MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial How expensive is Switzerland for a vacation?
-
I found where we went in Switzerland on a par with Sydney prices for food and accommodation – that is inner Sydney (CBD). It then depends on where you are coming from as it took $A1.44 to buy one Swiss Franc but the cost (in Swiss Francs) was comparable to what we would pay for something. So a pizza that costs 20 swiss francs would cost $A20 in Sydney but cost us $A28. Accommodation in the major cities (especially Zurich) was as expensive as staying in Sydney with a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge! We stayed in Zurich, Wengen, Lugano, Chur and Lucerne. I agree that for a family an apartment is definitely the way to go. Coop and Migros supermarkets are everywhere and have a fabulous selection.
I would do you home work and don’t cut your time short. Find a base and an apartment, buy a rail pass and take day trips on lake, mountains and towns. You won’t be disappointed.
Hi BarSal
Thank you for the insight. Yeah I have stayed in Sydney CBD for a week before. I come from Brunei and our currency is almost at par with AUD. But the price of food is about double in Sydney compare to Brunei. Some other things like branded goods are cheaper in Sydney. Your comparison is in line with my estimation that the cost is about 1.5 times higher in Switzerland than Sydney to fill our belly. So I can set aside early the budget for food 😁
When travelling with family the cost of food usually take a big proportion of the budget. The cost of tickets and accommodations are also very high but they are easier to budget as we can pay early before the travel .
Thanks for all the tips and suggestions on the way to cut cost and save budget. I wil do further homework. This European vacation will cost about 3-4 times of our usual vacation around Asia therefore I want to make sure its worth it 😁
<<“therefore I want to make sure its worth it “>>
A mountain man will appreciate the Bernese Oberland, particularly the Jungfrau region
Slowpoke
<<“From your point of view which one is better to stay in late May, “>>
In late may trails above roughly 2000 meters will not be open.
This well known one typically opens in mid to late June:
http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/maennlichen-kleinescheidegg
Rarely, but more recently as the climate gets warmer, it opens sooner.
This will help you with altitudes:
this explains the trail color coding:
http://www.alpenwild.com/stat icpage/trail-signs-in-the-swiss-alps/
Slowpoke
Salaam, Ashraf907.
I just came back from Switzerland with my husband and our two teenagers. We stayed in Switzerland for 8 nights, moving around to stay in Zurich to Zermatt to Interlaken to Lucerne and back to Zurich to catch our flight home; ie. Singapore. We bought the 8 consecutive days’ Swiss Travel Pass. Before going to Zurich to start our Swiss adventure, we were in Paris for 4 nights, entering Paris right smack on the day of their protest along Champs Elysee. Anyway, we have fallen in love with Switzerland despite almost everything being more expensive than in Paris and even London. For your budgeting calculation, here is a rough idea… A small bottle of Coca Cola costs CHF 3.50 to 4.50 when eating in a kebab shop. A kebab can cost from CHF 8 upwards. If you are a party of 4, you may want to order just 2 kebabs first cos the size of the kebab is big. Don’t bother to buy mineral water but if you have to, a small bottle of Evian costs slightly less than CHF 1 in Coop supermarket. You may also want to fill up your water-bottles with tap water in your hotel room/apartment before starting your day. The tap water is very safe to drink. If you are on a budget, rent an apartment, so that you or your wife can cook simple dishes. Bring rice and instant paste from your country. Sometimes, it is not because of budget that you cook. In our case, eating kebab and kebab-related food everyday got us bored and we longed to eat rice, even if it is just with a sunny side-up and soy sauce 😃
You mentioned Jungfrau region. Interlaken is the place where tourists would usually set base when they want to go to Jungfraujoch. We did not manage to go to Jungfraujoch due to the foggy weather up there when we viewed the “live” cam online. We didn’t go to Titlis too for the same reason. But we consoled ourselves cos we managed to go to Gornergrat to see Matterhorn and experienced snow. Keep looking at the “live” cam if you want to go to Jungfraujoch. My personal opinion is it will be pointless to buy the Jungfraujoch tickets in advance if you are going there now till January due to weather factor. Just play by ear. We diverted our plan to go to Murren instead and spent half a day there. In the evening, we went to Grindelwald for a short visit as it was dusk and the sky was turning dark very quickly. In addition, it was raining.
Have fun in Paris and Switzerland. You may want to keep yourself updated with the French news everyday before your trip. If it is still tense, you may want to skip the city and take the train (RER A line) straight to Val d’Europe (one station away from Disneyland). Your wife may just like it there as there is a huge mall and an outlet village just opposite the train station 😊
Hi Slowpoke…
Thanks for the info and links. They are very helpful. But I don’t plan to do much trail/hike. Although I can race in the mountains for 40 hrs continously, my wife and kids can only last for 1hr top before they start to complain. Therefore as long as we can go to places by train or cable car it is fine 😆
Salam Nursya…
wow CHF3.50 for Cola? I can get 5 bottles for that price here… but yeah your mention about the kebab is true. I don’t fancy kebab much but it usually the easiest halal food to find everywhere abroad.
My trip will be in late May 2019. How did you go from Paris to Switzerland? By flight or trains?
And what airlines did you use from Singapore? Did you get return ticket to Zurich or one-way ticket to Paris then one-way ticket from Zurich to Singapore? Its difficult to find cheap one-way ticket as the price often almost the same as return ticket.
Currently my plan is to get return ticket to Paris via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. From Paris go straight to Strasbourg (3 days) so we can go to Europa Park in Rust Germany. Then to Jungfrau (3 days) before heading back to Paris (4 days). Therefore I may purchase Eurorail Pass + Jungfrau Pass/Swiss Pass. I still try to figure out the best rail passes combination for our trip. The Switzerland trip is short 3 days so I want to focus in Jungfrau and get the most out of it.
<<“Therefore as long as we can go to places by train or cable car it is fine 😆”>>
Some where in late May, typically, there is a date when most of the specialized mountain transport starts up in the Jungfrau region. Some may be running on weekends before that date,which may be around May 23rd. If the weather is unusually warm, mountain transport will run before that.
I’m hoping that one of the more precise and attentive forum members will know the date for 2019.
The transport which counts as “intercity” (as far as Wengen or Mürren from Lauterbrunnen) and also to Grindelwald, in those cases as you come in from Interlaken, are cheap, because of subsidies. They run all year. Anything else, including the cograil train after it passes Wengen on the way to Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch, is a privately run “excursion train” or cableway, and is more expensive. Little or no subsidy.
Various seasonal operations.
Lake boat schedules also move from Spring to more frequent Summer schedules on that date.
Slowpoke
Hi Ashraf907,
If you want to know operating dates of the cable cars you can find them on our mountain pages here:http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/naturalsites/ mountains (then click on the route tab when on the page for the mountain you are interested in).
You can also use the timetable to find connections to a mountain – no results will return if the mountain transport is closed on the date you are searching on. http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
Salaam, Ashraf907,
We booked multi-city flight tickets on Singapore Airlines. We flew out of Singapore to London Heathrow and we flew back to Singapore from Zurich. Surprisingly, it was cheaper than SIN – LHR – SIN. Went to Paris by Eurostar train. It stopped at Gare du Nord station. Went to Zurich by TGV Lyria train; board at Gare du Lyon station. We booked our train tickets through http://www.raileurope.com.sg.
So, you will be fasting in Europe? Do check the timetable for Imsakiah and Maghrib. I was in London in June 2016 and fast. It was an 18.5 hours of fasting, something very challenging for me.
You may want to visit http://www.raileurope.com.sg and make contact with them to assist you with your train/train passes queries. The lady who attended to me is Ms Jamaliah.
On another note, I saw you mentioning that Dubai is expensive. Many Asians said the same thing. You all probably stayed and dined in New Dubai. I go to Dubai twice a year. I always stay in Old Dubai. More natural, more original and more exciting and fascinating than the landmarks which are always portrayed in the media. It is not too difficult nor too far to go to these landmarks. The train system is awesome and not complicated. Food and 5-star accommodation in Old Dubai are cheap. Go check it out 😊
Tq Lucas for the info
salam Nursya..
yeah I still try to figure out the best rail passes for the whole journey. Still need to understand the reservation system for Eurail pass and currently checking it direct at Eurail website. Need to find out whether its cheaper touse the Eurail Pass for the whole duration or to combine Eurail with Swiss Pass/Jungfrau Pass.
yeah my plan travel will fall during fasting month it will be challenging for us. But its the only time in 2019 me, my wife and children can have leave together and be back for Raya.
You are right the old Dubai is cheaper. But the ones which are expensive for family travels are the games and parks. Theme parks and waterparks normally cost around SGD100 per pax and children only get very insignificant discount of few dollars. For e.g. in SKI Dubai $500 for family of 5. Meet Penguin for 30 mins you have add another $200. And then one picture with Penguin you have to add $50 😂😂.
Yeah.
Still unsure whether to use Swiss Pass or jungfrau Pass to combine with Eurail pass. Or just use the Eurail Pass for the entire journey.
need to find the exact date of my travel, which will be determined on my flight ticket date. Then to find out which place is operational on those dates
Hi Ashraf907,
Instead of the SwissPass (for Swiss residents only) you can consider the Swiss Travel Pass if you don’t use it on the same days as your Eurail pass (otherwise it won’t be economical). The Jungfrau Travel Pass may work if you are sure you will stay in that small area for a couple of days. More information is here:
<<“need to find the exact date of my travel, which will be determined on my flight ticket date”>>
As noted above, late May is a transition time for lake boats and mountain transport. As a general rule, the later in May the better, for opening dates. In previous years, those dates have been highly correlated, but for 2019, there seem to be more different dates for different services.It would be wise to check dates for individual services, as Lucas noted.
The link that Lucas gave includes the major mountains, but does not include the cableway from Wengen to Männlichen, as far as I can tell. that should be of particular interest.
Here is the information for that cableway and for the one from Grindelwald
http://www.maennlichen.ch/en/ wengenmaennlichen-aerial-cableway.html
The cableway from Wengen to Männlichen only opens on June 1. That surprises me, it is usually about a week earlier.
The one from Grindelwald starts on May 26, with possible travel the 19th though the 21st, depending on weather
Lake boats on Lake Thun start their expanded schedule on
http://www.bls.ch/en/fahren/u nterwegs-mit/schiff#time.from:2 4.12.2018,time.to:24.0 3.2019
http://www.bls.ch/-/media/bls/pdf/fahrpla ene/schiff/fahrplan-schifffahrt-2019.pdf
The Summer schedule with 6 daily cruises from end-to-end on Lake Thun.starts on May 11, with a Spring schedule of 3 end-to-end cruises starting on April 6th.
Slowpoke
Hi..
currently the plan is to check-in at Wengen on 25th May and out by 28/29th…
Yep the Wengen- Mannlichen cable car is one of our main wishlist but if it only operational on 1st June we will have no oppurtunity to use it. The Schynige Platte will still be close too. Then I guess the ones available are Jungfraujoch and Schlinthorn. Not sure about Geindelwald First. We must be back home by 2nd June to be ready for our festive Eidilfitri celebration 😆
If not mistaken i have read somewhere the Grindelwald-Manlichen route will also be closed for most of 2019 due to construction of new cable car to jungfraujoch or something like that.
One type of clothing to wear at Jungfraujoch? I have seen in youtube people comes there without thick jacket. Is it enough if we just wear normal jacket ib May there?
And I also plan to let us play at the snowpark in Jungfraujoch as other Snowpark at lower slopes may be closed. Do they provide suitable jacket and gloves with the package?
Hi Ashraf907,
You can read about routes to Jungfraujoch and closures in 2019 here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch/gettingther e
The weather could be between o and 10 or 12 degrees on Jungfraujoch in May so wearing layers is best. A rain or wind jacket along with a good thick sweater should be fine depending on what weather you get.
I don’t believe any clothing is included at the Snow Park no. You can contact them directly to see what they recommend. If you have a good sweater and rain coat you should only need snow pants and maybe boots depending on what you want to do.
A link to the Snow Park website can be found on our Jungfraujoch page here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch (under more on other websites).
- The thread ‘How expensive is Switzerland for a vacation?’ is closed to new replies.
