Europe a la Carte Blog

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Awe-inspiring mountains, bankers, and top ski resorts are the common images the country Switzerland evokes, none of which are really associated with budget travel. So let’s jump to that other primary preconception…

Picture this:

A panorama of Alpine pastureland, lush green and dotted with edelweiss. Zooming in we see a herd of cows gently grazing, bells around their neck ringing with each step. The sound of song reaches our ears as a fair headed maiden comes up the stony path, yodelling happily in the morning air. In a nearby barn, the faintest stirrings tell us that our intrepid traveller is just waking up….

Hmmmm. Maybe a bit too heavy on the lyrical imagery?

However, the last part is true. If you’ve shied away from Switzerland and it’s prices before, here is the chance to see it without hurting your wallet. Just sleep in straw!

Swiss Cows by Olly Boyo

Around 200 farms across the country offer travellers a bed in their haylofts for under 20€ a night and give you the chance to see those high-lying meadows. The family will put on food if you request (for an extra small price) and even take care of your horse. If, you know, that’s your preferred method of transportation these days.

Many of the farms have additional activities, including donkey rides, climbing adventures and the chance to experience local specialties. Group bookings are possible and finding a farm in the Canton of your choice is easy via the (occasionally cryptic) English website. Just in case you are allergic to hay, many farms also offer normal mattresses in dorm rooms.

If you want to do this you will need a sleeping bag and a willingness to rough it a bit. At that price, and the chance to experience the countryside it’s well worth it. Maybe you can even convince someone to teach you how to yodel.

The Barn by Tambako the Jaguar

With a sister-in-law in Basel, it’s rapidly become my favourite Swiss city, even though most of the tourists head elsewhere. There are lots of interesting spots to visit but one of the most curious is the Tinguely Museum.

This collection of art and sculpture was set up by Jean Tinguely who’s best known for his “kinetic art” sculptures – basically that means he created unusual things out of junk and put the mechanics in place so that they move if you hit a button. It’s quite eye-opening to see what kind of odd contraptions he was able to come up with.

The Tinguely also puts on regular exhibitions from other artists – for example, over this summer, they have displays from Tschau Sepp (until August 10) and Pavel Schmidt (until September 14).

At 15 Swiss Francs to get in, it’s not the cheapest place, but then nothing in Switzerland is especially cheap. If you combine a train ticket with entrance to the Tinguelly you can save 10%; ask at a station if you can’t read the German information.

Hotelconnect.co.uk are doing special offers including “buy one get one free” at some hotels.  I had a look at some of the accommodation options.  The 3 star Best Western Hotel Krone in Lucerne, Switzerland, costs £40 per person for a two night stay, based on two sharing until 31 December 2007. The hotel is located in the historic Weinmarkt area of Lucerne.

Hotel Krone, Lucerne

The three star superior Hotel Astoria in Genoa, Italy is only £30 per person for a two night stay, based on two sharing. However your stay must include a Sunday night and be between 25 - 29 December 2007 or 1 - 15 January 2008.  The Astoria lies in the historic centre of Genoa.

Hotel Astoria, Genoa

If you are flexible with your dates you could bag a bargain.

When I was asked to write about Swiss Hotels I decided to compare and contrast what was in offer in historic, five star hotels and value for money three star hotels in two different Swiss cities Geneva and Zurich based on a stay for two guests in a double room during the last weekend in October 2007.

I’ve often wondered if travellers are willing to pay a premium for the exclusivity of a five star establishment in the hope that the high prices will exclude the riffraff or is the standard of rooms and service really far superior and worth the extra expense?

In Geneva the five star Swissotel Geneve Metropole is a grand hotel built in the mid 19th century with the original facade maintained. The hotel sits on the quayside of Lake Geneva. The price quoted was 468 Swiss Francs (£194) not including breakfast. The search result did not specify the type of room e.g. if it was a lakeview room. I’d want to know full details of what I was booking.

I found the three star Eden hotel, located opposite a park, a few minutes from the lake for 185 Swiss Francs (£77) including breakfast. Would you be prepared to pay two and half times more for the five star option?

In Zurich the lake shore five star Hotel Baur au Lac is a Swiss historic hotel which has been owned by the same family since it opened in 1844. A double room with a river or courtyard view cost 780 Swiss Francs (£324) not including breakfast. Now for that sort of money I would expect a lake view room.

The Hotel California a few minutes from the lake, in the old city centre, had double rooms for 180 Swiss Francs (£75) including a basic continental breakfast, with the option of paying an additional 20 Swiss Francs per person for an a la carte breakfast.. That’s a quarter of the price of the Baur an Lac. Would it be four times better at the Baur au Lac?

I though that Swiss Hotels had a good selection of all grades of hotels in both Geneva and Zurich . My criticisms are that the quality of the photos is poor and all hotels should have full room descriptions coming in in the searches. The translation of the text into English was not very good in some places.

However you should visit the Swiss Hotels site if you’re looking for a hotel in Switzerland as I did a quick check of the prices available at these four hotels on Travelsupermarket.com. The Geneve Metropole came up at £232 including breakfast on Travelsupermarket, £38 more than the price quoted by Swiss Hotels but their price didn’t include breakfast, so I reckon that the prices are broadly similar. The Eden was £86 with Travelsupermarket, £9 more than Swiss Hotels. The cheapest price for the Baur au Lac for £324, that’s £18 more than with Swiss Hotels. Travelsupermarket didn’t find a quote for the Hotel California.

This is a sponsored post arranged through SponsoredReviews.com

Munich has been voted the best airport in Europe and the fourth best in the world in a Skytrax worldwide passenger survey for the third consecutive year. Zurich airport was voted number two in Europe and fifth in the world. Questionnaires were completed by 7.8 million passengers in 170 global airports assesing 40 aspects of service. The biggest passenger gripes were about inadequate security facilities unable to cope with the number of passengers. This was a major factor in the slide of Heathrow from 45th in the world in 2006 to 103rd in 2007.

Have you used Munich or Zurich airport. how would you rate then?

I’ve started a swicki, an intelligent search engine, for cultural and activity holidays in Europe. If you’re thinking of a themed holiday in Europe, whether it be walking, cycling, painting, horseriding, language, water sports, tennis or cooking, try searching in the swicki. If you find any great companies you add them to the swicki and vote for your favourite site. Help build a great resource.

check out the European Cultural & Activity Tours swicki at eurekster.com

[tags]Swicki, Europe themed vacations[/tags]

I have started a course of online seminars about Switzerland run for the travel trade by the Swiss Tourist Board. I think that using the Swiss Pass to travel around the country by train, bus and boat would be a great trip. I visited Switzerland 30 years ago and thought it was very beautiful. I think that many people are put off visiting Switzerland because they think of it as an expensive destination. I am not sure if that is still the case. I know when I visited Gothenburg in Sweden, I didn’t find it more expensive than the UK.

Have you visited Switzerland recently, how did you find the prices?

If you love chocolate the third Geneva chocolate festival takes place on Saturdat 17 March in Versoix, a small town on Lake Geneva.  There are lot more chocoate related activities in Geneva so you could make it into a long chocolate weekend.  Anybody for a chocolate body wrap?

I see that Frommers has published their Top 10 Destinations for 2007. There are two destinations in Europe, Krakow in Poland and Zurich in Switzerland. I have not visited either of these cities but I visited Switzerland for a few days about thirty years ago.

Have you visited either of these cities, would you recommend them?