water in Swiss restaurants

It is just not normal to drink tapwater in restaurants, neither in Switzerland nor any of the nearby countries.
Nothing wrong with it, it just isn't what most Swiss do. Normally you ask for a Mineralwasser (in German speaking areas), mit Gas or ohne Gas. And yes, a mineral water normally costs slightly more than beer or wine. That is just how much it is, similar price differential in a supermarket.

If you want to go "off menu" just ask for a Hahnwasser (Hahn = tap), "Ein Glas Hahnwasser bitte or Zwei Glässer Hahnwasser bitte. They are unlikely to say no, but you may get a funny look for ordering something nobody else ever orders. I have never actually seen anybody order Hahnwasser.

And smoking is not allowed inside, so no ash trays. You will find them on outside tables.

I don't recall being charged for tap water in Switzerland but we weren't patronizing top tier restaurants. Some like the Luzern Manor Department Store restaurant and the Tibits in the Luzern train station had self-serve water stations. We had a lot of our meals at the hotel in Klosters on a half board plan where alcohol was the extra.

Interesting that coffee at cafes came with a very small glass of tap water and a biscuit.

The majority of the time, we order carafe d'eau and rarely order bottled water unless someone prefers sparkling water. We have never been charged for this. Perhaps a remote location or if you don't order anything else they may charge you?

@Chris F, I don't smoke, was just quoting the example in the tripadvisor link. According to @LacLeman below, it seems that people do order tap water in Switzerland?

@Edgar, that's good to know, we are not planning on going out for fancy food (obviously we are on a budget!) aside from Hiltl in Zurich.

@LacLeman, thank you, I appreciate the data point.

Edited to add: for clarity, I'm referring to water ordered alongside a meal.

"It is just not normal to drink tapwater in restaurants, neither in Switzerland nor any of the nearby countries."

It is normal in France, and it's free - just ask for "un carafe d'eau, s'il vous plais."
It is not normal in Germany, Italy, or Austria.

So, I wonder if it's also normal in French-speaking Switzerland (per our Montreux-based poster), but not in German-speaking Switzerland (per our Basel-based poster)?

If that's the case, it wouldn't be the only such difference. The nickname for the dividing line between French- and German-speaking Switzerland is the röstigraben, or "rösti trench," which refers to the fact that rösti is eaten in the German-speaking part of the country, but not the French-speaking part!

Bringing your own beverages in Switzerland would be at least as frowned-upon as if you did it in the USA, and the nicer the place, the bigger the frown. Are you visiting the French-speaking, German-speaking, and/or Romansh-speaking part of the country? Years ago, arriving late at night in Zermatt and finding a restaurant that was still serving food, but not wanting wine or beer with an early day coming up, I tried to get tap water (hoping not to pay extra for bottled water). The waiter spoke Swiss-German but didn't speak English, and my crummy French was of no help, either. Somehow I think I was able to get a no-cost glass of water, but for the rest of the trip it was hit-and-miss. As mentioned earlier, in France a free "carafe d'eau" is easily obtained, and in a new place, we've often made a game of determining how to ask for (free) tap water. It generally hasn't been a problem - a few places in Spain or Italy it was clear that wasn't how they did things, and then you need to know how to ask for still or sparkling (with gas), if you opt for a pricey bottle of designer spring water.

A few days later in a chalet nearby, a French-speaking Swiss woman suggested the appropriate term was "eau du Robinet" (oh duh Row-bin-ay) -- eau being water and Robinet being a faucet, the word inspired by the shape of a rooster's neck. After returning to the USA, a Bavarian friend once said the German term was Leitungswasser (light-oons-vasser) -- leitung being a pipe and wasser being water). Staying hydrated and on-budget can be a challenge, but with some effort may pay off! Cheers!

@Harold, I've not really been to Germany but have spent a bit of time in both Italy and Austria, and you're right that tap water was not served there. However I can't recall ever having to spend more than 1 or 2 EUR on a bottle of water there; I think the issue here is the size of the charge - I've read reports of typical charges running from 3-10 CHF, which is going to add up quickly for 2 people.

@Cyn, while I can understand the idea of outside beverages being frowned upon, in the US there is always free tap water, so I guess I am wondering if where there is no free option, if that's acceptable. Whether or not it's correct I don't know, but the tripadvisor user seemed to imply that the cost is for the additional "work" involved in providing glasses and filling/washing them. Kind of like the coperto charge in Italy maybe.

We are headed to Montreux, Murren, Bern and Zurich, so may be a mixed bag.

I just returned from the RS Best of Switzerland tour. In restaurants, I had to pay for water about 50% of the time, but it was usually a very large bottle that would have easily served two people. When I had to pay, it was around 5 CHF. Don't forget, though, that you won't be paying for expensive water throughout the day. Once you have your water bottles, you can fill them up in the fountains throughout the towns. No one in our group ever ran out of water before coming across a fountain. Plus, a bottle of Evian water in the Coop grocery store was about 0,85 CHF.

Switzerland is incredible! Enjoy your trip!

As previous poster mentioned, many of the self-service places (especially Migros restaurants and Tibits) have free tap water stations - though sometimes you have to look around a bit to find them!

Otherwise, asking for "Hahnenwasser" (tap water) is perfectly ok in most sit-down places if you are ordering a meal. Check the menu - sometimes there are even prices given for Hahnenwasser and often it isn't that exorbitant (for example, 5chf for a liter that you can split). Some places charge, some don't - though the fancier/more touristy the restaurant, the more likely you will be charged or made to order bottled water. If you must order bottled water, a normal restaurant shouldn't charge more than 5-8 chf for a half-liter. If you split that, it's a relatively small add-on per person when compared to the price of the food!

In general, drinking from your own water bottles would be frowned upon in any place that has wait staff.

Two things: even though free tap water is pretty much is a given in the USA, in Switzerland (and many other places) the provide-your-own-water question is one of those socially-acceptable-or-not situations that can vary with the place you're in. If you really wanted or needed a particular kind of mustard that a place didn't carry, you might be allowed to discreetly pull a tube of if out of your pocket, put some on your food, and stash it away again, without raising any eyebrows. However, at a place where their accepted idea is that if you want water (or beer, or wine, or pop, etc.), they'll sell it to you but not provide it for free (even if you ask nicely), then pulling out your own bottle of water and using it in the restaurant where you're using their table/chairs/plates/silverware/service (even if you've paid to be there and are ordering a meal) might be seen as improper behavior. I'm used to free tap water at home, but it's not always the norm everywhere, and sometimes I have to accept it, however unpleasant it might be at the time.

Second: that latest post from hopper18 made me realize - "hahnenwasser" is referring to the supposed shape of the neck of a rooster (hahn), and some faucets are similarly shaped, so I think it's the Swiss-German, not the French term for tap water that was theoretically inspired by a curved rooster neck. Again, having the local's term for tap water should give you the best opportunity to ask for it, if it's provided at no charge

yeah, this is an odd one for me. i've been to 38 countries and never had to spend that much on water. in the countries where tap water hasn't been available for free (or undesirable to drink), i've not seen it cost this much. charging 5-8CHF when a bottle can be had for 1 CHF actually does seem egregious to me.

i took a look at the menu at hiltl (the only restaurant on my must-do list), and i can see that they do offer 'fetch-it-yourself' tap water, which is good, but the fact that .5L of bottled water there is 6 CHF in the context of a bowl of soup being 10CHF seems weird.

i don't want to be the ugly american which is why i was asking, but this one is a bit baffling to me. frankly i will never understand why bottled water is as common as it is in countries where the tap water is perfectly safe.

It may be a plot schemed up by big Swiss water companies :-)

Once in southern Spain, we were told that the local water wasn't safe, so we "had" to order a bottle. Wonder if the waiter used bottled water to brush his teeth, take a shower, etc.?

well of course there are places where the tap water isn't safe. when i was a teenager, i spent 2 weeks in haiti being super careful to keep my mouth shut in the shower and brush with bottled water, but on the second to last day i forgot and got super sick very quickly - lost almost 20lbs in 3 weeks. but bottled water is very cheap there, and from what i can recall, not markedly more expensive in a restaurant than from a convenience store.

Here in the States some bottle water is sourced from local municipal water sources (e.g. Aquafina). The bottler may run the local water through a filter.

In other cases, bottled water may have higher levels of impurities than local municipal water as the case of Fuji:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/20/AR2006072000322.html

"The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland," says the
full-page ad running in magazines such as Esquire.

After seeing the ad, public utilities director Julius Ciaccia ordered
the bottled water tested.

The results: 6.31 micrograms of arsenic per liter in the Fiji bottle,
said Cleveland water quality manager Maggie Rodgers. Cleveland tap
water as well as bottled brands Aquafina, Dasani and Evian had no
measurable arsenic.

It may be a plot schemed up by big Swiss water companies :-)

Nestle, the giant Swiss food company, does in fact own a lot of the bottled water brands in the US and Europe, and does spend a lot in advertising to make you believe you need their product.

well, i mean, rice has arsenic too...

i guess i meant "unsafe" more in the manner of treatment for bacteria/viruses

regardless, still scratching my head over a 600% markup on bottled water....chalk it up to baffling cultural differences i guess, and i will try to stay hydrated in between meals lol.

Here is your main problem,you are not in the US you are in Switzerland,I was just in Lausanne and Montreaux and the restaurants gave me water but I was spending on wine so I guess they figured they could absorb the cost of the water.
Mike

If you need to pay for water, just get a bottle and split it. Or minimize dining expenses by eating in cheaper places.

@phred, yes i've thought about drinking less water :-) just trying to figure out if we really need to budget ~150 EUR for bottled water at meals for the week!

An amazing thread! I have lived here for over 27 years, traveled all over the country, dined in all kind of places from 5 stars down and I have never been charged for water nor have I heard of the practice until now, Can't explain it, unless they only do it to tourists.

I suspect one reason for the mark-up on bottled water is that it is usually served to you chilled, which means the restaurant has had to allocate refrigerator space to it. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I was frequently served free, cold tap water along the Riviera. Several servers looked at me oddly when I ordered water and said, "It's automatic." But then I encountered a number of restaurants in and near Alsace pushing bottled water. Even within one country, it appears there can be regional differences.

I made my peace with paying for water several trips ago, but it doesn't mean I like it. One thing I try to remember to do is take a long drink from my water bottle before I enter a restaurant. That way I don't walk in terribly thirsty and can get by with a small bottle. Except in Germany, where I was sometimes sold water in 0.2-liter bottles. Do you know small that is? it's less than 7 ounces! And the charge was over 2 euros. In inexpensive restaurants

ronfer, I think charging for bottled water is the norm everywhere - my question was about ordering free tap water, and it seems that more people than not agree that this is not available in switzerland. i'm guessing jim is talking about tap water?

OK! Here is some input from someone that lives and works in Switzerland and in the hospitality industry.

First of all there is no such thing as "free tap water". In most parts of Europe we pay a lot of money for utilities (water, electricity and heating) and therefore are very mindfull of their use. Secondly, unlike the US, the wages in the hospitality industry are regulated by the government and starting from the dish washer up the pay scale is mind boggling. You can safely say that here in Switzerland a wait person is on appr. USD 25.00 an hour and the employer still has to pay a lot of tax, insurance etc., on top of that. But, prices in restaurants and bars always include service and VAT. So unlike the US you are not having to add a 15-20% tip on top of the advertised price.

Yes in Switzerland we have the luxury of having wonderful tasting and safe to drink tap water. I've travelled to other countries where tap water is safe to drink but to be honest it tastes dreadful and I'd rather pay for bottled water in a restaurant just to be able to drink something pallatable. Maybe I'm a water snob?

There is also the aspect of people reserving a table at prime time in a restaurant, ordering one meal to share and asking for tap water. Understandably, restaurants will not survive if all the patrons are doing this. So, a surcharge is there to offset some of the costs. In some parts of Italy or Spain there is only bottled water available and no one seems to bat an eyelid at having to pay for water??

In Europe (not just Switzerland), it is just not acceptable to take your own drinks in to restaurants. I would personnally never dream of it. But having travelled widely in Asia where tap water is not pallatable, it is normal to have your own bottled water with you. I always order other drinks anyway. Sometimes, I get the feeling that some tourists have a rude wake up call once on holiday and don't realise that everything starts to add up on a daily basis and then they do start to use "false economy" trying to scrimp and save where possible. Personally, after working hard all year I like to live it up when on holiday and budget for dinner and drinks out each night. Afterall I have another year to save up for the next holiday.

No doublt, this will remain a touchy subject, but be considerate of other country's customs and habits and enjoy your holidays wherever and keep drinking the water ;-)

wowza, that is quite the explanation!

certainly we are trying to be mindful of what is the normal custom, which is why i started this thread in the first place ;-) so no need for the patronizing tone haha. as far as budgeting goes - that was part of my question as well, whether we need to budget ~$150 for a week of bottled water in a country where the tap water is perfectly fine to drink. i'm not sure whether your personal preferences as being a "water snob" or wanting to order other drinks while on vacation has any bearing on this discussion though.

we also pay for our utilities in the US, but the amount of water consumed as drinking water is minute in comparison to the other uses of water which is probably why it is normal to serve it for free. that point, to me, seems akin to having a surcharge on heating in the winter...

if that sounds a bit defensive or argumentative, i would offer that having been to many countries where tap water is not safe AND there are massive garbage problems, like in much of SE Asia as you pointed out, so it's difficult for me to understand why the swiss would choose to create waste when it is completely unnecessary. additionally, requesting tap water has recently become much more normal in france, a country that also has perfectly safe and good tap water, in response to the bottled water waste problem, where formerly it was only typical to order bottled mineral water in restaurants. and in the US, many restaurants are now only serving tap water on request to be mindful of waste... maybe i have an incorrect perception of switzerland as an eco-conscious country.

it's also worth noting that a bottle of water in italy might run 1 EUR rather than the 6 CHF i am hearing about, which is a huge difference and part of the reason that many people who are not on a swiss payscale might balk at it. personally i would prefer that restaurants build whatever the cost is for tap water into their prices rather than create waste unnecessarily, but it is what it is.

is it normal that tourists all go out and share a meal and order no drinks? i can't imagine "everyone" is doing that :-)

So unlike the US you are not having to add a 15-20% tip on top of the advertised price.

You do not "have" to add a tip, its just that many choose to do so.

Having to pay $6-$10 for a bottle of water so the dishwasher can make more per hour than many teachers in the US is a bit of a "cultural" shock that is hard to adjust to.

Looks like the water bill is just a gouge to build in a 20-25% 'tip'.

Glad for the heads up to seriously hydrate before entering a restaurant so the glass of wine can be enjoyed and not used as thirst quencher.

Why don't you ask for wine, beer, ice tea, or soda, if paying for water is such a big problem for you?

My experience is limited to one restaurant in Lauterbrunnen where I had dinner twice. The first night, we had a bottle of wine for the table, which all drank. We were not charged for a pitcher of tap water we ordered. The second night, some wanted wine, others didn't. They requested tap water and those that didn't order a glass or more of wine were charged for the water. I don't remember if it was explained to us, or if it was listed on the menu as a footnote, but when we realized the charge when we got the bill, we understood that if you didn't order a drink that they charged for, you'd be charged for tap water. Lest there be confusion, tap water was not automatically served, it had to be ordered.

I have known several waiters who speak multiple languages, worked very long hours and earned no where near the 25chf per hour. I have friends who are teachers with advanced degrees, speak multiple languages and they do not earn a high salary. It's a misconception that most people earn a high salary in Switzerland. Unless the waiter who is earning 25chf per hour has been trained at a hotel school and works in an exclusive resort or restaurant, that rate sounds well above the norm.
Most of the food you will eat while you are here has been imported and it is expensive. To me, that is more likely the reason for the higher costs at restaurants, not the salaries. I have never encountered a restaurant in Switzerland or anywhere in Europe who charges for tap water and I rarely order anything else.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/global-cost-of-food-expensive-countries/

Hospitality industry workers are on the low end of the wage distribution and Switzerland is no different. The Swiss tourist industry being seasonal is highly dependent on foreign labor, many who return home during the off-seasons. That said, hotel and restaurant workers median wages in 2010 while lower than other industries were reported to be 4106 CHF per month. However, I expect that the behind the scenes staff (dishwashers and housekeepers) are on the low side of median.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/employment_why-working-in-tourism-is-no-holiday-for-the-swiss/38440330

Interesting discussion. I will add that we were in Moscow recently, and we consistently paid around $10 for a small bottle of water. The food prices were also really high, but I had been warned, so we just tried to eat and drink and not think about the prices too much. But it is hard to wrap my head around the fact that food and water were so much higher in price than other items, like clothing. Moscow was amazing, by the way, other than the food and drink prices! :)

This may sound like a really stupid question, but is it safe to drink the tap water throughout Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary? I tend to air on the side of caution when we travel, and thus never drink the tap water unless I'm 100% sure it's fine. For example, I didn't drink tap water in Moscow. Is Hungary similar - maybe stick to bottled water?

...is it safe to drink the tap water throughout Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary?

I drank tap water in Switzerland and Austria with no ill effects.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/austria?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001

Food and water standards in Austria are similar to those in the United
States. Most travelers do not need to take special food or water
precautions beyond what they normally do at home.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/switzerland

Food and water standards in Switzerland are similar to those in the
United States. Most travelers do not need to take special food or
water precautions beyond what they normally do at home.

Thanks, Edgar! Great site - looks like we are safe with Austria and Switzerland, but should not drink the tap water in Hungary (warning was similar to the warning for Russia).

Heard first hand report from a Sochi Winter Olympics coach. One of his athletes got hit by "brown water" when showering at an Olympic dormitory. The skier was incapacitated by gastric ailments so severe he had to get rehydrated by hospital IV. He tried starting his event but only made it a couple of hundred meters. Moral of the story is don't ingest shower water and use safe drinking water brushing teeth in Russia.

What a fascinatingly contentious topic!

Thank you to Chani and Lacleman for reports of your experience ordering tap water.

MR, I don't like sweet drinks and can't drink alcohol, so my preferred liquids are water and coffee. Again, I started this thread to what is normal, I'm not going to make a big stink about it; I just find it interesting that with safe, drinkable tap water, that a country would choose to create waste.

Also fascinating that some folks swear to never seeing tap water in a Swiss restaurant while a few others always order it.

I posted already about water in Switzerland so I will close by saying that maybe you should go to a country where restaurant items are cheaper as well as lodging.
Mike

Mike, are you implying "if you have to ask, you can't afford it"?

I wonder what Rick would say about not traveling someplace because you're on a budget? 😜

Then there's the use of bathrooms (after you've consumed a bunch of water). It used to be that, especially in France and Italy,it seemed, it was going to cost you to use the toilet. Russia, as I recall, even had staffers manning the bathrooms, who collected a compulsory fee for cleaning, upkeep, and use of the facilities. This seems to be less and less the case, and if you're in a restaurant anyway, you're already paying for the restroom as part of your bill, but some things are considered "free" in the US, and those things, elsewhere, may not. I believe Rick would suggest that a visitor plan accordingly, and hope for the best, but be prepared.

My husband and I just got back from a month hiking and sightseeing in Switzerland, and I can tell you about our experience with tap water in restaurants there, especially in the Berner Oberland (a German-speaking area).

I was usually charged about 2 Swiss francs for a carafe of tap water (called "Hahnenwasser" in Swiss German, or "Leitungswasser" in High German, but all whom I encountered understood the word "tap" wasser). That was mainly in popular tourist and hiking area cafes. I heard from a number of Swiss friends that Switzerland had a terrible heat wave and drought this past spring, which ruined crops, and from which they haven't fully recovered. So the water charges might be a reflection of this year's water shortage.

I should point out that I noticed an episode in a popular Luzern patisserie/cafe in which a family tried to drink from their own water bottles, and the waitress went over and told them to leave unless they put their bottles away and ordered their drinks from the restaurant.

My husband and I often shared one meal, and the waiters never seemed surprised. They understood "Teilen zusammen" to mean "share together." That saved quite a bit of money where portions were large, such as in restaurants that serve traditional Swiss country-cooking.

We usually filled up our bottles at water fountains in public squares, which is encouraged. You might enjoy some of the Swiss soft drinks (nonalcoholic) like Schorle, which is carbonated apple juice, or like Rivella, my husband's favorite, which is a carbonated soft drink made from whey, although it tastes a little like apple juice. American soft drinks like Coke are very expensive. Beer is not. Also, we liked a soft drink that tasted like carbonated lemonade that wasn't too sweet, called Citron.

We are back, and I wrote a trip report about our experience on this topic so it is easier for others to find a summary. @Cyn, this thread was part of the trying to gather information in order to plan accordingly :-) Was still surprised to find a 9.50 charge for tap water on one bill, so I hope the trip report will help others be prepared.