Zurich car hire - cheap car rental in Switzerland
Compare car hire prices at Zurich airport
Zurich, or Zürich in German, is the largest city in Switzerland with a population of 2 million.
Taxes in this major Swiss city are still at a comfortably low level compared to other places in Europe.
Where Geneva is known for being a main hub for many international organisations, Zurich is known as a financial central where all the largest banks have got a division. Many of them have also situated their head offices in Zurich.
The favourable taxing system, beautiful architecture, stunning surroundings on the Swiss plateau and not to mention the high wages makes the international city of Zurich in central Switzerland a very attractive place to live.
A VW Passat for prices starting from around £210 for a week of Zurich Airport car hire – available from Alamo and Enterprise Rent A Car, amongst others.
Car hire at Zurich airport
The airport in Zurich is situated by the small town of Kloten 6 miles northeast of Zurich city centre.
Zurich airport – ZRH is also known as Kloten airport or in German Flughafen Zürich. See Zurich Airport location map.
At Zurich airport you will be able to arrange vehicle hire from: Avis Rent-A-Car, Alamo Car Rental, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz, Unirent, Thrifty, Flizzr, Sixt and National Car Rental.
In addition prestige auto rentals are available from companies such as King Rent.
Cheap cars in Switzerland
The Alpine country of Switzerland is one of the cheapest countries in all of Europe to purchase a new car in.
This is in some ways reflected in the low car hire prices. The cheapest hire car at Zurich airport is often a Smart – a two seater vehicle with limited baggage space, available from £150 per week; sometimes you will be lucky to find a VW Polo or a similar car in economy class for the same price.
It will be much better to hire a vehicle similar to the VW Golf, which in Switzerland will always be well equipped with 5 doors and air conditioning. For this you can expect a price in the region of £160 for one weeks hire in Zurich during the summer season.
The prices will be slightly lower outside of the tourist season, but the cheapest hire cars available from Zurich airport will rarely cost less than £130 per week.
The best car hire deals in Zurich can often he found on the medium sized vehicles in the Ford Mondeo/VW Passat class at £200 for a week's Zurich car hire.
Hire a minibus in Zurich online
It is even more ideal to hire a minibus at Zurich airport.
As long as you make your online reservation well ahead of time, you can find large 7 seater MPVs (Ford Galaxy, VW Sharan, Renault Espace, Ford S-Max, Lancia Voyager/Chrysler Voyager or similar) or even a minibus which will accommodate 9 people in the region of £350-500 for a week’s car hire in Zurich.
For those who need a considerable amount of luggage space but room only for 5 people, there are cheaper solutions amongst them Ford C-Max, Nissan Qashqai, Toyota Verso and similar.
Full-size MPV car in Zurich for up to 7 people - cheaper if you book well in advance of your ski holiday.
Excess on car hire in Switzerland
The Swiss franc (CHF) is a very strong currency with an exchange rate of (summer 2016) around £0.7 per one Swiss franc CHF.
The excess on the car hire will always be provided in the local currency. Most car hire companies in Switzerland will usually set the excess between 1000 CHF and 2000 CHF. Paradoxically, the most expensive rental cars in Switzerland do not always have the highest excess. You can view the access applicable for accidental damage or theft under “rental conditions” for each car hire quote returned by Cartrawler search engine.
It is therefore worth contemplating whether a collision damage waiver may be the best option – particularly if the exchange rate for the CHF is high. Collision damage waiver eliminates the excess for accidental damage and theft, as well as covering glass damage, light damage, lost keys etc. Collision damage waiver costs less than £5 per day and can be requested when reserving the hire car.
Even if the collision damage waiver is not applied, all hire vehicles in Switzerland are comprehensively insured (be mindful of the excess).
Cheap flights to Zurich with Easyjet
It is possible to fly from the UK to Zurich with the low-cost carrier Easyjet from two London Airports - Gatwick and Luton.
Amongst other airlines with direct flights to Zurich are British Airways (from London-Heathrow and London-City), Swiss International (from London-Heathrow and Manchester) and Vueling (from London-Luton).
