First trip to Switzerland from India? Below is everything we wish someone had told us — Schengen paperwork, why your card combo matters more here than anywhere else, which trains and passes are actually worth the math, and how to survive a country where a 7-Eleven sandwich can cost CHF 12. Read it end-to-end before you book flights.
Prices in INR/CHF are 2022-era estimates. Schengen rules change — verify at vfsglobal.com/in/en/visa/switzerland before applying.
⚠️ Things to Take Care Of
Switzerland is one of the safest countries you can visit — and one of the most expensive. The single biggest practical lesson we earned the hard way: carry a two-bank card combo. Our SBI debit card was the only one that finally worked when SBM's system went down for hours in Grindelwald; for three cards in three machines all declining, the SBI card pulled us out. Cash isn't a luxury here, it's an exit strategy. Also: Switzerland uses Swiss Francs (CHF), not euros — most tourist places will take euros but give you change in francs at a poor rate. Withdraw CHF from a bank ATM (UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen) and decline dynamic currency conversion. Don't buy a city travel ticket assuming it covers nearby day trips — we lost Rhinefalls in Zurich exactly that way. Tap water is excellent and free everywhere; carry a bottle. And budget honestly: think 1.5–2x the cost of comparable Western Europe.
🛂 Visa Process (Indian Passport)
Switzerland is part of the Schengen area — apply through VFS Global if Switzerland is your primary destination (longest stay). If you're combining with Germany or France and spending more nights there, apply through the right country's consulate. Tourist visa fee is €80 (~₹7,300) + VFS service fee ~₹2,200. Processing officially takes 15 working days but Swiss consulates can stretch in summer — apply at least 6–8 weeks out. You'll need: passport with at least 3 months validity beyond return + 2 blank pages, two recent biometric photos (35×45mm, white background, no smile), bank statements for the last 3 months (rule of thumb ~₹1.5 lakh per traveler per week for Switzerland specifically — they want to see you can afford it), ITR for the last 2 years, confirmed flight reservation (NOT a paid ticket — use a hold service), all hotel bookings, day-by-day itinerary, travel insurance covering at least €30,000 medical, leave letter from your employer, and a cover letter. Don't pay for flights until your visa is in hand.
🛫 Before You Land
Buy an Airalo or Holafly Europe eSIM (5GB ~₹1,400, works across all Schengen including Switzerland) before you fly. Install these apps before takeoff: Google Maps with the Switzerland offline pack downloaded, Google Translate with German & French offline, SBB Mobile for trains (the single most useful app in the country — book Saver Day Pass and Supersaver fares in advance), MeteoSwiss for hourly mountain weather (our cancelled skydive would have been less of a surprise with this), FlixBus for cheap intercity coaches, and Uber in Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Carry around ₹20,000 worth of CHF in cash from your home bank or at a bank ATM on arrival — Switzerland is more card-friendly than Germany, but card outages happen (see: Grindelwald). And the headline rule again: two cards from two different banks.
🛬 After You Land
From Zurich (ZRH): the airport has its own SBB train station downstairs — you can be in Zurich HB in 10 minutes for CHF 7, or onward to Lucerne (1h), Bern (1h), Interlaken (2h) without ever leaving the rail network. From Geneva (GVA): the airport station similarly puts you in central Geneva in 7 minutes (CHF 3) and on the lakeshore train to Montreux in ~70 minutes. From Basel (BSL/EAP): bus 50 to Basel SBB in 20 minutes for CHF 4.40. SBB hands out a free 1-hour train ticket to your hotel city with most return flights from Swiss airports — check at the desk before you queue for the machine. Withdraw your first CHF from a bank-branded ATM (UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen) and always pay in CHF, not your home currency.
🚄 Transport
This is the part Switzerland actually gets right — and the line we kept repeating on the trip was simple: no matter how costly Switzerland is, their train transport is impeccable. SBB intercity trains run almost to the minute; the rolling stock is clean, the platforms are calm, and connections are designed to work. Zurich → Lucerne ~50 min (CHF 26), Zurich → Bern ~1h (CHF 51), Bern → Interlaken Ost ~55 min (CHF 30), Interlaken → Montreux via the GoldenPass Panoramic ~3h (CHF 75, and worth every franc — the cheapest experience in Switzerland that feels priceless). For passes, do the math honestly: the Swiss Travel Pass (CHF 244 for 3 days / CHF 295 for 4 / CHF 359 for 6) covers all trains, boats, most cable cars and 500+ museums and is usually worth it if you're moving cities. If you're staying put, the Half Fare Card (CHF 120 for one month) halves every ticket and is better value for slower itineraries. The Saver Day Pass on SBB Mobile is the secret cheap option — sometimes CHF 29–52 for unlimited day travel if you book early.
🏨 Accommodation
Switzerland is the most expensive accommodation country on the European map — accept it, plan around it. City-centre 3-star hotels in Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne and Interlaken run CHF 180–280 in summer; even hostels charge CHF 50–80 for a dorm bed and CHF 130–180 for a private room. Stay in suburbs: we based ourselves in Dietikon for Zurich (a short S-Bahn ride out, far cheaper, much nicer apartments through Airbnb) and would do it again. Interlaken Ost village stays beat Interlaken West town for both price and charm — and finding a host couple Airbnb like ours (the one who'd turned their study into a guest room) is a genuinely lovely way to stay. Swiss Youth Hostels are a step above most European YHA — try Lucerne and Interlaken branches if dorms are okay. Best months are May–Jun and Sep–early Oct: summer light, fewer tourist coaches, manageable prices. Avoid late July/August unless that's the only window you have.
🍽️ Food in a Nutshell
Switzerland is not as restaurant-friendly as France or Italy and definitely not as vegetarian-friendly as Germany's vegan-strong cities — but the supermarket game is unusually good. COOP and Migros are the two big supermarket chains, and they sell hot meals, fresh sandwiches, vegetarian wraps, fruit, and the same Lindt and Toblerone chocolates the souvenir shops mark up by 40%. Our small petty victory in Grindelwald — finding the exact salt box from a rude tourist shop for two euros less on a COOP shelf — is a useful preview. For sit-down: fondue (cheese-melt with bread, vegetarian-safe), raclette (melted cheese over potatoes), rösti (a fried potato cake, vegetarian-safe), and Birchermüesli (the original cold oat-yoghurt-fruit breakfast). The doner near major train stations is reliably cheap, filling and vegetarian-friendly. The Lindt factory at Kilchberg is fun to visit but won't beat the Coop store in Zurich or supermarket shelves in Germany on price. Tap water is excellent — always say "Hahnenwasser, bitte" in German cantons, "l'eau du robinet" in French ones. And bring Maggi — every Indian traveler we met had a packet.