Traveling Switzerland

[Alternatepriorities]

I've been to Switzerland once before, it's been more than a decade, but it's still tied with NZ as my favorite trip... There is a chance DW and I will take her parents to Europe this summer and her father in particular would really enjoy touring Switzerland by train.

Are there any Mustachian tips for seeing Switzerland or is this one of those times to just except we will need to spend a little more than usual and enjoy being able to truly afford it?

Are there any Swiss Mustachians interested in showing off part of their country? I'd be happy to show off Alaska sometime in return!

[Erma]

I would advise you to not book hotels in Zurich and/or Geneva as both cities are very expensive. The smaller cities are usually more affordable and everything is very well reachable by public transport. Also eating out is usually cheaper at noon than in the evening. If you have the option to cook yourself it gets cheaper.
If you go hiking it can be cheap but if you want to do any special tourist destinations it might het expensive (especially Jungfraujoch). There are sometimes vouchers in some of the grocery store newspapers.

It would be helpful to know more what you would like to do here.

[Alternatepriorities]

I love hiking, and that was a big part of my previous visit. I'd made friends with someone from Aarau while I was in NZ the year before and went to visit and hike with them. The Swiss Alps are amazing! Also it was really novel to have a bed and an excellent hot meal after a long day of hiking. :)

Unfortunately, my mother and father-in-law are past the "hike the alps" part of their lives so hiking will probably limited for this trip. Fortunately, I recall Swiss engineering is nearly as amazing as the mountains and my father-in-law loves trains... Aside from riding a few of the scenic rail routes we would likely want to tour museums and visit some historical areas. I really enjoyed the transportation museum in Lucerne, so I'd like to go there again. I haven't really started looking into trip details yet as there are still a few hurdles. Mostly the only negative I remember from my last visit was how expensive everything felt. I'm much better off financially now but it seemed like something other on here might have some advice on. Also, the people I've met locally through the forum have all been interesting people.

[reeshau]

Mirren is absolutely one of our favorite places in the world.  If you have the option, try going in shoulder season: late August or early September.  The Lauterbrunnen Valley has absolutely been loved to death, and is swamped in June / July.

We love to stay at altitude, and come down to the Valley during the day.  It's more expensive, but you go against the day-tourist flow, so a lot of frustration is avoided.

Switzerland is always expensive, particularly relative to other European destinations.  One thing we do, as a group, is to rent a flat rather than 2 hotels rooms.  You can save a lot on the room rate, particularly outside of ski season.  It will also encourage you to make your own breakfasts, at least.
 At altitude, we have found buying meat to cook ourselves wasn't much of a savings over going out.

If serious hiking is out, but hiking and vistas might be desired, take a look at the Mannlichen route to Kleine Scheidig.  Gondola up from Wengen, and it's pretty flat until a couple brief slopes down at the end.

More adventurous, that we loved, is hiking up to or down the Schilthorn from Piz Gloria.  The first gondola of the day is discounted.

Agree Jungfraujoch is shockingly priced.  Lots of tourist things, and snow in summer, if that is novel for you.  Of course, plenty of that in Alaska, so that would be an easy skip,

Lots more places to go.  And French/Italian/Austrian Alps are lovely, too.  More details could help get more specific advice.

[snic]

Switzerland has got to be my all-time favorite destination. So much beauty in one tiny country, amazingly well-marked hiking trails, and as someone said above, a warm bed waiting for you after your hike. Unfortunately it is expensive, but the same money-saving rules apply as in any other destination: rent an apartment with a kitchen and buy groceries at the supermarket rather than eating out all the time; go in the shoulder season (mid-September is great; most mountain passes are still open for hiking but the crowds are much less); avoid the over-touristed spots and big cities. One caveat to the apartment rental advice: small Swiss hotels often have incredible breakfasts (always included in the nightly rate), so if that's your thing, stay at least one night in a place that has a reputation for that. My standard Swiss lunch was to pack some excellent cheese or sausage, bread, an apple, and  chocolate in my backpack and eat that mid-day in some beautiful spot on a day hike, usually with my water bottle freshly refilled from a nearby pipe (all water coming from a spigot in Switzerland is potable). Heaven.

The Swiss rail/bus/funicular/gondola system is one of the wonders of the world, but that doesn't come cheap. It's worth it, though, for its incredible efficiency, and one obvious strategy is to stay in one spot for a few days and plan day hikes around the transportation schedules. On one trip, when I was staying in Zurich for a conference, I blew off one day to hike the "Panoramaweg", which is not too far from the city by train. As the name implies, it was spectacular.

Enjoy your trip - I'm jealous!

[Erma]

If you plan to travel by train a lot the Swiss travel pass may be something for you. Also on the panoramic train routes there are usually normal trains running which need no reservation fee.

[mustachianpost]

A Swiss friend of mine has this wonderful travel blog that is now translated fully in English: https://www.novo-monde.com/en/roadtrip-switzerland-budget/
The couple is really honest in their reviews, and not biaised like too many travel blogs these days.

They are not focused on Mustachian traveling, but are quite frugal by nature.

Hope this helps!