Sleeping in Zurich Airport - Curfew, Transit Hotel, Capsules

Zurich is an easy airport to be stuck in and a hard one to sleep in for free. The landside halls stay open all night and nobody moves you on, but the benches have armrests, the lights stay up, the restaurants close at 10:00 pm, and the curfew means that nothing takes off before 6:00 am anyway. The good news is that the airport sells its own beds on both sides of security, and three hotels are a covered walk away. This guide covers the rules, the Transit Hotel, the capsules and when a hotel is the better buy.

The rules

Zurich Airport has had a night curfew since 2010: scheduled departures end at 10:45 pm, arrivals at 10:55 pm, the half hour to 11:30 pm is kept for delayed flights, and nothing moves until 6:00 am. The landside areas, Check-in 1 to 3 and the arrivals hall, are open 24 hours, with police patrols and cleaning crews but no requirement to show a ticket. Security closes around 10:30 pm and reopens about 4:30 am, so the airside piers, the Airside Center and the gates are out of reach overnight unless you are already inside, as transit passengers in the Transit Hotel are. Shops and restaurants close by 10:00 pm and the first cafés open about 5:00 am; the Coop under Check-in 3 and the vending machines cover the gap.

Landside: where to sit and the capsule hotel

The quietest free seating is in Check-in 1 and 2 away from the doors, and in the gallery above Check-in 3; the arrivals hall is busier and colder. Bring a layer and an eye mask. The paid alternative is the Alpine Garden Capsule Hotel, Europe’s largest, directly opposite Check-in 1: 144 lockable capsules in eight rooms, two of them women only, with shared showers, a locked luggage room, a bistro from 5:00 am and hosts round the clock, from about CHF 55 to 65 a night booked ahead and more as a walk-in, plus day use from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Our capsule hotel page has the details. It is landside, so arriving passengers and transit passengers who have cleared immigration can use it; passengers who must stay airside cannot.

Airside: the Transit Hotel and Dayrooms

The airport runs its own Transit Hotel at the D gates on the first floor of the B/D pier, inside the non-Schengen transit zone: 15 simple single, double and multi-bed rooms with a washbasin, TV, water, coffee and tea, a rest area with 12 loungers, woollen blankets and lockers, and showers along the corridor with towels and hairdryers provided. It is staffed 24 hours, bookable up to six months ahead on the airport’s site or at the desk, and open to any airside passenger regardless of airline. Day rates from November 2025 are CHF 90 or 120 for a single, CHF 120 or 150 for a double, CHF 150 or 180 for a triple and CHF 45 or 60 for a lounger, split at four hours; overnight rates are higher and on the airport’s price list; early check-in and late check-out are CHF 10 an hour. The hotel is closed for refurbishment from 9 to 22 November 2026. It is the place for a non-Schengen to non-Schengen connection that spans the curfew, when leaving the transit zone would mean a visa or a long immigration queue.

When a hotel is the better buy

The line is about CHF 150 or two people. Above it, a room at the Hyatt Place Zurich Airport The Circle gives you a bed, a shower and a 24-hour market a covered five-minute walk from check-in; the Radisson Blu Hotel Zurich Airport adds its own walkway into the terminal and a bar open to midnight; the Hyatt Regency adds a sauna and a club lounge. For the lowest rate with a private room, the ibis budget Zurich Airport is two tram stops away with breakfast from 5:00 am. Any of them beats the benches for a 6:00 am departure, because security opens at 4:30 am and the walk is under ten minutes.

Stranded by a cancellation

When snow or a strike cancels the evening wave, the airport does not open cots; airlines rebook and, where they are liable, issue hotel vouchers for the Glattbrugg hotels with shuttles. Book your own room on your phone before the queue at the transfer desk reaches you: the walkable hotels sell out first, then the Mövenpick and Dorint, whose shuttles run to 11:10 pm and 11:30 pm. The day rooms guide covers paid rest by the hour for the daytime gaps, and the connecting guide the transfer rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Zurich Airport open at night?

The landside halls stay open and lit all night, but there are no departures between 11:30 pm and 6:00 am because of the noise curfew, security closes around 10:30 pm and reopens about 4:30 am, and the shops and restaurants shut by 10:00 pm. The airside piers are not accessible overnight except to guests already in the Transit Hotel.

Where can I sleep inside the airport?

Airside, in the airport-run Transit Hotel at the D gates: single, double and triple rooms by the night, a 12-lounger rest area and showers, bookable six months ahead. Landside, in the Alpine Garden Capsule Hotel opposite Check-in 1, 144 lockable capsules from about CHF 55 a night with women-only rooms. Free sleeping on the benches in Check-in 1 and 2 is tolerated but cold and bright.

What does the Transit Hotel cost?

Day use from November 2025 is CHF 90 for a single room up to four hours and CHF 120 beyond, CHF 120 and CHF 150 for a double, CHF 150 and CHF 180 for a triple, and CHF 45 or CHF 60 for a lounger in the rest area; overnight rates are on the airport's price list and run higher. Showers without a room are sold for a fee. It closes for refurbishment from 9 to 22 November 2026.

Is a hotel better value than the airport options?

For two people, usually. A double at the Transit Hotel or two capsules costs about the same as a room at the ibis budget, two tram stops away, and the Hyatt Place at The Circle is a covered five-minute walk with a 24-hour market. The Radisson Blu has its own walkway into the terminal.

Information last verified: October 2, 2026