Gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian in Switzerland

Hi,
We only have limited experience in Switzerland having spent 6 days there this past June, however, I will share what I know.

We are very strictly gluten-free. We were able to find the food we needed without too much trouble. Much of what we ate was also vegetarian and could be found dairy-free. We did not eat out much but when we did, we found rosti (basically fried potatoes with vegetables) to be quite filling. There was an option to top it with cheese, but not a requirement to. Otherwise, it meets all three of your requirements. When we were in an apartment, we found a good selection of frozen meals in the grocery store. We shopped primarily at the COOP and found they were well stocked with foods to meet gluten-free and dairy-free needs. There were several meals that would also meet your restrictions, particularly if you looked for the Indian and/or Thai dishes. We also stayed at a bed and breakfast (Chalet Fontana- highly recommended by many on this forum) in Murren. The proprietor graciously provided foods that met our needs when we gave her advance notice of them. Many of her selections would also meet your other restrictions.

I would encourage you to travel with translated cards explaining your dietary restrictions. These were very helpful for us and provided a peace of mind when trying to explain our restrictions.

Hope that helps!

Rösti is (are?) sometimes prepared with butter, I believe.

Good point about the butter. I did not think of that. It is a rather greasy dish. However, if your son is able to eat meat, there are still other options for him to eat that should not involve dairy or gluten.

We're gluten tolerant meat and fish eaters but enjoyed the Tibits Restaurant in Luzern: https://www.tibits.ch/en/restaurants.html
Tibits has restaurants in Bern and Zurich.

We were on a half board plan in Klosters. The hotel tried to accommodate the vegetarians although at times the chef just left the meat out of the scheduled dish.

Major grocery stores carry a decent variety of products for gluten-free/dairy-free and vegetarians. At Coop, look for products marked with the "Free From" logo - these will be marked with "Ohne Gluten" or "Glutenfrei" and "Ohne Lactose" or "Lactosefrei."
At Migros they use a different logo called "aha!" but the idea is the same. In Geneva, Bern and Zurich you can also look for the "Muller Reformhaus" shops (not as weird as it sounds!) which offer specialty products including gluten free/lactose free etc.

Dining out is a bit trickier, but not impossible. Tibits is definitely a great idea for Bern and Zurich (they are also in Basel and Lucerne in case you end up there on day trips) as it is relatively reasonably priced and they offer a huge vegetarian buffet that clearly marks gluten/lacto-free options. You can also have a look at restaurants on the Happy Cow website, which is mainly for vegetarian/vegan but also includes gluten-free and other criteria. https://www.happycow.net/europe/switzerland/

Agree with the idea to bring along a card with translations (French/German) regarding your specific needs, just as back-up.

And, not sure how old your son is, but if you want to "splash out" on a nice place in Zurich, check out Hiltl, the world's oldest vegetarian restaurant. Also a nice choice because they make vegetarian versions of Swiss classics that you might not otherwise eat as a vegetarian!

https://hiltl.ch/en/home
https://hiltl.ch/files/parallax/theme/menu/Karte_EN.pdf (English menu marked with ingredient declarations, including when possible to modify dishes)