I've been making theoretical travel plans for the next few years when I hope to start travelling with my wife. One travel itinerary I've come up with is the "one month in Switzerland" travel extravaganza, still keeping to a budget of sorts. I picked one month as it could coincide with the 15 day flex pass in which you have 15 days unlimited travel over a month long period. The price for this is pretty good (around 500$, plus a little more for a half fare card for the other days if one so desires). We would certainly want to hit the usual suspects in terms of sights, but also combine this with staying at one or two longer-term rentals (by long-term I mean a week or more).
One area I've looked at for a cheaper place to stay is in the Thun area, or rather the boring towns to the north of Thun, where I've discovered that rental prices look better than elsewhere, and one is still pretty close to some lovely areas. We wouldn't have to see new things every day, and some days might enjoy just a quiet day along a lake. I realize this might sound almost un-American, but sometimes its nice to just wander along a beautiful lake path, read a book, enjoy a nice picnic on the promenade, and otherwise behave like a European traveler instead of a frazzled North American with a tight time schedule and whopping list of to-do's.
Another nice area for a longer-term stay might be in the lovely Lucerne area. Areas for shorter term stays might be the northern rim of Switzerland, Schaffhausen/Rheinfalls etc.
In terms of eating, I think the plan would be to eat out as little as possible, and cook at home at our long-stay places (we'd look for places with a kitchen), and have picnic style food for lunches while on outings.
Anyway, I like the idea of utilizing the price structure of the Swiss travel passes which get cheaper and cheaper on a per day basis the longer the term of validity, and also get one free entry to museums on the valid days of use, plus throw in some relatively cheap accomodations (at least in the longer term stay portions of the trip) to create a more economical, but still meaningful way to see a lovely country.
I wonder if anyone else has thought about doing something like this as well.
Posted by
Bern, Switzerland
1043 posts
Have a look at Olten, it is not on the tourist trail, but it has one very big advantage for the trains - it is a major switching point for the Swiss railway system, so it is very easy to head off in any direction.....
Posted by
OP
Greater Sacramento
604 posts
Yes, I've heard about Olten as a strategic home base area, but one thing I like about the Thun region is that it looks beautiful and is pretty close to Bern, and train trips to the Berner Oberland are pretty quick. Plus the Thunersee looks wonderful.
Posted by
California USA
4100 posts
We've had a one month Switzerland base twice in the past 10 years. The first time we were in the French region near Yverdon le Bain. More recently we spent a month in Zug in the German speaking region. Both locations gave us a lot to do in the immediate area (loved the lakes, hikes, wine regions, culinary treats, etc) as well as offering a jumping off spot for day trips.
It's hard to go wrong in Switzerland. The one type of month long base we've avoided are remote mountainous regions with infrequent transportation.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4853 posts
You obviously want to eat locally as much as possible, since you're in effect "living" there for a month. Only dine out a few times a week, eat at home the rest.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
We spent a month in one spot in Switzerland three summers ago and loved it! You won't regret doing this. It's lovely, and not unAmerican at all to stay in one place and just soak up the culture and beauty!
Food will be one of your highest cost but shopping and cooking for yourself at home will cut your food costs in half at least!
The area we stayed was in the canton of Valais, which might be a good choice for you to consider as well. We stayed in a small place called La Tzoumaz because we were there on a home exchange and that's where the house was that we traded. We really liked the towns of Sion and Martigny in the main part of the area. If you like Thun, you might like Sion. Nice castle on a hill in the middle of town and surrounded by orchards and endless vineyards. The area is close to Lake Geneva, surrounded by alps on all sides, is cheaper than some other parts of Switzerland we have visited, and is close to Italy (Aosta 90 minutes) and Chamonix (a little over an hour away). We didn't run out of things to do and see in the area and would love to go back if we had the chance!
Have fun planning!
Posted by
Alabama, USA
271 posts
I just spent 45+ days on the road there.
Hubs that worked for me:
- Luzern--Backpackers Luzern w/ 2 kitchens. Near a great Cook with a nice, big, lakeside park across the dead-end street. Buy a 'GrillY' (pronounced grill-E) disposable aluminum grill and white bratwurst or veggies at the Coop and cook out at the park. And leave the used grilly near a metal garbage can. Esyy peasy.
- Fiesch--Sport Ferien Resort, no kitchen but Coop gas/grocery and Coop grocery stores nearby. And bathrooms and showers in some rooms. Converted military hospital complex with kids and deep adult poos too. Breakfast included (my wife says to say that it was good). The grilly works extra well here :) and you can find them at the gas stations and grocery stores.
- Zug
- Montreux
- St. Bernard Pass-The Hospice and it's huge wooden timbers, dogs, and dinner and breakfast served communally.
- Engelberg-Hostel in town and two huts above in the mountains--one reachable directly by cable car.
Luzern and Fiesch are excellent budget locations. Can't make recommendations for Zug or Montreux other than grillys are great when you don't have a kitchen. Buy it, use it, dispose of it, repeat tomorrow.
Fly into/out of ZRH. Do not do transfers in Paris. It just makes life easier.
I will post if I think of any others. Good luck and hope this helps.
Posted by
Abruzzo Mountains
1088 posts
We did a two-week home exchange in Switzerland near Bern in 2013. It was wonderful to have a house and garden to spread out in. Everything is close to public transportation so we got a 15-day consecutive Swiss pass and had a blast. Out of all the things we saw, though, Thun was about our favourite place. The old town was beautiful but without a lot of must-sees. The boat trips on the lake were relaxing and fun and we had lots of fun with alternate modes of transport up and down the mountains around there. We had a few good meals in Thun, though we thoroughly enjoyed cooking at home, often on their wood-fired stone barbecue. Free lodging, cooking at home, and prepaid transportation took the stress out of the Swiss prices. I recommend this as an option for a longer stay. Our exchangers would gladly have stayed at our place longer had we been able to stay there longer.