Choose your accommodation carefully
If you stay in a 5-star hotel in notoriously expensive cities like Zurich or Geneva, then don’t expect any real bargains (though they may offer some discounts).
If you really want to cut corners, however, choose small hotels outside of city centres, or AirBnB rentals, which you will do well to book in advance.
An even better (in terms of cost) alternative may be the ‘Zimmer Frei’ option — which are equivalent to Bed and Breakfast lodgings in other countries.
Many of these are rooms rented out in private houses in rural locations. This will give you not only cheaper accommodation, but also a better sense of how people live in Swiss countryside.
Another affordable (compared to conventional hotels) option is camping — the only costs you will incur if you travel in your own motor home are fuel and camping ground fees.
There are over 100 motorhome camping sites spread out across all regions of Switzerland.
READ ALSO: Is wild camping allowed in Switzerland?
Guest card
If you do opt for a hotel, many, especially the ones in cities, offer a free ‘guest card’ that will allow you to use public transport in that location for free and to benefit from discounts on numerous attractions and activities.
This link provides information on some of the places where this card is available, and what it entitles you to.
If your hotel doesn’t provide these cards to their guests, you can buy one from the local tourist office for a discounted price.
Public transport discount
You can purchase a Swiss travel pass for fixed, consecutive number of days, for unlimited travel on the public transport network, which includes trains, buses, boats, or all of them combined.
The price for three days in second class is 244 francs for an adult and 175 francs for young people from 16 to 24 years of age. (Kids under six travel for free when accompanied by an adult).
These fares are available only to people who live outside of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
You may argue (and you’d be right) that those prices are not exactly low, but then you didn’t come to Switzerland because everything here is cheap.
However, if you know how much unlimited travel by public transportation usually costs —150 francs per day for an adult without a half-fare card — then you’ll see the difference.
Supersaver tickets
If you don’t plan to travel in Switzerland on fixed, consecutive days, and are flexible about the dates and times, you can do it quite cheaply.
With the so-called ‘supersaver tickets’ (Sparbillette / billets dégriffés / biglietti risparmio), you can save up to 70 percent off the regular price, travelling all over Switzerland on most public transportation, with the exception of routes within a regional fare network.
This is how you can buy your supersaver ticket online, according to Swiss Federal Railways (SBB):
- Enter the route and day of travel
- You can see whether supersaver tickets are available.
- Select the preferred connection, and pay and print out your supersaver ticket.
Each time you make a timetable enquiry, supersaver tickets will automatically be displayed, provided they are available.
Food
If you are not staying somewhere where you can buy and prepare your own food, then your best bet are supermarket restaurants.
While they may not be ideal venues for a romantic candlelight dinner, both Migros and Coop have self-service restaurants (although not at all locations), where you can eat relatively cheaply.
A meal there (depending on what you take) can cost less than 15 francs — which is a good deal in Switzerland.
Manor department stores will also have their own eatery called Manora. They are bit more expensive than the former two — but still cheaper than regular restaurants.
Is anything actually free in Switzerland?
Surprisingly, yes.
Aside from a number of landmarks and other attractions you can see without paying, you can fill your bottle with clean, cold potable water from nearly every public fountain in Switzerland — as long as it is marked as such.
Only the few which have a “no drinking water” sign (L'eau non potable/ Untrinkbares Wasser/ Acqua imbevibile) clearly posted should be avoided.
READ ALSO: What you need to know about the drinking water in Switzerland
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