Polybahn

In 2014 I had a short post about the Polybahn. Now I have some better photos. This short funicular carries passengers up (or down) the hill in under 2 minutes. I feel like a kid when I ride it.

One day I rode down and was the only passenger. That is quite unusual.

I like seeing the sculpture on this building when I ride.

This article says that it costs CHF 2.7 (or CHF 2.4 with Halbtax), but that’s a regular ticket. If you just want to ride this and no other tram or train in the city, then it’s a short-distance fare of CHF 1.2. That’s what the sign out front says.

Zürich Funiculars

Public Transport in Zürich (the ZVV) includes trams, busses, trains, boats and three funiculars (Seilbahnen). If you buy a ticket, you might use one or more of these to reach your destination. (Or you might just ride around and see where you go if you have a day pass and want to see more of the city.)

On Saturday we got home early from our hike and still had until 5 a.m. Sunday to ride with our passes, so we, of course, took advantage of that.

One idea was to ride one of the funiculars. In one of our earliest days in Zürich, we took the Polybahn Seilbahn which goes from the river up to the University. This 10-second video shows the little cable car in action. This video takes you on the 1 ½ minute ride.

The lower entrance to the Polybahn.

Another funicular is longer with several stops between the bottom and the top. It is called the Seilbahn Rigiblick. (I have not found out why this part of the hill is called Rigiblick, except that it implies that you can see the mountain Rigi from there – Blick meaning view. I didn’t see that mountain, but maybe I should go back on a clearer day.)

This video gives a good idea of the steepness of the hill.