This article was written due to the high interest from Instagram followers in our photos of Switzerland. We were quite surprised, as we didn’t expect so many people to be drawn to Swiss scenery, given its reputation as an expensive country. Last November 2023, we stopped by Switzerland after completing our third Camino de Santiago from Merida to Santiago de Compostela.
Which airline is best to fly to Switzerland?
From Santiago de Compostela, we took a super affordable RyanAir flight with a layover in Barcelona before arriving in Zurich. Since we’ve never flown directly from Indonesia to Switzerland, we can’t make any recommendations from there. Our tip for finding cheap flights: regularly check Skyscanner. We managed to snag a round-trip ticket from KL to Madrid via Singapore and London with British Airways (a full-service airline) for around IDR 6 million per person.
What is the best season to visit Switzerland?
Again, we can’t give a definitive answer since this was our first time in Switzerland, and it was just entering winter. We were there in mid-November, and much of the fall foliage was still hanging on. Snow was already covering areas around Interlaken and its nearby villages, though Zurich hadn’t seen snow yet. We thought it was stunning, but it likely has its own beauty in other seasons too.
Whenever asked about the best season to visit a country, we always say that each season has its unique charm. Honestly, though, every season brings different scenery in terms of colors and crowds. We can’t really compare if we haven’t experienced all seasons firsthand. How could we say winter is the best if we haven’t seen the landscape in other seasons?
Is Switzerland expensive?
Since we were there for a short time and already resigned to the idea that Switzerland is pricey, we didn’t track our expenses as we usually do with the Trail Wallet app. Plus, we didn’t spend any cash—all payments were made by credit card. This was mostly because Switzerland uses Swiss Francs, and we didn’t want to carry leftover currency while we already had Euros, Indonesian Rupiah, Malaysian Ringgit (from our KL departure), and Singapore Dollars (since we knew we’d stop in Singapore on the way home). Fortunately, credit cards are widely accepted everywhere in Switzerland.
To give you an idea, we only spent on car rental (IDR 530,000/day), McDonald’s meals (IDR 150,000 for two people), gas (IDR 780,000), shopping at ALDI for dinner, snacks, dessert, breakfast, and packed lunch (IDR 600,000 for two days), coffee in Zurich (IDR 170,000 for two cups and a cookie), and our last lunch in Zurich at a kebab shop (IDR 190,000 for a shared plate). Our AirBnB (IDR 1,125,000/night) was paid online. We didn’t incur any parking or tourist attraction fees as we didn’t visit paid attractions. Not too pricey, right?
What are the must-visit spots in Switzerland?
To be honest, we aren’t the best people to answer this. We didn’t visit any paid attractions. We simply did a road trip from Zurich, passed through Liechtenstein, explored Interlaken and its surroundings, then returned to Zurich. So, the only famous places we saw were Interlaken and some of its nearby small villages, like Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen.
Accommodation recommendations in Switzerland?
We only spent two nights in Switzerland, with one night in Liechtenstein. We opted for an AirBnB in Ringgenberg, a small town about 2 km from downtown Interlaken. It was cheaper than staying in Interlaken’s center, and since we had a rental car, it was easy to drive back and forth. Our AirBnB cost IDR 1,125,000 per night for two people and included a kitchen, WiFi, and heater.
Getting around Switzerland?
In Switzerland, the most popular way to get around, especially to Interlaken, is by train. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to experience the train since we rented a car for three days, starting and ending in Zurich.
Why did we rent a car? We didn’t plan on visiting the popular (and pricey) snowy mountain attractions around Interlaken. With limited time, we opted for a brief road trip to get an overall feel of Switzerland. Renting a car made our itinerary more flexible and allowed us to visit non-touristy areas. The rental cost was affordable at IDR 530,000/day, and fuel was very efficient (we rented from here). We only needed to refuel once (IDR 780,000) before returning the car on the third day, and we drove quite a distance. There are no toll fees in Switzerland, and we didn’t pay for parking either since we avoided popular tourist sites. Parking at ALDI supermarket was free, and we had free parking at our AirBnB.
Our Switzerland itinerary:
Though it may not seem too exciting due to the lack of popular attractions, here’s our 3-day, 2-night itinerary in Switzerland:
Day 1: Stayed in Liechtenstein; toured around, visited Vaduz Castle, Triesenberg, crossed into Switzerland, stopped at a beautiful lake in Klöntal, drove to Interlaken, and stayed in Ringgenberg.
Day 2: Visited Interlaken, drove to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, and stayed again in Ringgenberg.
Day 3: Checked out, stopped in Interlaken, drove to Zurich with various scenic stops along the way, returned the rental car in Zurich, had coffee, lunch, and took a bus to Rimini, Italy.
It may not sound all that exciting, but we were satisfied with just exploring Switzerland without spending a fortune on trains or cable cars. Hopefully, if we’re fortunate enough to return, we can enjoy some of the more “touristy” activities next time!