How to save money and see every thing in Switzerland budget trip India save money in switzerland hisham kabir
Traveling Switzerland by Hisham Kabir
The first thing that one would require to arrive in Switzerland is a visa, the procedure are very difficult as its tough to get the visa and one need to go through a professional agents failing which its difficult to get a visa. However this is not applicable if u are a citizen to USA, Canada, EU and south Africa.
Arriving at Switzerland,
By train, air or bus.
One can get out at any of the airport that can include, Zurich, (preferred) or one can get down at Geneva.
The airline preference should be given to emirates and Singapore airlines, and one also look for websites that offer the cheapest rates.
Remember the fares shall be a little less than what is generally published in the websites that offer discount rates. Some of the websites that I can recommend are www.expedia.in, www.cleartrip.com, www.travelguru.com, www.travelocity.in
Lonely planet book is a must have if you are traveling alone.
Travel within Switzerland. If u have a tops of Europe ticket where u have 5 days transfer I think this is the best of what u can have with this ticket u can travel to any place in Switzerland and it included boat ride, cog wheel railway cable car, and train ride by the mountain, I think this is the best plan that any one should take.
On the way to Interlaken get down at Bern put your luggage at the lockers(8 chf) that’s widely available at the station and then roam around Bern, an interesting option would be to rent the bikes, which comes for free, there is bike rental place near Starbucks coffee in Bern. This is the nearest to the train station. After roaming about few hours in Bern u can go to Interlaken and check in to your hotel.
The next day take the 8.30 train to Jungfrau so that u can spend maximum time in snow. This is the best attraction of Switzerland. And u can get to see a breathtaking view of the Alps.
After this tour get back to the hotel freshen up and then take a walk to the villages in and around Interlaken I am sure any one who has taken this tour shall be taking their finest memories of a life time.
from interlaken to lucernce one should take the boat ride, to brienz, i love this place, and the boat ride that take you here, it was freezing cold when we traveled, but if you miss this boat ride and brienz train station, believe me guys you are missing something great.
The next day u can leave to Luzerne, the Luzerne city has nothing much to do as its like any other modern city that we know, but take a walk to the wooden bride and then a trip to mount pilatuz where u take a cog wheel railway worlds steepest railways, and then a boat ride and then a cable car from mountain back to land this is also worth it. all this is the part of the ticket. and worth it. take it and enjoy every second of this.
there is a tourist information center at the lucern sation and this is a great value for travelers and you get all information here. don’t ask any one for any directions all have been clearly mentioned in the signboards that have been displayed here.
there is a KFC near the tourism information center and if you want to have some nice chicken please ensure you have it as you may not find kfc anywhere else.
Later u should take time to go to city and old city after which u can leave for Zurich or Geneva as it’s worth it.
In Zurich take a day pass in which u can travel in any tram or bus with this pass in and around Zurich this is worth it as it’s a huge saving and u can explore the entire city by doing so. U can get down where ever u want and get in any where u want, that’s the best part of this pass. In tern this pass would work cheaper that what it would have done in India.
Food: food like all other things in Swiss, is exorbitantly priced an average meal for one person would come to around 15 USD for one time on a budget menu.
The price of a croissant would be around 1.5 USD 500ml bottle drinks would cost USD 3
Burger king would cost average 12 USD per burger, if u are from India it would be hard to find a veg meal, here and if ever u do, then u should pay at least USD 18 for the same, try the Turkish outlets where u can get kebabs (a big burger) for around 8USD this I think is worth it as it’s a filler.
Another cheaper and money saving alternative would be to take cup o noodle and biscuits, haldirams or similar can make you save a lot of money and if possible a little achar from home as this would be a great savings on your pocket. Take as much as you can from your country and even if you don’t use them it would not be as expensive as buying it from Switzerland.
Water in Switzerland is portable so u need not pay for water, there are umpteen number of water fountain from where u can drink water. This is definitely worth a saving.
In supermarket like migros or coop one can get one chicken leg piece with Indian spice and masala for about 4 USD, this is worth the money.
in zurich just near to the station you can find a small shop run by a srilankan guy who sells great calling cards at very cheap rates, you can get 50 min talk time for as low as 1 USD that really worth the money,
take a one day zurich pass that cost just 7 CHF this can save you a lot of money. you can travel to any location inside the ticket route.
Definitely try the springuli chocolate where u can get a 100 grams for USD 11 it worth it.
Switzerland would be by far the most beautiful place to be. So be there.
