<p>I was told that Greece, Czk, Hungary and some Easter European countries are much cheaper. I found even Austria is acceptable. Next time I will try, anyone had visited those countries?</p>
<p>I think the strong currency alone is not the ONLY reason make SWISS expensive and other reasons have been given in the thread above.</p>
<p>I have visited Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland… that’s as far east in Europe as I’ve been.</p>
<p>Having recently visited Iceland I can say it’s definitely not cheap! Still, I wish I had appreciated how it would be cheaper to visit than Sweden but that, unfortunately was not the order of our trip. Sweden, having it’s own currency and no major crisis, is being valued as very high. </p>
<p>In Europe, the VAT is usually added onto the menu. So you see what seems to be a very high price for what is a quite ordinary entree or appetizer. If you would add the restaurant tax (can be 10% in the US) and then the tip (another 15 - 20% or more) to the menu price in the US you would be shocked too! I don’t know about Switzerland but there is no tipping in Sweden or Iceland.</p>
<p>We’re headed to Belgium next week so I’ll let you know about that. I do hear it’s a bit scandelous to ask for water there as well. I’m trying to decide if I’m going to just tolerate the scoffs when I ask or bite the bullet and just pay for bottle water. Eh i figure i can live on chocolate and frites so it can’t be all bad :)</p>
<p>Having travelled in Western Europe (UK, France, Germany, and Austria) and Central Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary), I found Berlin to be the cheapest in terms of food costs. A large meal was under 10 euro (2007 costs) and street food was less than 3 euro.</p>
<p>Prices do vary between countries. In my area of WA, many Canadians come down to go shopping and can often be found in the grocery stores with carts full of bread and dairy products and later filling up their cars with “cheap” gas (gas is approximately $5 US per gallon in BC). While I haven’t been charged for tap water in Europe (though I have paid 3 euro for 250ml of Evian in a restaurant), I have found it useful to know that in France, it is illegal to charge for tap water, bread is free (and price controlled in bakeries), and service (tips) is almost always included in the price (service compris). If you happen to be travelling in Switzerland, it might be a good idea to eat dinner across the border in France, where wine is the cheapest beverage.</p>
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<p>We didn’t want to be stooges and pay for bottled water. So instead we were stooges who paid for tap water!</p>
<p>^^There is one thing CHEAP in Switzerland, the Museum in Downtown Geneva. I was suprized that they did not have an entrance fee. It was a huge museum and the exhibit was excellent with rare coins, antique weapons and old mater oil paintings… We had a treat… There was a section with some special exhibit which was not free and we did not go.</p>
<p>The only thing we did not like was the museum had no air conditioning(either broken or too expensive to pay for it). I was warried about those old masters maybe damaged in the hot and humid top floor room…</p>
<p>While we lived in Zurich, they had a public relations campaign on the safety of the tap water, trying to get locals to drink it. I’m not sure how it was treated, but it was not chlorinated. In any case, I became a connoisseur of fine bubbly spring water (or less elegantly in German: Mineralwasser mit Gas.)</p>
<p>When we first moved there, we found the prices to be such a shock, we could hardly stand to buy anything—but one must eat, wear clothes, etc. The psychological trick that worked for us was to pretend that a 100 SFr note was a $20 bill.</p>
<p>As I recall, chocolate (the good stuff) and beer were less expensive in Switzerland than here. Who needs fiber on vacation?</p>
<p>Lol I live in Geneva and we just go shop in France all the time =)</p>
<p>^^ I can imagine… Same Sandwitch 1.5 Euro vs 6.5 SF…Its obvious… and its not the same kind, but same brand, filling, size and just the same…</p>
<p>You can subsist on beer and chocolate in Belgium too. Eating out is not too expensive (by UK standards) but buying in the local food shops can be quite cheap. On the beer front a bottle of beer (usually 33 centilitres) will be 3.5-4 euros in a bar but you can buy the same in a local food shop for about 1.5 euros, and they’ll often have a bigger range too. The strength of the beer and the drinking culture is very different in Belgium than in the UK so I probably take longer to drink a 33 cl bottle in Brussels than I would a pint in London.</p>
<p>I’ve never asked for tap water in Belgium. (Brussels was the last major city in western Europe with only primary treatment of sewage which makes me a bit suspicious of their utilities.) I’ve never had to pay for tap water in a restaurant in Britain.</p>
<p>I used to think people in the US make more money than people in Europe. My friend told me that’s not true.</p>
<p>[National</a> Average Wage Index](<a href=“http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/AWI.html]National”>National Average Wage Index)</p>
<p>[List</a> of sovereign states in Europe by GNI (nominal) per capita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GNI_(nominal)_per_capita]List”>List of sovereign states in Europe by GNI (nominal) per capita - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Switzerland is the second highest on the list.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, at the hotel I paid 25 swiss francs for a club sandwich, and 2.5 swiss francs for a glass of water. Someone with us paid something like 12 swiss francs for an ice cream, I can not remember exactly.</p>
<p>I thought I could get cheaper Toblerones over there, but they are cheaper here in Canada. Switzerland, I was told, is so expensive because there is so little usable land in the country.</p>
<p>Swiss Taxi is the most expensive in the world, a friend took a 40 min ride from train station to the hotel few years ago, cost: USD$450… after that, everything else seemed cheap to him…
motherbear is right, if you treat 100 SF bill as a $20US bill, everything make sense.</p>
<p>In Geneva Airport, I saw a lot of limo driver waiting at the custom exit, I am wondering what they have to pay to take those?</p>
<p>Geneva is an amazing town especially for those folks who live just outside of the center on the lake. When I go, I stay with my friend, take walks in the country, relax under apple trees, and I get a free ride to a fro to the airport! It’s a wonderful life for those who can afford it! :)</p>
<p>Thank the power that is that we do not have a D going to live in Geneva this month. We did 8/10 and 8/09.</p>