How to take the rail journey from Zurich to Chur.

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Zürich / Zurich to Chur by train

SMTJ has compiled a list of the Europe's most epic journeys by regular express trains, but this Zurich to Chur rail journey didn't make the cut, because of is comparatively short length.
However, journeys by Intercity express trains of less than two hours don't get more fabulous than this!

Routes you can take to go from Zürich / Zurich to Chur

When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.

Choose one of the following options:

Looking for connections?

Journey guides for travel to Zürich / Zurich

Route Information

Station Guides

The frontage of Zurich Hb station by the Bahnhofplatz tram stops

Zürich HB / Zurich main station Rail Station Guide

Chur Rail Station Guide

Travel Time (approx)

1hr 15min (approx)

Frequency

Daily

Travel Info

1 - 2 x trains per hour

Travel Information

Three of the daily departures, those which are usually scheduled to leave Zurich at 10:00 and 14:00 and 18:00, are by ICE4 trains that have travelled from Germany.

Final Destination: Chur

All trains also call at: Landquart
Connect at Landquart into RhB trains towards Klosters and Davos.

Departing From Zurich HB:

These trains will depart from the street level platforms/tracks at Zurich HB - gleis 3 - 18.

Arriving in Chur:

Connect at Chur into RhB trains on towards St Moritz and Arosa.

Also connect at Chur for buses to the Laax-Flims-Falera ski resort, check the Chur station guide to access more info.

From Zurich Flughafen/Airport:

There are now hourly direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Airport and Chur, but those trains take an indirect route via St Gallen.
So it's possible to save around 50 mins on a train journey from Zurich Airport to Chur, by changing trains at Zurich HB station.

Making the transfer will be much easier if you take a train from Zurich Flughafen to Zurich HB which uses the same part of Zurich HB station (platforms/tracks/gleis 3 - 18) that the trains on to Chur depart from.

So when taking a train from the airport target either;

the trains on route S24 heading to Zug - every 30 mins.
the IR trains to Luzern - every 30 mins.
the IR train to Basel via via Brugg - 1 x train per hour.

This is a direct journey

You will be travelling on one of these trains...

IC (Switzerland) Train Guide

ICE 4 (Germany) Train Guide

Journey Features

Scenic - YesLake viewsLandscape (Hills / Mountains)

Good to Know

The timetable is arranged so that connecting into the Rhaetian Railway (Rhb) trains on to St Moritz is a simple as possible.
The train from Zurich will arrive at an adjacent gleis (platform/track), so all that's required is to walk across the gleis to the St Moritz train, which will be awaiting departure, it will leave around 5 mins after the train from Zurich has arrived.

Journey description:

From the left of the train (when facing the direction) of travel, there are fabulous views over Lake Zurich...

and then over the Walensee...

...before the train makes its first station call in Sargans

Then between Sargans and Chur there are very pleasant views of distant mountain ranges from both sides of the train.

From the left there are great views over Lake Zurich for around 15 - 20 mins

Leaving Lake Zurich behind, but the highlight of the journey is yet to come

The spectacular Walensee can also be seen on the left

Between Sargans and Landquart

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This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.

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