We are heading to Switzerland for 7 days mid October. We have the first two nights in Lucerne and the last night in Zurich. Otherwise we will use a train pass to get out into the countryside, and if opportunity presents have lunch in France and/or Italy. Regarding currency: Euros or CHF? Any helpful hints on acquiring the currency? Is a credit card acceptable out in the boonies? Thanks for any advice.

Mommcat

You will need CHF in Switzerland. I just returned and there are ATM machines even in the small villages at the top of the Alps.

Hi Mommcat - we just returned from Lucerne about two weeks ago, we used Euros because we had them already and had no problems whatsoever,however you can only use Euro bills and no coins, and if you do use Euros you will get the change back in CHF. However, it would be easy to get CHF in ATM machines which you'll find all over Switzerland. Have a wonderful trip.
Susan

Mommcat, I think your definition of Swiss boonies and my definition of Swiss boonies are two different things.

If, for you, Berner Oberland is out in the boonies, then you'll find most restaurants take credit cards except for the small mountain restaurants. You'll also find you won't be alone out in the Berner Oberland boonies.

Now for me, out in the boonies means going up to Golzern, Urnerland or heading over Pragelpass going towards the Klausen. The small restaurants definitely do not take credit cards up there.

http://www.lsb-golzern.ch/main.html?src=%2Findex2.html

The Swiss Franc is the one and only official currency of Switzerland. Fact. Some tourist places may accept Euros as courtesy to travellers and at lousy exchange rates, but do not expect everyone to do so. Change will in any case be given in Francs. Also, do not expect everyone to accept credit cards. You will need cash in hand. Withdraw a sufficient amount of Francs from an ATM and be done with the problem.

Thanks for the help. Planning to get about 1,000 CHF - has anybody used an online site to order this? We plan to head into the "boonies" until we hit a real language barrier..who knows where we will end up!

>has anybody used an online site to order this?
What for? Withdraw cash from an ATM at the airport after your arrival. You get better exchange rates in the country than from home.

As noted, swiss francs (CHF) are the official currency. In some of the large cities, where there are lots of tourists, I have found that in some places prices are listed both in Swiss Francs and euro and unlike one of the earlier posts, what I found and I know it's not a general rule, in those places that listed prices in euro, they took euro and gave change in euro including coins. But if you're going to be in Switzerland for 7 days, of course, you're going to need and use Swiss Francs and the best way to get them is via ATM's.

Getting foreign currency in advance in the US will lose you about 8% of the value of the money (as in 2% cost at ATMs or with credit card and about 10% for changing cashin US).

WOW! Thanks everyone. ATM is it!

We've been in Switzerland a few times, and in fact are going back next week.

I think most places a tourist is likely to go accept euro or francs, but may not give a good exchange on the conversion, so I try to carry some francs. Credit cards are widely accepted and give a good exchange rate; the exception I found is the ticket machine at the smaller train stations, which takes a credit card, but asks for a PIN code, which most Americans don't have; the machines will, however, accept a debit card (ATM card) which has a PIN code.

Since we travel a lot, I keep a small stash of local currency when I return, and that is useful on the next trip, since I don't absolutely have to hit an ATM on arrival (there are, on occasion, lines).

I usually don't carry a lot of local currency because of the possibility of loss (my wife was almost killed in Amsterdam when she darted into traffic in pursuit of a 5 euro bill I had dropped) If I lose currency, it is gone; if I lose plastic, it is inconvenient, but the plastic can be replaced). Also, on returning home I don't want to have a huge wad of foreign currency; just a nominal amount to keep in my safe for the next trip. If you end up at the airport with 1000 CHF, you are at the mercy of the money changers, and you will pay dearly for the privilege of converting your CHF to dollars.

Incidentally, I'd like to thank the politicians who have worked so diligently to debase our dollar; its so much easier to do conversions in your head when the CHF costs just under a dollar than when it cost 77 cents.

"Otherwise we will use a train pass to get out into the countryside, and if opportunity presents have lunch in France."

In Swiss border cities like Basel, cash machines will offer you the choice of francs or euros. Many stores here do take euros and have their official conversion rate posted; OTOH, we haven't yet been to restaurants that routinely accept euros--and we live in an area where people hop back and forth between Switzerland, France and Germany on a daily basis.

We are in the midst of our Swiss adventure. We try to charge (master card....Capitol one....no fee) everything we can. In 7 days we have spent about 175 in swiss francs. Most stores don't accept credit cards for under $20. Bakeries, cheese shops, street markets, etc. only take cash. We have eaten many of our meals in courses....a tart here, an apple there, a roll a bit later. Those, of course, were cash transactions. However, at the Co op Market I have charged something for as low as 7 Chf! We don't like to have a lot off cash with us.

I just hope you are not a Bank of America victim.

Those rascals charge you $5.00 per swat plus 3% for ATM withdrawals.

Unfortunately other banks have similar problems. I got around the charges by going with a Fidelity debit card. Granted the 3% is not going to break you, but I resent it principal. B of A credit charges sock you an added 3% as well.

The last I heard, Captal One credit cards did not sock you extra. I have not used my Capital One card in a quite a few months, so the rules may have changed. You could at least ask!!

Ethelsue above says the Capital One is still without the extra grab off.

I don't find some of the other posts to be true. I've lived in Geneva for 4 years and in this region you can always use Euros at a fair exchange rate. I also find you can definitely not depend on credit card. Safest to have cash - Euros or CHF at all times, although you should be able to find an ATM easily too.

Even a "fair" euro-franc exchange rate will be costly for someone who starts out with dollars. Why on earth would one want to do two cash converstions? Using ATMs to withdraw local currency from a dollar bank account is the cheapest and most convenient way.