Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Zurich to Amsterdam. Left side wins both ends of the flight. At takeoff you get Lake Zurich and the city, and at landing you get Amsterdam's canal ring and the IJ. The mid-flight cruise over the Rhine valley and Belgian lowlands is relatively featureless at cruising altitude, so the departure and arrival views are what matter most here.

During takeoff from Zurich (ZRH), sit on the Left side for the best views. Zurich typically departs northward on runway 16/28 or 14, and a left-side seat gives you a view back over Lake Zurich stretching southeast, plus the city center. As you climb out heading northwest toward Amsterdam, the left side tracks over the Swiss Mittelland with clear sightlines toward the Jura hills. Notable sights include: Lake Zurich (stretching southeast), Zurich city center and the Limmat river corridor, the Jura ridge to the northwest, Greifensee lake to the east.

When landing at Schiphol (AMS), sit on the Left side for the best views. Schiphol typically lands from the east or southeast on runways 18R/18C or 22, meaning the approach tracks over the Dutch polder landscape. The left side gives you the best view of Amsterdam's canal ring and the IJ waterway as you descend, while the right side faces open farmland. Notable sights include: Amsterdam canal ring and historic center, the IJ waterway and Amsterdam harbour, Markermeer lake to the east, the flat green polder grid of North Holland.

The flight from Zurich (ZRH) to Schiphol (AMS) takes Approximately 1 hour 40 minutes.

The flight tracks northwest over the Swiss Mittelland, crosses the Rhine near Basel, then traverses the flat agricultural plains of Alsace and Belgium. Over Belgium the landscape is largely featureless at cruising altitude — low-density urban sprawl and farmland. The Rhine-Meuse delta region of the southern Netherlands becomes visible on descent, with characteristic flat polder geometry and waterways.