How To Visit Switzerland Without Breaking The Bank
Switzerland ranks at the top of the list of most expensive places to travel. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t experience this beautiful country without breaking the bank. With a little planning and some travel tips, you can see some of the most amazing landscapes on this planet.
Travel Tip#1:
The best way to visit Switzerland without breaking the bank is to plan your stay during the shoulder seasons. Switzerland has 2 peak seasons- summer and winter. Tourists flock to the Alps during both seasons for skiing or hiking. Not only are attractions more crowded during these times, but the costs skyrocket. Look for mid April- late May and October-November. Be aware that in the mountains, many places close down for a few weeks between the end of ski season and reopening for spring. This is when the workers get to take their holidays and when repairs and maintenance can be done to the public transportation.
How To Get There
Depending on your starting location, this could be the largest portion of your budget. Flights from Europe and Asia are reasonable in cost. Flights from Australia or the US can be somewhat painful, particularly if you choose to travel in peak season. Off peak economy flights can range between $700-$900 round trip per person. If you play the points game with your credit cards, my suggestion is to use points for an economy ticket. I regularly see them for 20,000-45,000 points. This is a great way to visit Switzerland without breaking the bank.
There are two international airports in Switzerland- Zurich and Geneva. For the purposes of this guide, we will be flying into Geneva.
Where To Stay
Selecting a budget friendly hotel in Geneva is quite easy. We stayed at The New Midi and it offered everything that we needed for our short stay in this city. The benefit of staying in a hotel versus an Airbnb is that hotels will provide you with a free transport card. This gives you access to free travel on buses, boats, trams, etc.
Here are a few budget-friendly selections near train stations:
Travel Tip #2:
Renting a car is not necessary. Not even in the slightest. The public transportation system in Switzerland runs as well as their timepieces. There is a user-friendly app that will allow you to get anywhere you need to go. The cost of point-to-point tickets is reasonable. Like other transportation modes, you have options of upgrading classes as well.
Where To Eat
Geneva has a HEAVY French influence considering its proximity to the border. There are so many wonderful food options here that it is almost impossible to narrow down a list. Since this is about keeping things under budget, I recommend checking out Migros, the grocery store. You will be AMAZED at the prepared food options inside this store. There are multiple stories and what can really only be described as a food court on one of them. We popped into this store on numerous stops for wraps, soups, salads, and of course- desserts.
Now a trip like this would not be complete without a nice meal so you should budget for one boujee meal in this Michelin star saturated market. We opted to have dinner at a mid-range restaurant that gave a private fondue making class prior to our meal.
Here are some options for mouthwatering pieces of art:
Moving On To The Alps
This is as easy as buying a train ticket on your app and hopping on. Cost is about 28chf and the duration is 3 hours. You will enjoy every second of this ride as the views, no matter what side of the train you are on, will keep you occupied.
Bernese Oberland
This area is where you can explore Grindelwald, Interlaken, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Brienz, and more. You will want to buy a specific pass for this area- the B.O. Pass as it will give you access to local trains, trams, buses, funiculars, lifts, etc. Once you arrive in this area you should not need to spend any additional money on travel unless you choose to explore outside of the covered area.
However, there is SO MUCH to do here that it’s certainly not necessary. This pass comes in 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10-day options. If your stay in Switzerland takes you to other locations outside of this area, you should consider purchasing the half fare card. Buying this card first will make every other ticket purchase half off. Although public transportation is inexpensive, if you are going to many different cities, it does add up quickly and can break the bank. The half fare card will help keep those costs down.
Where To Stay
You can find some very reasonably priced stays here. Remember that you will spend little time indoors, so the accommodations need good bedding and bathroom. We chose to stay in an Airbnb so that we could get groceries and handle breakfast and snacks. However, we did choose to splurge a little on the cost of our stay as we picked Wengen as our home base. This village is a car free town, a little more remote than Interlaken, therefore, slightly higher in cost but still didn’t break the bank.
Here are some options for your stay in the Bernese Oberland area:
- City Center Union 2 Apartment
- Helene Apt. Hella
- Chalet Marie Rosa
- Historic Hotel Steinbock
- Holiday apartment Grindelwald
Where To Eat
Coop is the local grocer, and they have excellent food options. You could easily spend $30 per day or less per person and be quite happy with your choices. Daily, there are freshly made pre-packaged options that you can grab and go- take with you on a hike, bring back to the apartment for dinner, or just to finish off the day with dessert.
We explored numerous villages and towns in the Bernese Oberland area and much of that exploration included popping into quaint mom & pop restaurants for a snack or cup of coffee. Meat and cheese boards or personal sized hand tossed pizzas were often our go-to. You can’t go wrong with stopping at ANY restaurant in any of these villages.
Things To Do
Hiking, biking, skiing, sightseeing, boating, photography, paragliding, strolling the promenade, people watching, eating, drinking, shopping. It is a long list for a large area and there is no way you can see or do it all without staying for a few months. So you will want to pick your top few activities and make sure to knock one or two off the list each day. We did a few hikes, a lot of trains, trams, and funiculars and explored my bucket list villages of Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, and Grindelwald. We strolled the streets of Interlaken for some shopping and spent more time drinking on patios than I care to admit.
There is plenty to do here that costs nothing once you have the BO Pass. 99% of your time is spent admiring the green alpine meadows and snowy sheer cliffs. This is quite literally exploring Switzerland without breaking the bank.
Make Your Way Back Toward The Airport
We opted to stop in Montreux for our return. This city is located on the east side of Lake Lemon whereas Geneva is located on the west side. This was a splurge stop for our trip. The hotel, Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic, Autograph Collection, was midrange pricing and the food was 5 star. You can absolutely still experience Montreux with much more reasonable accommodations and meals.
Here are some budget friendly choices:
- Castel View
- Hotel Parc & Lac
- Astra Hotel Vevey
- J5 Hotels Helvetie Montreux
- The Freddie Mercury Hotel
Things To Do
Take the train 10 minutes down the lakeshore to visit Lavaux Vineyards. This is a UNESCO site and worth the many steps you will take to explore the area. Nothing like the view of beautiful vineyards, crystal clear blue water, and mountains all in the same frame.
Take a train to Gruyere, a medieval town where gruyere cheese is made. Take a tour of the factory and catch a glimpse of local farmers bringing in today’s milk haul. We had fondue for lunch as it seemed fitting to indulge in more cheese.
Train To Airport
From Montreux you can take the train to the Geneva airport.
Final Thought
It is absolutely possible to enjoy 10 days in Switzerland without breaking the bank. Is it easy to skip on some of the splurges? No, no it’s not. But I would rather have made this trip without the extras that we tossed in that racked up the bill, than to not take it at all. If Eric said he wanted to return but wanted us to cut the budget in half, I could easily do that, and I WOULD do that. Switzerland has certainly locked in its place as one of the most expensive countries to visit, but it has also locked in its place in my heart.
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Very good
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Beautiful and informative, thank you so much!
Thank you so much! I try to give good, useful information in each blog post 🙂