Packing snacks - will these be allowed through customs?
 

Having gone way over budget on the hotels, I figure we can save a bit by packing some granola bars and those pouches of tuna to nibble on the trains or when we're busy and don't want to stop for a longer meal. If we tuck these into our suitcase, will we be allowed to take them through customs into Switzerland? I don't want to take them and then have to throw them out.

I have taken all kinds of food with me. You are not checked at customs unless you have something to declare. I haven't flown into Switzerland in a couple of years, but they didn't check it then. I will be arriving in Zurich Monday morning so I'll know soon!

Go for it. Packaged foods should be fine. You might run into a problem if you pack something dense like a jar of peanut butter. TSA would probably open you suitcase. But other than that I wouldn't worry about it.

Hi drchris,

You may want to know that you can, of course, buy those things in Switzerland! It's a fun way to get into the life of a little town by shopping there. Just take enough for one day or so, then buy the rest there.

Cereal bars are in the cereal aisle.

s

TSA doesn't apply since they are talking bus or train. No worries there, none at all.

Granola bars etc should be fine. We have never had a problem. Countries tend to be fussy on things that can spread pests/weeds like salami, honey, seeds,raw products etc. If it is commercially packed and you have not tampered with the packaging it should be fine.

Just make sure that anything you take will not burst with change in altitude or having something dropped on you case. You don't want tuna all through your luggage. Strudy plasticcontainer should do the trick.

Those things and many more are available in Switzerland and won't cost much more than bringing them from home.

You may get them cheaper and they may take up spacebut there are advantages of bringing them yourself. Such as:-
They then go on your normal shopping bill.
You get your favourite brand.
You don't have to go shopping in a strange place.
You have them if you get caught without food somewhere.

Do you mean your carryon suitcase? Anything vaguely liquid or gel-like in a container over 100 ml will likely be confiscated at the security check pre-boarding.

"You don't have to go shopping in a strange place."

Grocery stores in Europe are my favorite places to shop , along with outdoormarkets!

Shopping is a necessary evil NOT a form of recreation!

The swiss customs site says

<<Food from E.U. member states is permitted, provided for personal comsumption;
Food from non-E.U. member states: it is forbidden to bring in any meat, eggs, milk, honey or other products of animal origin.>>

Shopping in European supermarkets is definitely NOT a necessarily evil and definitely a form of recreation for me!

I would never bother bringing snack foods from the USA to Europe, since the same things are widely available in any European country. Plus, any train station has very cheap sandwiches and other goodies - like things from 3-6 euros - available fresh and ready to take on the train with you. I can't see lugging stuff overseas just for that purpose. Makes no sense to me.

You can bring the things you mention. It's "fresh" foods like sashh mentions that might be taken from you. But I agree with others if it's granola bars, tuna, etc. you want, that's easily bought at a Migros or other once you arrive, and (unless you want to eat stuff in transit) safe the weight in your lugggage.

Oh, and specifically to train food & Switerland... it's easy to find bakeries (often right in the train stations) that have delicious pre-made sandwiches ready-to-go.

I think your packaged snacks would be fine, but I must tell you that the absolute best breads I have ever had anywhere were in Switzerland. Also, their fresh cheeses are wonderful. I would not plan on taking and eating any pre-packaged stuff there. I would buy bread and cheese and make sandwiches. As Suze said, bakeries are easy to find, and there are usually good sandwich places in larger stations.

I don't agree that things would be cheaper in Switzerland. Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe. I can buy 6 Granola bars for around $2.50 US. I can get pouches of tuna for around $1 each. I would be shocked if you could get the equivalent in Switzerland for that price.

Thanks for all he comments! We do plan to eat in restaurants and to buy bread and cheese to nibble on. I've just read so many posts about how very expensive food is and have checked lots of menus, and find the prices shocking compared to the US. And I remember going to grocery stores in England, Paris, and Athens and being amazed at how much more expensive things were. So I just thought that for those longish train rides and times when we are walking around a town and might get a bit hungry but don't want a full meal, we would take a few granola bars. I hate having to suddenly "hunt" for food in the midst of sightseeing. We are only taking a carryon and daypack, so it will be safely packed, and I put everything "spillable" in layers of ziploc bags.

I'm curious whether the pastries in Switzerland are sweet. We bought several in Paris that looked wonderful only to discover that they weren't sweet and were a major disappointment. (That was many years ago, so perhaps things have changed) But everything else we ate in Paris was amazing!

http://www.aldi-suisse.ch

If you want cheap, go visit Germany.

I'm sorry - and I HONESTLY don't want to sound mean. But thinking of going to almost anywhere in Europe and eating cello wrapped granola bars for either budget or convenience reasons would absolutely kill me.

They aren't 'food' -- they are snacks and even the best ones are 10000 times worse than local snacks/pastries/street food.

take a couple in case you wake up on the plane in the middle of the night w/ the munchies -- OK. But otherwise -- save the luggage space.