My husband and I will be traveling in Switzerland for 1 month. We brought our "old fashioned" (not smart) phones with us, knowing they will not work abroad. In England, we purchased a very cheap phone that came with 1000 min. of free service to use for an emergency, hotel reservations, etc. Does anyone know if something similar is available in Switzerland??

Ordinarily I use my own phone when I go to Europe so not certain but my suspicion is that such phones are probably very readily available all over Europe, especially at major airports, for purchase.

At 'worst', you can purchase a prepaid international calling card called "flash" at any kiosk in increments of 10 CHF for use in phone booths. It lasted for many minutes for me. You enter your pin, then dial home.

In Switzerland you can probably buy a new SIM card for that old phone you bought in England -- if you still have it.

Switzerland is an expensive place. I'm not sure if cheap SIM cards are available there.

Hah! Never even thought to bring that old phone!

Are there prepaid cards for local calls. Our only need is for emergencies and the occasional call to a hotel/guesthaus

The "flash" prepaid card is for local or international, if I recall. Of course
it would last longer for local calls (I.e.)
buy a cheaper card (actually just a slip of
paper nowadays with PIN and access #s on it).

Yes you can buy prepaid international calling cards from local stores. You can even buy them online from www.callingcards.com. You can use these with your phone to make the international calls as this will save your calling expenses.