Shipping souvenirs from Switzerland to the US?
A traveler named TravelLife is looking for advice on buying souvenirs in Switzerland without carrying them into Italy. They want to know about the cost and ease of shipping items home to the USA, as well as how to find post offices for shipping.
- Leave room in your luggage for small souvenirs, as shipping can be expensive.
- Consider purchasing chocolates from COOP or Migros for good prices.
- Post offices are easy to find in cities; check online for exact locations and shipping costs.
- Shipping items like boxed chocolates may not be worth the expense; opt for lighter, easy-to-carry items instead.
AI-generated summary-
I read in the forum to purchase souvenirs in department stores & supermarkets, as they are much cheaper. Is it very expensive to have souvenirs shipped home? I do not want to carry them on into Italy but also don’t want to spend an exorbitant amount to ship trinkets & chocolate home either (USA). Are post offices easy to find? Recommendations?
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Hi TravelLife—
Post Offices are not difficult to find in Switzerland, especially in cities or larger towns. The cost of shipping would depend, of course, on where you are shipping to, but shipping internationally can be quite expensive. I don’t think I would recommend shipping chocolates or trinkets as (to me) it would not be worth the time and expense to ship. My husband and I typically make sure we leave a modest amount of space in our suitcase for small souvenirs that we accumulate during a trip. We also pack a compact, foldable tote we can use, if need be. During our trip to Switzerland last year, we did have a store ship the cuckoo clock we bought in Luzern at the start of our holiday, as it would have been bulky to carry around the rest of the trip.
If you’re looking for trinkets & chocolates, just leave a little bit of room in your luggage to carry them home with you. That has been our approach on prior overseas trips, but then we usually don’t go much beyond pins, decals, beer coasters, chocolate bars, small knives, and the occasional shot glass. Unless my wife sees a T-shirt or top she simply must have. Regardless, we don’t buy anything large, heavy, or expensive to begin with. Although there was that one time in Italy years ago when we barely escaped without having to figure out how to get a (large & expensive) Italian risotto pan back to the US….
As for where to purchase said souvenirs, you’ll probably encounter more places to buy those than you can count. We’ve made many quick selection & price checks at various stores while walking around, and I don’t think there is any “best” specific type of store to buy from, at least for the items we might seek. Bargains are where you find them. I do however recommend COOP or Migros stores for chocolate bars due to their good selection & prices.
One caveat: I long ago formulated my personal theory on international shopping. If you see it and you like it, buy it. You never know when you might get back, and if you do, that item might not be there again. As a corollary to that approach, remember to be sure you really like it before you buy it. That big carved wooden bird I bought on a whim in the Bahamas several decades ago created no end of problems with US Customs when I brought it home; they almost sawed it in half looking for contraband.
Enjoy shopping!
Hello TravelLife,
You can find all locations of post offices with this link, just insert your location of choice. With this link, you can also navigate yourself to calculate the cost of shipping your goods back to the US.
Shipping is not cheap but you have the option to send either priority or an economic rate. As per the contributions from EASW and CabinJon (thank you both), perhaps leave a little luggage space for souvenirs or buying easy to carry souvenirs and ‘bars’ of chocolate opposed to boxed chocolates, as these would be easier to pack?
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thanks foe the link.
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