Switzerland — where to go and when
2 destinations covered
Everything in Switzerland works, and you pay for it: our index shows costs half again higher than French ones, the steepest gap in mainland Europe on this site. That single fact should shape the whole plan. Zurich is a banking city on a lake with a medieval core, excellent galleries and a river people swim down in summer; Interlaken sits between two lakes at the foot of the high Alps and exists mainly as a base for the mountains above it. Both are small, orderly and connected by trains that leave to the minute. The saving levers are narrow but real: rail passes bought before arrival, supermarket picnics instead of mountain restaurants, and lower valleys rather than the famous summits. Switzerland suits travellers who came for the landscape and are willing to organise the rest around it, and it punishes improvisation more than most countries in Europe, because a missed connection here is rarely cheap to repair.
When to go
August and September are the only months that clear our filter, and only in Zurich, while in the mountains June to August is the stretch when the trails and the high passes are open. Zurich is the warmer of the two at 25.3 °C by day at its peak, against 23.3 °C in Interlaken, and the rain figures have converged: Zurich records 126 rainy days a year, Interlaken 154, the latter collecting 1720.8 mm of rainfall. Winter drops both to 4.6 °C and 3.3 °C by day, and turns the mountains into a different and dearer proposition.
The places we cover, side by side
| Place | Favourable months | Warmest month, avg. high (°C) | Coldest month, avg. high (°C) | Rainy days a year (≥ 1 mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interlaken | none | 23.3 | 3.3 | 154 |
| Zurich | August, September | 25.3 | 4.6 | 126 |
Figures measured at the weather station nearest each place, then averaged over the warmest and the coldest months of the year — not over a fixed calendar season. Each destination page carries its own month-by-month table, its station and its sample size.
Getting around
Rail, lake boats, regional mountain buses and cable cars are integrated into one timetable and one ticketing system, which is the country's real achievement. Connections are designed to be tight and are kept, so a missed minute matters. Zurich and Interlaken are about two hours apart, with a change; Interlaken's eastern station is the gateway to the high valleys. A regional or national pass usually beats individual tickets once you include the mountain sections.
Budget
Country price level compared with France : +55 %
Price index for restaurants and hotels, France = 1000, from European purchasing power parities. It is a country average: it says nothing about one hotel in particular.
Destinations in Switzerland
InterlakenInterlaken gathers 1,720.8 mm of rain a year, spread over 154 wet days — roughly 11.2 mm per rainy day. Rain here is a routine of the valley…
ZurichZurich stands where the Limmat leaves its lake, and it tops the cost index for restaurants and hotels at 1553 against 1000 for France, level with Interlaken. It…Frequently asked questions
How do I control the cost of a Swiss trip?
Decide the transport question before anything else, because rail and cable cars will dominate the total. Passes bought ahead cover boats and buses as well as trains and often include discounts on mountain sections. Then treat eating as logistics: supermarkets are reasonable, mountain restaurants are not, and a packed lunch at altitude is completely normal behaviour here.
Interlaken or Zurich as a base?
Interlaken if the mountains are the reason for the trip, since the high valleys start at its eastern station and the lakes are on the doorstep. Zurich if you want a city with galleries, nightlife and a lake, and are content with day excursions. They are two hours apart, so a week can reasonably include both.
Updated on 21 September 2026