Sun & light planner

Golden hour in Zurich

In mid-June golden hour in Zurich starts at 20:37 and lasts 48 minutes; in mid-December it starts at 15:44 and lasts 52. The tool is set to Zurich — pick your shoot date.

In Zurich the evening golden hour starts at 20:37 in mid-June (48 min) and at 15:44 in mid-December (52 min). Pick a date for the exact day.
—
Or drag across the day chart.
—
A row of buildings or a hill: about 5° for a four-storey block 100 m away.
Exact coordinates

Europe/Zurich

  • golden (sun 6° to −0.8°)
  • dusk (−0.8° to −4°)
  • blue (−4° to −6°)
  • night
  • sun altitude
Golden hour, evening
—
Blue hour, evening
—
Golden hour, morning
—
Sunrise
—
Sunset
—
Daylight
—
Sun sets toward
—
Highest sun
—
Sun at chosen time
—
Shadow of a 1.80 m person
—
Drag the map to place the spot exactly
© OpenStreetMap · dashed: sunrise · solid: sunset · yellow: sun now · dark: shadow
Plan this shoot day in TillyBoard

Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

Golden hour in Zurich, month by month

The evening window in Zurich is longest in December (52 minutes) and shortest in September (40 minutes). Values for the 15th of each month, local time, daylight saving included.

Zurich, 2026: sun times on the 15th (Europe/Zurich)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden hour, eveningLengthBlue hour untilDaylight
January08:0917:0216:12–17:0250 min17:378 h 53 min
February07:3317:4917:06–17:4944 min18:2110 h 17 min
March06:4018:3117:50–18:3141 min19:0211 h 51 min
April06:3920:1419:33–20:1441 min20:4713 h 36 min
May05:5020:5620:11–20:5645 min21:3215 h 05 min
June05:2921:2520:37–21:2548 min22:0515 h 55 min
July05:4521:2020:33–21:2047 min21:5815 h 35 min
August06:2320:4019:57–20:4043 min21:1414 h 17 min
September07:0419:4119:00–19:4140 min20:1112 h 37 min
October07:4418:4017:58–18:4042 min19:1110 h 56 min
November07:3116:5216:05–16:5247 min17:259 h 21 min
December08:0716:3615:44–16:3652 min17:128 h 29 min

Where the sun goes down

Around the June solstice the sun sets in Zurich at 306° (NW), around the December solstice at 234° (SW) — 72° apart. A façade that gets backlight at the end of a summer day is lit from the side in winter, and a street that frames the sunset in July may not see it at all in January.

The highest sun of the year stands at 66° at noon, the lowest at 19°. Below about 15° the light turns warm and the shadows long enough to shape a face; the day chart in the tool shows when the sun crosses that line on your date.

Clock changes

Europe/Zurich changes the clocks on 29 March and 25 October 2026. On those dates every time in the table jumps by an hour overnight — a schedule copied from the week before the change puts the exterior an hour into the dark (or an hour too early).

Filming in Zurich: permits

Shoots on public ground in Zurich need a permit from the local authority (listed source: stadt-zuerich.ch). If a golden-hour setup sits on public space, apply for a weather cover day at the same time — the light will not wait for the paperwork.

As of 2026-08

Frequently asked

When does golden hour start in Zurich today?

The tool above opens on today’s date for Zurich. As a guide: in mid-June it starts at 20:37, in mid-December at 15:44.

How long is golden hour in Zurich?

Between 40 minutes (September) and 52 minutes (December) in the evening, measured from 6° sun altitude to sunset.

Does a building to the west change this?

Yes. Set the obstruction slider to its angle: a four-storey building 100 m away is about 5° and ends direct sun noticeably before sunset. The tool shows how many minutes you lose.