SWITZERLAND PART 3: Currency, Passes, Food, Safety

SWISS TRANSPORT PASSES:

 Swiss transport system is well meshed and trains, buses, boats are well connected.

As already said in early posts, Eurail pass is NOT useful.

There are several options given by the Swiss Railways for discounted travel

You’ll need to look through all the options to avail the discounts offered.

http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/tickets/ticket-overview.html

click on details and understand which travel pass may suit you. Each year there are revisions, so always look at the official website to know latest info. 

SWISS TRAVEL PASS gives unlimited travel but do look at the map of validity.

You can see mountain railways and cable cars are not free…you’ll only have a discount for them. If you are including Jungfraujoch, this pass gives you only 25% discount.

Validity Map for Swiss Transport Passes

SWISS HALF FARE CARD gives you to one month’s half-price travel from date of purchase on Swiss trains, buses, boats and mountain railways. For most people this works out the better deal as you pay only 50% for ALL of your travels including the costly Jungfraujoch trip

FREE SWISS FAMILY CARD:  Are you coming to Switzerland with the whole family? Take advantage of the Swiss Family Card. Children under age 16 travel free of charge with the family card.

(Children under 6 years travel free of charge any way, No Swiss Family Card needed).You can get the Swiss Family Card free of charge with any Swiss Travel System ticket you buy. You have to request for it when you buy your pass.

REGIONAL PASS: If you are just sticking to one region, look at the regional pass. For example, the William Tell pass can be a good bargain if you stick to that area...If you are going to be only in Luzern or near around, consider getting a Tell Pass. That is a regional train/bus/boat pass that also covers mountain railways and cable cars. www.tellpass.ch

Swiss Saver Day Pass:

There is an excellent new product Swiss Saver Day Pass

https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/tickets-for-switzerland/1-day-travelpass/saver-day-pass.html

With the new Saver Day Pass you can travel in the whole of Switzerland for a day on all routes in the GA area at CHF 29 with a Half-Fare travelcard ...the earlier you buy, the cheaper you travel. Can be used on SBB trains or trains of other rail companies, on boats, buses, trams or postbuses. (all travel to inhabited places , not cable cars to peaks etc). Valid on routes in the GA travelcard area.

 It's only available when booking in advance, online and on SBB Mobile: from 60 days in advance up to the day before travel. They cannot be purchased on the day of travel.

WHICH PASS IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

You have to do the math. You need to find the cost of individual tickets from this official site:

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

You need to make a spreadsheet with your daily travel costs on it and then compare the total to the cost of the passes.

NOTE: In Swiss Federal Railway website www.sbb.ch/en time table, the ticket price displayed with the field "Fare/Buy" is not a full fare ticket price, but a price for users with a Half Fare Travelcard (most of people in Switzerland have it and so it’s the default fare showing up).

The full fare ticket price is logically twice that price. Simple select "Fare/Buy" and you will be able to compare full fare (=no reduction), ticket for Half Fare Travelcard users, 2nd and 1st class, one way and return tickets.

We can get the fare info for not only the trains operated  by the sbb company but also for cable cars/gondolas operated by other companies in the above site. [we can even buy any and all tickets from this site... Thanks to reader Roland for this updated info!]

Cable cars to mountain tops are operated by different companies for different sites. The prices and details on any closures are on to the respective official site as well, for example, for Jungfraujoch, go to Jungfrau.ch site; for Titlis, go to titlis.ch .... just add dot ch with the name of the attraction for accessing the official site with ticket/fares info:

http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/quick-navigation/top-of-europe/fares/

TIP:

I'm elaborating on my views regarding selection of a suitable pass here...

You have to decide on a day-to-day plan and note down what full fare you'll pay for those excursions and compare with what the prices will be if you had one of the passes. 

As you can see it's a laborious process. 

More importantly, execution of your plan totally depends on conducive weather on those particular days. If a mountain excursion is not feasible on a day, you may end up doing a much less expensive option. There's no way to accurately predict how your plans will play out. 

Just because you have a Swiss pass which will give you free train travel, it may not be a good idea to jump on a train for that day.  A leisurely hike on a mountain path near your base or a stroll through a pretty village will not cost you anything and will give you loads of fun. You may however think your Swiss pass is going waste if you don't use it daily.

Half fare card is a viable option in most cases when you face the reality that plans are always flexible;  you pay just 50% if you decide to take any transport for a particular day. On days you choose not to use any transport, you are not losing out on any investment as is the case if you have bought a Swiss pass!

As an example from our trip, we had planned a day trip to Zermatt and Klein Matterhorn from our 1st base Vevey. We had no idea if the weather will cooperate and our Plan B was to roam around old town Vevey and the vineyards nearby in the Lavaux region. The 1st plan is a long trip and involves more money and would have been free up to Zermatt with Swiss pass; the 2nd plan costs very little. So how would we know what we'll get to do on on that particular day before buying a pass? We had bought a half fare card considering all options. As it turned out, there was a glorious sunny day in Klein Matterhorn, we made that day trip instead of the much cheaper option and we paid half of the fare. Now do we need to think... oh, we should have had the Swiss pass, the train travel would have been free? No, Of course not, we were so happy with our day, we hardly minded the extra expense! If we had had the Swiss pass, the quirky Weather Gods might have chosen to rain down on us!! who knows! 

Museums are free with the Swiss pass; we did visit a few... Chillon castle, Gruyeres castle, Ballenberg museum, all of which would have been free. We did not care! We had a glorious day at Jungfraujoch and Swiss pass would have given us only 25% discount, we got 50% discount on that very expensive trip with our Half fare card.

In the end, what price can one put on the happiness of a perfect vacation day?   

WHEN TO BUY THE PASS?

You can buy the pass at the airport when you land.

If you are coming in by train, for example from Paris, or Italy, your pass validity will kick in as you touch the Swiss border. In such cases, buy your pass online.

Always have the pass/half fare card and tickets and your ID accessible--there is checking on board the train.

MONEY MATTERS:

CURRENCY:

Switzerland  - which is not a member of the European Union - has its own national currency, the Swiss franc.  You will see this denoted as CHF 

EURO will not be widely accepted in shops and restaurants. If they are accepted, the exchange rate will not be favorable to you; your change will be in Swiss Francs again at an exchange rate unfavorable to you.   So you lose money.

CREDIT CARDS:  

If you plan to use a credit card for a purchase it is wise to check as you enter a store or restaurant for stickers on the window or at the door.  Check with the cashier as well before he/she totals your items.  There is sometimes a minimum purchase required before you can pay with a credit card. The more common cards used are VISA and MASTERCARD.

Many credit cards these days don't charge foreign transaction fees; however, you should call and ask about yours. When you make a purchase, you should choose to purchase in the local currency and let your credit card company/bank do the conversion on their end. This will get you the best rate.

Currency Exchange 

Currency exchange can be found in most SBB/CFF train stations as well as in any bank though there is usually a commission charged for each exchange

ATMs

The most convenient way of getting francs is via ATMs.  They are found everywhere and are your best bet for getting cash at the most favorable exchange rate.

Indians, Please check if you have a global ATM card, not just a national card. Also check out the maximum amount allowed per day and the charges from your bank for withdrawing money abroad, it differs with each bank… in experience, it was just Rs 30 per withdrawal with Indian bank ATM card and Rs 200 with Standard chartered card.

FOOD

It pays to research where to eat when you are abroad. If you are vegetarians, the choices may be limited.

https://www.thefork.com/ is a good site to research restaurants; there are some discounts sometimes if you book through this site.

https://www.happycow.net/ is great for researching vegan/vegetarian restaurants.

 Self catering is a great choice. COOP, Migros are great places to buy fruits, salad vegetables, bread, cheese spreads, fruit juices, milk, yogurt, chocolates etc. You can easily assemble great picnic meals and  have the pleasure of eating in scenic spots. I’ll add tips on this subject in a separate detailed post if you need it--leave a comment below this post...

Setting out picnic food on our way to Klein Matterhorn

Home-made paratas (Tortillas) and tomato relish--these last for 5 days

Swiss Chocolate makes for a great dessert at the end of the picnic meal

Clothes to Pack:

This is just for the benefit of people coming from warm regions and do not understand how to dress for cooler climates...say, those from southern India for example. People from Northern India, for instance, do possess adequate warm clothing and know how to layer for comfort when the temperature dips.

Yet another disclaimer is valid here... this is just a suggestion for convenience and comfort, not for those who respect the Fashion Police and will have appearance as main concern! Of course, black jacket or neutral colors and some coordination between all layers may serve both purposes.

Wherever you go thin layers are the best option.

Basically you need layered clothes. Pack 4 layers. Eg tee shirt, shirt, sweatshirt/cardigan and windproof waterproof jacket.

Also, sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, lip balm.



A wool cap and gloves if you plan to spend time on snow.

Sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen are very important on mountain tops to avoid the ultra violet radiation. People from tropical regions are surprised when they get sunburned on a cold mountain top; the high temperature in their country has no such effect.  Sun burn has very little, if anything, to do with ambient temperature.

Rather, it has everything to do with the intensity of ultra violet radiation, and the length of time exposed.

The air is thinner and cleaner on a mountain top, therefore more UV reaches the mountain top than at lower elevations. UV levels increase by 4% for every 300 meter rise in altitude.

So, minimise exposure time to sunshine on mountains, and use a good sunscreen (SPF 50 and above)!

Plus sturdy shoes with good treads that are also, if possible waterproof. These are good in the mountains AND in the towns because in the towns there are a lot of cobbled streets so uneven footing.

Then you simply add or subtract these layers depending on the temperature of the day... when extra layers are taken off, the pictures taken on different days look different too...one need not be bundled in the same jacket in all the pictures, leading to monotony and also the regret of looking plumper than one already is! Ha ha!

 

Thermal innerwear is handy when temperature hovers in single digits (C) or is below freezing. But we avoid them for regular outings and depend on layers we can take off as the temperature dictates during the day. If the trousers are thin, a person unused to cold will be better off with a thermal legging under the trousers.

Temperatures change as you go up. Roughly a drop of about 7°C for every 1000 m you ascend. Early mornings and late evenings can be cold even in plains. 

When it is not cold enough to wear them, the jacket and sweater are tied around our waist on all outings, especially in places like Switzerland, Norway etc. This is to ensure they’ll be available to slip on when the temperature dips. 

 

When in transit, they are tied round the waist so that they don’t occupy valuable space in our bag. This way we travel with just one carryon bag each for all our travels.

"Breathable" fabrics esp cotton for underlayers allow perspiration to escape so keep you relatively dry.  

You don't have to have a lot of clothes, you just need to pack cleverly, thinking about what would do for layers.

SAFETY

Secure your valuables and be aware of your surroundings when you travel. We have only tissues in our pocket when we are on public transport, our valuables are stowed away safe

This pouch stores  credit/debit cards. Earlier even our light ipod, These days our phone is in the small water proof day pack, along with the camera;  passports are  in a ziplock. Emirates used to give these small silk pouches, we have quite a number of them... comes in handy

The pouch gets zipped up and goes under the shirt for safety

A pocket in the vest stores some cash, half fare card and the tickets for easy access

 Travel light… take only as much as you can easily handle.

There are some more tips on safety in the post on Paris:

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/04/paris-basics-of-planning-trip.html

The next 10 posts are detailed account of our trip, day by day. You may choose to replicate it depending on suitability for your needs bearing in mind the visiting season has a lot of impact. This plan will work if you are visiting between mid June-mid October.

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/04/switzerland-report-of-our-10-day-trip.html
gives our itinerary, covers our landing in Geneva, our checkin at Vevey hotel, and trip to Rochers de Naye and Chillon castle.