Does anyone have information about how long one needs at Zurich airport to make a connecting flight to Florence (Chicago - Zurich - Florence)? Passport control and security lines? Does baggage get sent through?
Many thanks.

The baggage situation will probably depend on whether you are checked through on one ticket, with either the same airline or a partner.

We went the other way a few summers back, Milan to Zurich, then connecting to London. Our bags were checked through (we were BA/AA), and even though it was a relatively short connection time, maybe 40 minutes, it was plenty of time - I believe we went through another security check, but there were no lines. Hope this helps, I understand it is only one person's experience.

Even if the segments are on separate tickets, baggage could probably be checked through as long as the airlines have an interline agreement. If on a through ticket, no problem.

Switerland entered Schengen for air arrivals at the end of March, and that called for a redesign of the airports. You would have passport control and security in Zurich when coming from the U.S. One would hope they handled the redesign efficiently, but I can't speak from experience. In general for such a connection, I would prefer a connecting time of two hours. I imagine the legal connecting time is less than that, and I would worry the shorter it got.

I have not done this but ...
One point to remember is that Switzerland is now 100% part of the Schengen Convention.
Thus you are likely to have to clear
immigration in Zurigo and not Florence. I am pretty sure that have to re-enter security to get your outgoing flight in Zurigo, so plan accordingly.
Here is a movie that describes transfers there. No info about your bags, however.

Here is the transfer section of the Zurich airport site. The "Where to Go" link offers a PDF indicating 25-30 minutes to get between sections of the airport; I'm not sure if that includes waits at the checkpoints.

Thanks for the helpful information. I am flying Swiss air or codeshare all the way, so baggage should pass through. Avvocato, thanks for that video link. Andrew, can it really be that it would take 30" to get from one end of Zurich airprt to the other (I assume by tram) without any waits in the passport control and security lines?

I've done the transfer from an incoming flight from Australia to a flight to Italy - all on Swiss Air - and been happily waiting to board my next flight in well under 90 minutes. When you arrive you'll need to take the shuttle train to the other terminal. It's no drama and only takes about 2 minutes. I'm not sure about going through immigration/customs as that may have changed with the Schengen changes but I would think so, and you'll definitely have to go through security again, however the entire airport works with typical Swiss efficiency. It's my preferred hub into Europe because it it just so easy to get through after a long flight.

quote:

Originally posted by maryk:
*** When you arrive you'll need to take the shuttle train to the other terminal. ***

The tram ride comes complete with a soundtrack of MOOOOOOO -ing cows!

Thanks for the benefit of your experience, Maryk. We are scheduled for a 1hr40minute transfer time so fingers crossed.

Avvocato, being from the midwest, I speak moooo much better than I do Italian.

Best

I had forgotten about the cows - it was the most amusing thing we had heard on the whole trip I think - the shuttle was very efficient as was the whole transfer.

I am also flying Chicago-Zurich-Florence on Swissair in Sept. I have a much longer layover (6 hrs I believe). After the overnight flight which I can never sleep on, I was thinking about paying for one of the dayrooms I saw advertised. Has anyone used them? Are they convenient to get to and private enough to try and get some sleep?

I should have mentioned the cows mooing..... they gave us quite a start as we were in our usual befuddled state after the 24hour flight from Oz and were just getting used to the train being driverless when the cows - and their bells - started.

It sounds like you'll have plenty of time for the transfer - and Swiss Air are SO organised I really wouldn't stress about it.

I've not used the day rooms - but with 6 hours you could easily take a quick trip into Zurich and enjoy the delights of the old town for a few hours. There's a train direct from the airport.