Zürich is among the most expensive cities in the world. So it won't be a problem to find an expensive hotels in the city. If you want to find a budget friendly accommodation we suggest you have a look at the following options.

• We plan to organise a 'buddy' system with local volunteers. The volunteers will offer a spare bed or couch for a symbolic amount of money. If you are interested, write an email to our local team before 2013-06-09 24:00.
• Have a look at airbnb.com or couchsurfing.org.
• Look for a reasonably priced hotel on zuerich.com, booking.com or any similar site.

We recommend you to take the train to Zürich when possible. There are many fast international trains that will bring you right into the city center. If you have to fly, you can use one of the three main airports:

• Zürich (ZRH), 15min by train, 30min by tram
• Basel-Mulhouse (BSL), 1h 30min by train
• Geneva (GVA), 3h by train

Swiss Public transport is very good. The most useful tool to plan your travels inside Switzerland is http://www.sbb.ch. The website finds all connections with trains, buses, trams or boats…

Zürichs old center is not very big and can easily be explored by foot. For longer distances and to reach the Irchel-Campus the tram is the transport of choice.

Tickets for the transport system can be bought at the vending machines (located at almost every tram stop) or at one of the ticket offices (Where they are and when they are open: Website of the ticket offices).

You can buy tickets which are valid either for one hour or for 24 hours. For travelling in Zurich you need a ticket for the Zone 110 which allows you to use any public transportation system (also trains) within the white area shown in this map . There is also the possibility to buy multi-tickets for six one-hour- or 24-hour-trips at the ticket offices and at newer vending machines. You have to stick these tickets into the puncher of the vending machine before you start your trip.

In general we recommend to buy a multi-ticket for six 24-hour trips. You can validate this one on each day of the school and travel to the Irchel Campus and back from it as well as in the evening as much as you like.

If you travel from or to Zurich Airport you need ticket which is valid for Zone 110 and 121 during one hour, no matter if you travel by train to Zurich Mainstation or by Tram Number 10 to Zurich Center.

Further instructions how to use the ticket machines can be found at:

• this Website
• this PDF

Switzerland is not a country with an extensive breakfast culture (so no scrambled eggs with sausages). The easiest place to get something to eat in the morning is the cafeteria on the Irchel Campus (right next to the main entry). They are open from 0730 a.m. (except Sunday) and serve coffee, juices, bread, jam, yoghurt, etc.

There is a canteen on the Irchel campus serving three different dishes (one vegetarian) for lunch as well as having a salad bar. Further you can get sandwiches as well as other stuff in the cafeteria. The average cost for lunch is CHF 7 without drinks (most of the people use the free tab water). For sunday lunch we have organized sandwiches and drinks.

As already written on other occasion Zurich is a rather expensive place. Nevertheless there are Restaurants serving decent food for reasonable prices. Some places which can be recommended:

• LindeOberstrasse: about 5 minutes by tram from Irchel Campus (Map), offering different kind of dishes
• There are just outside the Irchel Park the restaurants Il Postino and Incrocio.
• The Bindella group operates Restaurants at several locations in Zürich. Both Santa Lucia and Spaghetti Factory offer good value for money.
• In general there is a large variety of restaurants with different style (swiss food, international food) in the Niederdorf (Map), mainly along the Niederdorfstrasse starting at the Central.
• Finally, the weather forcast looks promising for the next days. So you can always buy some food in a supermarket and enjoy the evening along the lake or in one of the many parks.

The summer school is hosted by the Physik-Institut of the University of Zürich. The Lectures will take place in Room Y36K08 on the Irchel-Campus.

The closest tram stop is Zürich, Universität Irchel. Lines that go to “Universität Irchel” are number 9 and 10. Zürich, Milchbuck is slightly further away, but offers a nice walk through the park. Milchbuck is served by tram lines 7, 9, 10 and 14 as well as buses 69 and 72.

For more information on how to reach the Physik-Institut, see Information on how to reach the Physik-Institut.

We plan two main activities.

• On Sunday evening (Sep 1) we will have a barbecue in the park of the campus.
• On Friday evening (Sep 6) we will first have a simple dinner at the university and then move down-town together.

• The evening before the school (Aug 31) we invite everyone to meet at the Bar/Cafe/Lounge “Nachtflug”. It's located at Stüssihofstatt 4. We will be there from 19:00 onwards.
• On Thursday (Sep 5) the UZH organises the “Zürich Academics BBQ” and you are all welcome to join. The university will organise drinks and salads, while you should bring along whatever you would like to grill. The location will be at the same as for our barbecue on Sunday evening.

On the weekends before and after the school two events take place that might be of interest to you. (Unfortunately both websites are German only.)

• August 31 - September 1: Scientifica 2013, Topic Risk, an open-doors event at both universities in Zürich (UZH and ETH).
• Late Night at Zurich's Museums, wide selection of the city’s museums stay open until late.

• Luzern is one of the most prominent tourist destination close to Zürich. If you plan to visit the city, get in touch with Nicola (He can probably offer you a couch.)
• As this years Debian Conference is in Switzerland too, Daniel Pocock shares some travel tips on his Blog.