Switzerland/how expensive?

Strictly speaking CH is one of the most expensive places on earth, but if you plan things out properly it's not that bad. Restaurant food is brutally expensive, no way around it; even McDonalds is pricey. Hotels rates are reasonable especially in the shoulder seasons. From Sept 1-Nov 30, Swiss Rail has an amazing 2 for 1 deal on the Swiss Pass. It includes all inter-city transport, admission to most museums, municipal transport, and big discounts on the mountain trains/cable cars. It will save you big bucks! Buy a few less souvenirs, don't order an expensive dessert, cut back on the alcohol at dinner, and you're really not spending much more than any other country in western Europe. Click the "railpasses" tab above to get a listing on the various transit passes.

It has been four years since I traveled to Switzerland, but it was expensive then. I saved money by renting apartments for a week in two different places - Berner Oberland and Luzern area. I purchased a half fare card for trains and rented a car for only one of the weeks. We would usually eat lunch out - which cost 50-60 Swiss Francs - then eat dinner in our apartment. The lunches were purchased where we happened to be for the day - Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn, Bern, Luzern, etc. We didn't eat at expensive restaurants in the cities and usually didn't have dessert. Most days I would have a glass of wine with lunch.
It is expensive, but truly amazing. I think I managed to spend approximately the same amount for two weeks as I have spent in Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

Switzerland is very expensive, particularly, as Michael said, the restaurants. We found that in the cities - Geneva, Lausanne, Luzern - take away was the answer. There were many options, including salads and wine from Coop. If you can find a nice hotel room, in Lusanne we had a room overlooking the harbor, take away can be very nice. Hotels are also high, but not so outrageous. Food in the Berner Oberland area was quite reasonable.

Switzerland is more expensive now than it was four years ago because of the relative value of the Swiss franc versus the dollar. We vacationed there a lot when the franc was around 80 cents ( last trip there was 2007) and even then people would say Switzerland was " too expensive" but we did not think so. We spend our time in mountain villages, mainly hiking, and food and lodging did not seem at all "expensive" to us. Today the Swiss franc is $1.06, so lodging and food are all more expensive, in terms of dollars, than the prices we are used to. But the term " expensive" is subjective and can only be determined by you. So look at actual prices of lodging of the type you like in the places you actually want to visit. If you want to visit Zurich and Luzern there is no point in my telling you that we stay near Kandersteg for 160 a night. As for food, we find the prices are slightly higher than other countries in Europe, but not terribly so. We usually pay 10 to 12 CHF per person for lunch in a mountain restaurant, and around 80 to 100 CHF for dinner for two, including wine. You can get by for less, of course; markets such as the Coop in larger cities have an extensive selection of grab and go foods for picnics or takeout. Don't go to McDonalds and don't compare prices of food on trains or in the airport (some people may post those, but they are not good indicators). I don't think general opinions on whether it is expensive will be as useful to you as research on actual prices in the places you want to go. You can even see restaurant menus online to get an idea of prices. Then you can decide if Switzerland is expensive in terms of your own value system.

Thank you all for your most helpful replies. Sometimes when this type of subject comes up I remember some years ago discussing the cost of European travel with a great old friend, a retired Illinois State Policeman who in 30+ years has pretty much seen it all and who has a tendency to be very direct. I was grousing about the cost of a recent trip to somewhere in Europe when he stated: Richard, it could be argued that if you have to worry about how much money you are going to be spending on a trip, perhaps you should not be going at all. Now THAT position IS hard to argue with.

Agree, Switzerland is expensive. Save money by staying in hostels. The are immaculate! Check these links for reviews: http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=8&id=42 http://www.hostelz.com/hostels-in/Switzerland I am in my 70's and still stay in hostels. Germany, Austria and Switzerland hostels are VERY clean and well kept. Many hostels have private rooms. I have yet had to stay in a dorm. If you go to Lauterbrunnen stay at the Valley Hostel.

VERY VERY VERY!!! I week in Switzerland was the same as our 4 weeks in Italy.

In addition to my last post... It was worth it!!!

Switzerland is very very expensive, and very beautiful. My niece has solved the problem by having relatives she can stay with. Otherwise, it's tough to keep costs down.

Richard, I spent two weeks in Switzerland in early June 2009, when the Swiss Franc was worth about 93 cents US. Of course, it's worth more now, and prices have probably gone up at least a little bit due to inflation. I flew to Zurich (where I spent $120 for a very tiny room, but conveniently located near the main railway station), took the train to Lucerne, and then rented a car for 12 days, making a big loop throughout much of the country, eventually returning to Zurich. Yes, many things were much more expensive than at home. I remember spending over $3 for an ice cream cone at McDonald's (the same cone costs about $1 in the US). However, some things were surprisingly reasonable. Gasoline, while more expensive than in the US, was cheaper than in neighboring western European countries. Many Migros and Coop supermarkets (two large chains) have cafeterias with meals between $10-20. In the smaller towns, hotels were not terribly expensive (e.g., I think I spent about $70 per night in Lauterbrunnen, in the Berner Oberland). Besides my one night in Zurich, I only remember one other night where I spent more than $100 (near Lausanne, on Lake Geneva). And the car was a bargain - about $30-something per day (tax included) for a Passat with automatic transmission (I don't like to drive manual transmission in the mountains), which I rented through gemut.com (I highly recommend them; they can get you fantastic rates especially if you are traveling in German-speaking countries, which is their main focus). You may have to look a little harder for bargains than in some other countries, but I think you can keep the costs from being outrageous.