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Hi,
I will be traveling from the states to Switzerland in late summer for vacation. This is my first time ever going to Switzerland and I am looking forward to it. It is a beautiful country. I have heard from several people, both in the states and in Europe that Switzerland is a very expensive country. Can anyone explain why that is?
One of the reasons it is expensive is because the dollar to swiss franc exchange rate is terrible. Right now it is around 1:1 when, historically, it should be around 1:1.3.
In some respects, even with the exchange rate, it is expensive and especially for a tourist. However, when eating out, consider that in the US a $100 meal is actually $130 by the time you have paid tax and tip. In Switzerland a $100 meal is $100 because tax is included and there is no expectation of tipping. In fact, all goods in shops are sold tax included unlike in the USA. What you see is what you pay.
And locals don't pay the same as tourists. On the trains and buses, tourists pay full price while the locals have monthly tickets or half-price cards at a discount.
Food in supermarkets tends to be expensive because Switzerland subsidizes marginal farmers in the Swiss mountains to prevent depopulation. Go across the border into France and food is a lot cheaper. Wine, however, is quite a lot cheaper than in the USA.
Hi,
I will be traveling from the states to Switzerland in late summer for vacation. This is my first time ever going to Switzerland and I am looking forward to it. It is a beautiful country. I have heard from several people, both in the states and in Europe that Switzerland is a very expensive country. Can anyone explain why that is?
Because it's a very rich, very small country. The above poster does make some good points about eating out and such with tax and gratuity included, but still, even a regular coffee at Starbucks will run at least $6 and a pint of beer seemed to run into the $10-12 range. The smaller towns and villages aren't as expensive as the larger cities like Zurich and Geneva. Even Neuchatel and Lucerne seemed a bit less expensive than Zurich if I recall correctly, though it's been about three years since I visited.
Wine, however, is quite a lot cheaper than in the USA.
I did notice that as well. I was there just before Christmas and remember the "gluhwein" they served at the Christkindlimarkt being surprisingly inexpensive and quite good.
Well I don't really know why is it sooo expensive but it is, especially now that the euro has gone down.
But sometimes expensive doesn't mean rich country, there are some countries where salaries are high and are not expensive so the result is an affordable quality of life. And some countries with low income and high prices :S
I think Here is some reasons of expensive.first this is a very small and richest country.
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