraumünster?

Not at the church itself. The nearest coach bays are a few minutes away by the river. Group tickets for the Chagall windows are sold on site only, with no advance sale online.

More group trips by coach

Vehicles, each with a driver