Aarau
Aarau is 236 km from Geneva Airport, about 2 hours 30 minutes by road across western and central Switzerland, with no border to cross. The capital of the canton of Aargau sits on the Aare at the foot of the Jura, and its old town is famous for the painted wooden gables under its roofs. AirportsTransfers.ch offers direct private transfers from Geneva arrivals to hotels and offices in Aarau.
- Distance from GVA: 236 km
- Drive time: about 2 h 30
- Canton: Aargau, German-speaking
- Known for: painted roof gables, the Aargau art museum, a brief role as Switzerland's first capital
- Best for: business visits, a calm city break between Zurich and Basel
The route from Geneva Airport
From the airport, the motorway follows Lake Geneva to Lausanne and then heads north-east, either via Yverdon and the Jura foot lakes or via Fribourg and Bern. Both routes join the main east-west motorway close to Olten, from where Aarau is a short drive down the Aare valley. The journey is mainly on motorway through farmland, forests and small towns, with the long ridge of the Jura on the northern horizon.
By train, getting from Geneva Airport to Aarau normally requires at least one change. Travellers arriving with luggage, colleagues or children often prefer a private transfer, especially after a long flight or for an early meeting the next morning.
The city of beautiful gables
Aarau's old town is compact and charming. Many of its houses have broad roof overhangs whose undersides, the gables, are decorated with painted patterns and figures, so that walking through the narrow lanes involves looking up as much as ahead. Local guides like to call it the city of beautiful gables. The upper town, with the town hall, the Stadtkirche and the Schlössli, the oldest building in town, sits on a rise above the river.
Aarau has an interesting place in Swiss history: in 1798, when the Helvetic Republic was declared under French influence, Aarau was briefly its first capital. Today it is a lively cantonal capital with a university of applied sciences, administration buildings and a steady flow of business visitors.
Beyond the old town, the Graben, a broad street built on the line of the former moat, is the setting for markets and seasonal events, while the quarter around the modern station, with its distinctive architecture and clock face, shows how the city has grown. Small independent shops, cafés with terraces and a relaxed pace make Aarau a pleasant place to spend an evening after meetings, without the bustle of a larger city.
Culture, river and green spaces
The Aargauer Kunsthaus, a museum with a strong collection of Swiss art from the eighteenth century to the present, is housed in a building extended by the architects Herzog and de Meuron. It is one of the leading art museums in the region and a good reason to linger in Aarau.
The Aare flows briskly past the city, and riverside paths are popular for walking, running and cycling. In summer, the open-air pool by the river and the islands and woods of the Aare floodplain offer a refreshing break. Aarau is also known for its tradition of bell-founding, and for natural sciences: the Naturama museum explains the landscapes, plants and animals of the canton.
Day trips from Aarau
Aargau is sometimes called the canton of castles, and several are within easy reach:
- Lenzburg Castle: a hilltop fortress with a museum, a short drive east
- Habsburg Castle: the ancestral seat of the Habsburg dynasty, near Brugg
- Baden: a historic spa town on the Limmat with thermal waters
- Zurich and Basel: each well under an hour away by road
- Solothurn: a baroque gem on the Aare to the west
If you want to combine several stops in one day, a chauffeur by the hour, with a minimum of two hours, is a practical alternative to coordinating trains and buses.
Practical tips for visitors
Aarau is easy to explore on foot; most hotels are in or near the old town and the station. The city is quiet on Sundays, when many shops are closed. For business travellers, the central location means that meetings in Zurich, Basel or Bern can be combined in a single trip, and invoices for companies are available for transfers. If you are heading on to Zurich Airport for an onward flight, we can arrange that leg too.
How to book your transfer to Aarau
On AirportsTransfers.ch, booking takes a few clicks, with a fixed price per vehicle displayed before payment by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Your chauffeur monitors the flight, waits for you in arrivals with a name sign and absorbs any delay at no extra charge. Choose the Mercedes E-Class Business Sedan for up to three people, the S-Class First Class Sedan for added comfort, the V-Class van for up to seven passengers and ten bags, or the Sprinter minibus for groups. Child seats are provided on request; please declare skis and large luggage when you book. Phone and WhatsApp: +41 78 346 56 77.
