Is switzerland expensive?

Question

my uncle lives there and he bout a small indiv. pizza and a small drink.

in the end it totaled up to about $50.

is that true?

Answer 1

i'm convinced that people who spread "rumors" about the how incredibly expensive Switzerland is must be those from mid-west America where hot dogs are 50 cents and pop is 25 (and yes, i'm being sarcastic). day to day life (not talking about renting an apartment or income tax) is comparable to any major city; i find prices in large cities like Zurich to be very much in line with New York. and unless the pizza is loaded with truffles, i would doubt that it was $50. throughout Switzerland, you can have very nice sit-down meals at nice restaurants for about $20-30 (and actually, for most restaurants, i've rarely seen any entree item on the menu to exceed 40-50francs, with many items at the 20-30 range). a sandwich at a restaurant might be 10-15francs, but there's nothing to stop you from picking up something at a COOP or Migros for 5francs. as for grocery stores, it might be considered expensive if you're comparing it to places like Walmart. (but then again, prices at most American grocery stores are more expensive compared to Walmart.) you have to keep in mind that even though some items at a Swiss grocers might be higher priced than an American counterpart, it works both ways; chocolate is much cheaper in the Swiss grocer, and "luxury items" like San Pellegrino bottled water costs a little more than a dollar (whereas it's about $2-3 at a NY store).

Answer 2

yeah, switzerland is expensive, but there is no way that you pay 50.-- for a pizza and pop. probably between 15.-- and 25.-- depending where you get it. compared to us/canada it is still expensive, but don't forget that the incomes in switzerland are higher as well, so it kind of levels the whole thing out.

Answer 3

all of Europe is expensive, trust me. We are so fricken spoiled here in the states, were very fortunate and in many cases pay half or less for comparable goods.

If you want to sit down for lunch expect to pay $20 us for a sandwich...no joke...

Answer 4

Hello I'm a Swiss girl and I can answer your question.

Switzerland is expensive but not that expensive. It's not true that you have to pay 50$. A coca cola and a pizza is about 20$!  

For us Swiss people Australia and New Zealand are as expensive as Switzerland. It also depens what you buy. Some things are cheaper than others.

I hope I could help you.

Tschüss

Answer 5

For the last statistics Moscow was the most expensive country in the world, Tokyo was the second,and London 3rd. But in general Switzerland in also expensive, specially in the touristic areas.

Answer 6

I understand it is one of the most expensive places to live in the world, along with Tokyo and Shanghai.

Answer 7

What's expensive in Switzerland are labour and rent, so eating at a restaurant does cost quite a bit more than most places.

However, unless the small drink was a 16 year old Scotch and you're talking New Zealand dollars, there's no way it came to $50.

An individual pizza would be around 18 franks, a coke or beer would be around 4 franks, and no tip is required, so USD you're looking at $20. If he had the Scotch and a salad and a coffee and a dessert--oh, and water, you generally have to pay for (bottled) water here unless you ask specifically for tap water (and are lucky)--that could be the 20 + 12 + 10 + 3 + 8 = 53 Swiss franks which is not much less than 50 USD.

Answer 8

Probably. I read someplace it's like Tokyo. Nobody owns a house because it's so expensive so everybody rents. New York has gotten like that too. I think the minimum parking violation fine is up to a hundred dollars. When you say small individual pizza, are we talking a slice in a common kiosk or some gourmet joint?