Why this matters
European cities vary wildly. Heathrow has the slow Piccadilly line and expensive Express. Roma Fiumicino is far. But Zurich Flughafen literally has Hauptbahnhof trains running every 10 minutes underneath the terminal. The difference is 15 minutes vs 90.
Zurich
Zurich ZRH airport station has direct trains to Hauptbahnhof (10 minutes, every 5–10 mins) plus direct InterCity to Bern, Basel, Lugano. You can land and be in Lucerne 60 minutes later without changing.
Frankfurt
Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof is a long-distance ICE station — direct trains to Cologne, Berlin, Munich without going to Hauptbahnhof. Local S-Bahn 10 minutes to Frankfurt Hbf.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam Schiphol has direct Intercity trains to Centraal (15 min) and onward Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris. International TGV/Eurostar boards directly at Schiphol.
Vienna
Vienna VIE has CAT (Wien Mitte, 16 min) and S7 commuter (24 min, much cheaper). ÖBB Railjet onward to Salzburg, Graz, Linz directly from VIE.
Oslo
Oslo Gardermoen is the best in Europe for short-stay travelers — Flytoget Express 19 minutes to Oslo S, plus regional trains throughout Norway.
Cities to avoid
Bergamo (BGY) for Milan — bus only. Beauvais for Paris — far. Stansted, Luton for London — slower than Heathrow. Flight choices often overlook this last-mile cost.
Strategy
For 2–3 day city trips, well-connected airport saves 1.5 hours roundtrip. Worth €30+ in flight-fare premium to fly into Vienna VIE rather than Bratislava BTS, even though both serve Vienna.