Julia C.
Yelp
Definitely recommend you do this while you are in Zurich. Amazing views and an easy hike that you can extend for as long as you want. Almost every 30 minutes, there is an option to end your hike by walking down the mountain and taking public transit from there back to the city center.
I took S10 train which runs every 30 minutes from Zurich Main Station, purchasing an Albis Pass (CHF 17.60 valid for 24 hours). The 20 min train ride to Uetliberg is smooth and scenic. There's an observation area and hotel a short hike up the mountain. Great place to take pictures. Most people seem to take the train up to here and then back.
To start the hike, look for signs for Felsenegg. First you go down a bunch of stairs. The rest of the hike is relatively flat, wide, tree-lined path with gorgeous views of snow-capped mountains, lush fields of grass, and Swiss chalets. It really does feel like you are in Heidi or The Sound of Music. The trail is very well marked and there are just enough people on it to feel safe but not crowded.
Normally, you'd hike all the way to Felsenegg and then take a gondola down to Adliswil, from which you can take the S4 train back to Zurich Main Station. However, the gondola was closed for annual maintenance from Feb 25 - April 5th 2019. (Check http://felsenegg.com/en/contact to see when maintenance is for future years.) So when I got to Balderen Beizli (a small food stand, cash only), I turned and started walking down the mountain towards Leimbach. I could have taken a quick train back to Zurich Main, but instead I decided to buy some snacks at a Coop supermarket and hop on a bus to the Wollishofen ferry terminal.
From there, I rode the ferry up to Schiffstation Bürkliplatz (in Zurich city center). Everybody else got off the ferry at this point, but I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay on the boat as it went back down to Thalwil and up again to Schiffstation Bürkliplatz. It was absolutely perfect -- gorgeous view, 60 degrees, the sun setting and the wind in my face. A fantastic, perfect Zurich day.
Longer note on Zurich Transporation:
All the transit required for this hike is also covered by the ZurichCard (CHF 27.00 for 24 hours) which additionally includes discounts to museums, stores, restaurants, and city tours.
You could also purchase a 9 o'clock pass which covers the same area as the ZurichCard is one CHF cheaper (CHF 26.00) and lasts for 24 hours on weekends and until 5am the next morning on weekdays. Does that mean a 9 o'clock pass purchased at 9am lasts until 5am on Saturday or 9am on Saturday? Similarly does a 9 o'clock pass purchased at 9am on Sunday last until 5am on Monday or 9am on Monday? I have no idea -- the Zurich website is not very clear. But the 9 o'clock pass pretty obviously worse than ZurichCard, since you only need to save 1 CHF from the additional discounts, or have a small probability of wanting to use the whole 24 hours on a weekday, for ZurichCard to be better. The only reason I can think of to buy a 9 o'clock pass instead is if your work will only cover transportation expenses, and not bundled tourist cards.
Something else you could do is to purchase a four zone day pass (17.60) or a 1-2 zone day pass for 8.80 CHF and then 1-2 zones 24 zone upgrade for an additional 8.80 CHF. This should give you access to all the zones that are adjacent to 110 (same as ZurichCard & 9 o'clock pass) and all the zones that are adjacent to those zones, for only 17.60 CHF, the same price as the Albis pass. But I'm not confident that I'm understanding zones correctly.
For example, I know that Zurich Main station is in Zone 110, which counts for two zones. Uetliberg is in a different zone, Zone 155, which is adjacent to Zone 110, so you definitely need to pay for at least three zones.
However, the train goes from Zone 154 before arriving in Zone 155. So does that mean you have to pay for four zones? If you hike to Felsenegg and then take the gondola down to Adliswill, is that now five zones because you've moved from Zone 155 to Zone 150? Or is it still three zones because all the zones you passed through (154, 155, and 150) are all adjacent to Zone 110?
Adding to the complication, I wasn't able to buy a day pass for three zones at the station. The machines don't give you the option to buy a four-zone ticket. The options are either 110, or enter a specific destination. Hence, giving up and buying the Albis Pass, which was the cheapest guarantee that my travel was correctly paid for. But next time I would try the 1-2 zone day pass for 8.80 CHF and then 1-2 zones 24 zone upgrade for an additional 8.80 CHF instead.
Actually, they did check my ticket on the ferry, between Schiffstation Bürkliplatz and Wollishofen, so I can confirm that tickets are definitely checked in Zurich.