The idea of Switzerland this year is attractive because they don't use the Euro. However, I keep reading things that say how expensive it is. I am able to find apartments that are within my price range, but am wondering how the prices of food, drink, etc. compare with France and Italy. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Kathryn

The Swiss franc was almost on a par with the Australian dollar both times that we have been there.

I didn't think the prices of goods were overly expensive. Cheaper in some instances.

I don't know how prices would compare to American goods. That said, however, we have friends from America currently staying here and they say that our dining out is more expensive than America. We don't have to tip here, so that may have something to do with it.

Remember that you are on holidays and the best motto is:
'Do you save to go on holidays or do you go on holidays to save.'

Elly

I'm curious about this also. The latest issue of CN Traveler had an article Where to get the most for your dollar. In Europe, they mentioned that the Swiss Franc was trading less than the Euro but didn't mention if the cost of items were more. It was not one of the countries they highlighted for Europe (Liechenstein, Romania, Turkey). I hadn't thought about Switzerland as an option before or at least not with respect to cost.

One Swiss franc is worth a little less than one USD. At the moment the interbank rate is about 92 cents.

However, that hardly makes Switzerland cheap. Norway is terribly expensive, and it uses the kroner, which is currently about 18 US cents.

I was in Zurich last September when the exchange rate was around 120 Swiss Fracs to the dollar and a tall Starbucks brew, which is $1.60 here, was $3.20 worth of Swiss Francs. During the same trip I visited Prague which was a lot less expensive.

Carole

But why go to Zurich for a Starbucks?

Think of Switzerland like an island. It is an island landlocked by the EU. This means, in general, with the exception of taxes, everything is more expensive than in the surrounding countries, when we are talking about the cost of living.

Gas and energy is less expensive, because of the lower taxes in Switzerland.

But food, restaurants, hotels, long term rents--- all more expensive.

It is indeed possible to get a very good deal on a vacation rental in Switzerland during the non-winter months. Hotels in Zürich are comparable with London and Paris in terms of price.

Island living is always expensive, and Switzerland is no exception. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world, with one of the highest standards of living, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe. That all comes at a price economically.

Food -- coming from the land of reasonably priced, extremely high quality food (Bella Italia) makes going out to dinner in Swizterland almost unappetizing. Restaurants are on average double and triple what we pay here, and the wine can be even more.

Everything is a tradeoff. While the exchange rate might be (a bit?? not really very much though) more favorable at the moment, costs are higher, so everything washes out in the end.

Hello,
On our first trip to Switzerland last summer we didn't feel it was any more expensive than Italy for most things including dining out but we have just come back from Geneva and felt we were paying more for some things than we had in the summer.
We decided it was possibly because we hadn't stayed in a Swiss city before as well as the currency rate.
We spent time in Ascona in the Ticino where you are so close to the Italian border restaurants, apart from the high class ones,were very much the same prices as they were in Cannero for example.
In Vevey close to the French border we paid what we'd expect to in France. One point worthy of note is that our Vevey hotel has increased it's room prices by some 25% for summer 2008.
So I would suggest you choose carefully and go to Switzerland because we fell in love with that country and are back again in May.
Please bear in mind that we are both "Italophiles"
Wendy

We find Switzerland very very expensive - which is one, but only one, of the reasons we don't go there very often. There also seem less cheaper options for food in particular than in other parts of Europe.

I know it is beautiful but (to us) in a very sterile and formal way and we much prefer Italy or France - for example.

I have never compared the costs to UK - which we also find expensive - but am prepared to tolerate those more often.

quote:

I know it is beautiful but (to us) in a very sterile and formal way

This is true (to me too ) in the Germanic part of Switzerland, which I tend to think of as "Germany exponentiated" ... even more organized, more clean, more sterile.

Ticino is maybe less so, because of the bad influence of the Italians , the same for the French sector....well, there we would have to blame the French!!

I am delighted to say I have not found either the wonderful lakes, mountains or the Swiss to be "sterile" in any way.

Certainly it is a different to other parts of Europe because of it's unique geography but then surely that is what travel is all about?

One point I should have made earlier is that Switzerland is home to Euro 2008 so if the earlier poster hasn't put you off that country entirely then bear this in mind when making your plans.
Wendy

Sorry if it offended, I believe I was misinterpreted. Just because I used the word sterile does not mean I find it bad. We have a second residence in Zuerich. I also lived in Germany for 9 years.

I love both Switzerland and Germany. They are what they are, just as Italy is what it is.

Also, we have ALOT of Swiss guests. They, above all, hold the opinion that Switzerland extreme in its Germanic nature.

Regardless of personal opinion on either side,Switzerland tends to be an isolated country -- by choice. Its mentality, prices, banking system and culture reflect this in a myriad of ways.

But don't misunderstand. It is a beautiful place, and personally, I like it very much.

The European Football Championships will be shared this year between Switzerland and Austria.

Nick, Starbucks was down the street from my hotel and even at $3.20 for coffee it was less expensive than breakfast at my hotel which was the Widder. Also, I do love my Starbucks even in Switzerland.

I also found Zurich to be a more formal city than others in Europe and I enjoyed this aspect. I enjoyed seeing everyone well dressed and all the business men wearing suits. It reminded me of New York City many years ago before all the "dressing down" started especially in the U.S. It was quite impressive and dignified.

Carole

Carole

Thanks to everyone for the input. I think we will likely go to Switzerland this summer. We were in France last fall, but the $1.45 exchange rate was very hard to take. We still love Italy best - but don't really want to deal with the exchange rate again at this time. Hoping it will improve by 09. And going someplace new is always so exciting.
Marta - I got the idea to explore Switzerland from CN Traveler....
Thanks again - Kathryn

quote:

And going someplace new is always so exciting.

Absolutely, Kathryn! I hope you enjoy every second of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Diana Strinati Baur:
Sorry if it offended, I believe I was misinterpreted. Just because I used the word sterile does not mean I find it bad. We have a second residence in Zuerich. I also lived in Germany for 9 years.

I love both Switzerland and Germany. They are what they are, just as Italy is what it is.

Also, we have ALOT of Swiss guests. They, above all, hold the opinion that Switzerland extreme in its Germanic nature.

Regardless of personal opinion on either side,Switzerland tends to be an isolated country -- by choice. Its mentality, prices, banking system and culture reflect this in a myriad of ways.

But don't misunderstand. It is a beautiful place, and personally, I like it very much.

The European Football Championships will be shared this year between Switzerland and Austria.

Interesting how you're apologising for "offending" Switzerland. I know this land very well. It's truly beautiful. But it is sterile. Its streets, its mentality. And the apologising factor belongs to it. Interesting.

Hi Summer,

I was not apologizing for offending Switzerland, but to the next poster who seemed to somehow be offended by me saying that I think the country is sterile (and organized and clean and beautiful).

There ain't no apologizing for Switzerland being, well, Switzerland. It is what it is. And that's a GOOD thing!

I haven't been following closely in the past couple months, but the Swiss franc tends to track the euro pretty closely (ie, the exchange rate between francs and euros stays pretty constant), so I'd imagine you won't find Switzerland to be a good deal over euro countries.

Switzerland has very protectionist policies which keep prices high on a lot of items, especially food. Every Saturday the Swiss flood over the borders into neighboring countries to do their shopping because it's so much less expensive than shopping in Switzerland. I just moved from Switzerland to Germany, and I'm delighted with how low the prices are here!

And others have already mentioned this, but the country is going to be packed during the Euro Cup this summer. Newspapers have been warning about the population nearly doubling during this time. Probably not a good time to visit.

We spent 8 weeks in Switzerland in 2007: 5 weeks in June/July in four different vacation rentals and then another 3 weeks in Brienz just last month. We stayed in mostly chalet-style one-bedroom (the one in Pontresina had three bedrooms), anywhere from 65-100 sq meters. We paid on average 700 swiss francs/week (under $600) compared to our Venice apartment for 5 weeks (Dec 15, 2007-Jan 18,2008) at 3600 euros/month ($1250/week). The Swiss rentals were better equiped and cleaner.

We also purchased Swiss saverpasses for two from RailEurope at $1100/month and $900/22-days. There were no additional reservation fees except for the special scenic trains and mountain top trains/gondolas. They were also good for boat rides and museums.

Food were more expensive (maybe) but we shopped, cooked and ate at home.

We found Switzerland cheaper than Italy on our last couple of trips (10 weeks in Italy in 2007-08).

We are planning to spend our holidays in Paris the rest of this year but will probably go back to Switzerland in 2009.

This discussion about Italy and Switzerland makes me think of the poem by Emily Dickinson:

ALPINE GLOW
OUR lives are Swiss, --
        So still, so cool,
        Till, some odd afternoon,
The Alps neglect their curtains,
        And we look farther on.
Italy stands the other side,
        While, like a guard between,
The solemn Alps,
The siren Alps,
        Forever intervene!

I was just reading about the poem in a book recommended to me by Mary Jane on the Italy forum: Helen Barolini's "Their Other Side: six American women and the lure of Italy". The author includes Emily Dickinson among her six women, mainly on the basis of this single poem, although Emily never went to Europe.

- Roz

...and Emily didn't have the Internet to glean information from! But she got it right. Thanks, Roz, for posting the poem