<<And we will be able to use credit cards at a lot of locations (I know some things will require cash only)?>>

Credit cards are widely accepted in Switzerland.

deemac15, the cards are:

ATM card, used only for ATM withdrawals and can't be presented to a merchant for payment.

Debit card, can be used for ATM withdrawals and for payments to merchants

Credit Card, payments to merchants and as a last resort, cash from an ATM. Not recommended for cash as the interest rate is usually horrendous and starts to rack up the minute you withdraw the cash..

Rubicund...just for the record. The interest rate on cash advances with a credit card is horrendous. True enough. But it's a daily rate. The problem is many banks gouge their customers with excessive fees on top of th 12e interest rates. Ouch. Paying $10 for a $20 cash advance is, well pretty bad. However...

There are some, not many true, but some enlightened banks that have no additional fees other than the interest. A couple of years ago, my debit card failed in one of the rare situations that I needed cash on a European trip. I used my USAA credit card to pull out $50. A couple of days later, I got to a computer and since the advance had posted immediately sent a payment of $50. Total interest for the 4 days,even at 24% a year, 12¢. I could certainly live with that.

The point being not so much that cash advances from ATM's with credit cards are a wonderful thing; in general they are not. But as with so much else in the world of international plastic travel, it depends on the individual policy of one's bank and not all banks have the same policie.