Tips for your budget friendly Switzerland vacation
Planning a trip to Switzerland?
First things first, Switzerland is not a cheap country.
But should that stop you from exploring the beautiful landscapes of Switzerland?
Well absolutely not!
Head on over to know how I planned my trip to Switzerland on a shoe-string budget.
Schengen Visa
Schengen Visa fee per person is around INR 8000.
I have written a separate post on how to score Schengen visa on an Indian passport.
Flight Tickets
Book your flight tickets as early as possible.
For instance, when I checked in the month of May for going to Switzerland in sep end, round-trip tickets were around INR 35000. But when I checked in the mid of june(just before 3 months), the round-trip flight price had shot up to INR 52000.
Getting around Switzerland
Even self driving car is an expensive affair in Switzerland. So when the country has one of the best public transport systems, why not use it. Being someone who wants to travel like locals, I always prefer taking public transport system.
How astounding to have Swiss Travel Pass & SBB App in your hand and travel at your own ease!
I have written a separate post about Swiss Rail passes and SBB app to let u understand how much time and money one can save just by having a Swiss travel pass and SBB app in hand.
We were able to save about 434 CHF(28644 INR) by simply buying the Swiss Travel pass.
Ditch the luxury hotels, take Airbnb or Hostel Accommodations. Check for fellow travelers’ reviews before booking your accomodation.
These are the hotels we had booked for our stay in Switzerland.
Interlaken – Happy Inn Lodge
St Moritz – Chesa Albris Bed & Breakfast
Liechtenstein – A friend house in Nendeln
Zurich – IBIS Budget hotel
Food
Food is very expensive in Switzerland. If you don’t want to leave a hole in your pocket, plan it in advance.
We had packed a fresh bread loaf packet, jam, corn flakes, cup noodles from India which would serve us for three days.
The best way is to have a check on your everyday food expenses. For instance, we had set a limit of 100 CHF per day for two of us. (Guess what! Our food expenses were well under the limit of 100 CHF on all the days)
When it comes to lunch, go for buffet whenever possible. We treated ourselves with a buffet in Jungfrauch for 65 CHF and in Mt Titlis for 49 CHF.(Good food at a cheaper cost!)
My guy is someone who likes to have atleast one tea per day. Tea is costly! 4.90 to 7 CHF.I regretted not to have planned for this. I could have very well got an insta tea bag from India to satiate my guy’s lust for tea.
Bring your own empty water bottles and fill it in your hotel or at public fountains. Half a litre bottle costs you around 2 CHF to 5 CHF depending upon the location.
Perhaps this is one of the best things we can do to save our environment too. Isn’t it?
Sim Card
Walk into any department store and buy a Swiss SIM card. All you need is a passport size picture, proof of identity(Passport) and 20 CHF. Don’t buy International plan in your existing sim if you don’t want to pay a hefty amount.
We got our sim card from Lyca Mobile. Please note that unlike SALT & Swisscom, Lyca mobile is roaming in Liechtenstein. Coverage wise, we didn’t face any problem inside Switzerland.
Hike, Walk and Trek!
Being in the Alpine country and leaving it without hiking its mountain is a sin right?
That too when you can do it for free, why not try it!
Well the signboards in the hiking places are perfectly laid out, that you can take any hike all by yourself without getting lost.
We hiked to Morterarsch Glacier in Pontresina and were given spell bounding views as well as thought provoking informations about climate change.
Well this summarises the ways you can travel budget in Switzerland.
Is there any other ways to travel budget in Switzerland that I had missed out here? Drop in your comments.
