katchey

My partner and I are students on a $600 budget (give or take $100 if necessary). We need help with:

1. Figuring out how to plan our trip as cheaply as possible while also doing and seeing as much as we can. Tips on the best (and most affordable) transportation, or whether hitchhiking would be a viable option in these areas would be much appreciated. We are going to mostly stick to couchsurfing and AirBNB to save money (and of course to meet locals), so nights shouldn’t be too expensive. We already found some free hosts.

2. We are concerned about how much money we’ll have to spend on food. We are thinking about bringing a lot of food in a backpack and mostly shopping at cheap supermarkets while we’re gone. I heard supermarkets are our best bet? Any specific suggestions?

3. We’d also like to have suggestions on what to do in the areas we are visiting, or whether we left out a must-see place. We mostly enjoy hiking, exploring museums, learning about history, joining free (or cheap) tours of cities, eating pastries, and dining at vegetarian or vegan restaurants (inexpensive ones - which we probably won’t find in Switzerland).
We are having trouble estimating how much money we’ll need to spend overall. We are willing to make sacrifices to keep costs down. We mostly want to see Austria and Switzerland. We’ll be gone for 2 and a half weeks starting in early April. Here is our plan so far:

Fly into Prague (2 nights)
Take train to Vienna (2 nights)
Salzburg (2 nights)
Hitchhike? to Innsbruck (3 nights) explore Tyrol! (found a host here)
Find a host in Liechtenstein (one night)
Go to Zurich (one night)
Stay in Lucerne (3 nights) (found a host here)
Go south to see the Matterhorn (one night)
Go to Geneva, explore, then fly home (2 nights)

Specific to our above itinerary, do you think Geneva is doable given how expensive it is? Should we stay in Lausanne instead, and only go to Geneva for a brief tour and to later catch our flight? Is there enough to do in Geneva and Zurich given our budget? We don't mind just looking around and exploring - maybe looking into less expensive museums too.

Thank you for all of your help and advice! It is much appreciated.

StCirq

"on a budget" and Switzerland are mutually exclusive. Don't go there. Geneva and Zurich are "boring" cities anyway, not places most young people would be attracted to (not even a lot of us "old" people). To give you some idea of costs, the last time I was, unfortunately, in Zürich, a Big Mac was about 13 €.

You have only 17 days if I'm counting correctly. Drop Switzerland and Liechtenstein and add more days to Prague, which is cheap and a young person's paradise. Even then you'll have only about US$35 a day, which is barely enough to eat, visit sites, and move around. You can't possibly move all over Europe on that kind of budget - it costs money. I would not count on being able to hitchhike - hardly anyone does it here (in Europe) anymore, and you can't plan a single thing like ending up where you want to be on a certain day if you hitchhike.

Yes, you can just grab sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, and whatnot from supermarkets (you don't need specific suggestions; supermarkets and local fresh markets are a dime a dozen in Europe). That's the cheapest option (but not in Switzerland). Bringing a backpack full of food could work, or not. Depends what you bring. It could all be confiscated at the immigration desk.

Stuff that looks good on paper can be really problematic in reality.

katchey

Thank you for your reply. I think these are good suggestions - I am still set on going to Switzerland (I'm a Swiss citizen but I've never been there!), but I will drop Zurich and only go to Lucerne.

That's an expensive Big Mac! I'll be sure to spend less time in Switzerland and a lot more in Prague.

Thanks again!

Edward2005

7 of the world's 10 most expensive cities are Swiss.

Seriously, on your budget you should consider stealing food, grabbing it off tables after others leave the restaurant, or eating out of the garbage. That's how ridiculous your $600 budget is.

Melnq8

Katchey -

While I admire your youth and enthusiasm, your plans are unrealistic.

Switzerland is very expensive (although 13 Euro for a Big Mac is a bit of an exaggeration - a quick Google search shows the price at 6.50 CHF which is ~6 Euro).

This site will give you an idea of prices, including those found at grocery stores:

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...try=Switzerlan

We visit Switzerland often, and although we try to keep costs down, there's only so much one can do.

twk

I went to Switzerland last year, and it's hard to do Switzerland on a budget. Staying away from Zurich is good advice for the budget conscious, because it is probably the most expensive Swiss city, but Lucerne won't be cheap, either. Transportation is also expensive, but that's one of the main attractions in Switzerland--if you go there without riding a bunch of trains and boats, you are sort of missing out on the experience. I will say that I think lodging is cheaper outside of the cities--for example, if you want to see Lucerne, you might look into staying at Weggis or Vitznau, although that requires you to use public transport (boat or bus) to get into Lucerne, and you might look at other places on Lake Geneva besides Geneva itself for cheaper lodging (everything on Lake Geneva can be reached easily by train).

I don't know if this would be your kind of trip (it's not mine), but it's possible to hike through the mountains, staying in very basic accommodations. If you are ever interested in doing something like that, this might be the trip. But, absent something like that, if you're trying to meet a budget, I think I'd stick with Prague and the Czech Republic.

Kathie

On a budget, you need to consider that so much moving around eats up your money quickly, and It means you have much less time to see/do/experience in the places you have chosen. Two nights somewhere is just one full day. I'd suggest that you cross of half of the places you have chosen, slow down and enjoy the limited time you do have.

katchey

Based on your replies and on further research, I've decided to change my trip a bit. I will stay in Prague for 4 nights, then go to Vienna for 2 nights, then I'll stay in Innsbruck for 5 nights (I have family to host me there).
Next, I'll take a train to Lucerne where I'll stay for 4 nights (I have family there too).
Then I'll fly out of Geneva!

I really wanted to see Salzberg too, but perhaps some other time! I think it's a good idea to stay in fewer locations for longer periods of time.

Thanks for all the advice and if anyone has any further advice I'd love to hear it

StCirq

Sorry, Melnq8, it was a Big Mac Meal. See this:

https://www.sovereignman.com/lifesty...n-zurich-4777/

2011 is about when I was there.

katchey, have you looked into couchsurfing? Your new plan looks better.

PalenQ

For lots of good info on trains check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

michelhuebeli

katchey, copy these and share them, you need to go over this list as you prepare for your trip:

1: Find more money as a backup

2: Be sure to have a decent (GENEROUS!) balance in a checking account for which you have a debit card. With that debit card, in Europe, use ATMs (mostly called Bancomats) to withdraw Euros that, back home, get debited in US Dollars to our checking account. This gets you the best possible exchange rate. But you have to have money in the account...

3: Tell the issuing bank and credit-card company when and where you’re going.

4: Ditto for the companies that issue your credit cards. If there is time to do this, get a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign-transaction fees.

5: If there is time to do this, open a checking account with Schwab or Capital One - they don’t charge (and even refund!) you any ATM fees, which can add up to a few Big Macs...

6: Consider using long-distance buses instead of trains, they can come out much much cheaper. Read these and follow the links:
http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tip...distance-buses
https://www.busradar.com
https://www.flixbus.com
www.eurolines.com
www.cheap-bus.com
https://thesavvybackpacker.com/bus-travel-in-europe

7: Save lots of money by staying in hostels. Some are great, some are so-so, in all of them you meet other travelers who have good information to share, and you can save a bundle by using the communal kitchen. https://www.hihostels.com/, https://www.hiusa.org/hostels/international-hostels

8: Talking about food: Free refills on beverages, and take-home "doggie bags" are not a part of the culture in Europe. Shopping hours are rarely anything like those in the US, certainly not 24/7. Shops in or adjacent to train stations often have a special exemption for staying open later than the rest.

8: The train from Lucerne to Geneva costs a lot more than from Lucerne to Zürich (which has Switzerland’s biggest airport). Look for flights home from ZRH - the train goes right to the airport, or your relatives could drive you...

9: Pack light, there's always a "thrift shop" somewhere if you need something. In German it's called "Gebrauchtwarenladen", in Switzerland "Brockenhaus".

I wish you a great trip, I hope it all works out.

Melnq8

<<Sorry, Melnq8, it was a Big Mac Meal. See this>

Yeah, found that link after I posted and figured that's what you meant.

I'd rather go hungry, personally

So many better things to eat in Switzerland - soup is usually a pretty good bet and generally an inexpensive option (by Swiss standards). Some of the best soup I've ever had was in Switzerland - barley, cream of garlic, white wine with cream...lovely.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/melnq8...7675828153382/

katchey

Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to use buses instead of trains - for the most part they do look a lot cheaper. The soup looks great!
Thanks also for all the links, I've been reading all of them. I am also going to couchsurf!

I'll update you guys on how much I end up spending! It'll be interesting to see if I meet my budget

Melnq8

It will indeed katchey. Do let us know.

Edward2005

Remember - a lot of perfectly good food gets thrown away and is just sitting in garbage containers there for the taking.