Known as the "Land of Milk and Honey" due to its prosperity and beautiful landscapes, and reputedly the "Playground of Europe" as a top destination for outdoor pursuits, Switzerland regularly features highly in global quality of life indices.
However, the high standard of living, high wages and strong economy that Switzerland is renowned for are matched by correspondingly high prices — meaning it can be costly to visit.
But with a little creativity, some planning and a willingness to embrace the great outdoors, it is possible to enjoy everything Switzerland has to offer while sticking to a budget.
Use your smartphone as a guide
Smartphones are invaluable for travelling, so long as you make sure to avoid high roaming costs by choosing an appropriate package with your network provider, buying an international eSim or using wifi.
But while most tourists readily use their phones for services such as Google (GOOG) Maps, it is worth remembering that many locations are increasingly creating apps to showcase their cities. Just look up your destination in your phone's app store to see what's available.
Basel, for example, has a free audio walking tour to guide you through the city's medieval Old Town along five different routes, or just listen to entries as you pass them by looking at the in-built map, while the free ARTour app projects augmented reality artworks on to some of the city's most famous sites.
Google Translate can also be your friend when it comes to sightseeing for free. Zurich, for example, has loads of informative blue plaques across the city. Download the app, hold your camera up to the sign and select the language you want to translate from. You can even download languages to use offline. Also invaluable when it comes to translating menus.
Basel's ARTour app projects augmented reality art on to some of the city's most famous sites. ·Natalie Marchant
Take advantage of visitor cards and offers
Many Swiss towns and cities offer some kind of visitor card that will include free or discounted access to a wide range of attractions and activities, and public transport. These are sometimes free, sometimes for a fee, so check whether it's worth it for you — particularly as many cities are very walkable.
If you're in the federal city (fun fact: Switzerland doesn't have a capital), you can get a Bern Ticket for travel on public transport that can be activated on the Bern Welcome app, which offers useful information, event listings and inspiration for eating out, alongside an interactive city map and bike tours. A full list of visitor cards can be found on MySwitzerland.com.
Many cities also have free walking tours, where you tip the guide at the end, with a list of available tours across the country available on the Free Walk Switzerland website.
And, of course, there's also the time-honoured tradition of walking and looking up — or following a map from the local tourist office.
Muensterhof, a historic cobbled square lined with shops, cafes and restaurants in the heart of the old town of Zurich. ·UCG via Getty Images
Travel smart to save on transport
Your phone can also prove invaluable to buy transport tickets as and when you need them, with many cities and regions having a bespoke app, such as Zurich's ZVV app.
The SBB Mobile app of the Swiss federal railway also enables you to look up train times and buy tickets, and you can also use the Trainline app (TRN.L) to look up and purchase tickets across Europe.
But for those really wanting to make the most of your trip, consider getting a Swiss Travel Pass — described as the "all-in-one ticket for Switzerland". This gives you unlimited travel by train, bus and boat on consecutive days, plus scenic routes, as well as many other advantages including free or discounted entry to over 500 museums and other attractions across the country. Prices start at CHF244 (£223/$295) for a three-day pass in second class and seat reservation fees apply.
The Swiss Travel Card facilitates flexible travel to anywhere in the country, on some of the most beautiful railway routes in the world. It also covers the Glacier Express between St Moritz and Zermatt (although a seat reservation is mandatory and costs a fee).
You may not think you need a boat ticket for such a landlocked country, but Switzerland is as much a country of lakes as it is of mountains and an hour-long cruise around Lake Geneva, for example, can be a lovely way to see a city from a different angle, while also resting your feet.
When it comes to getting to Switzerland in the first place, SWISS offers more than 160 weekly flights from London Heathrow, London City, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh to Zurich or Geneva, with one-way fares starting at £76 to Zurich and from £54 to Geneva, which includes all taxes, fees and surcharges, one piece of checked luggage weighing up to 23kg and one piece of hand luggage.
EasyJet (EZJ.L) and Ryanair (RYA.IR) also offer cheap flights to various locations in Switzerland, although be wary of additional baggage and seating charges.
Switzerland has some of the most beautiful railway routes in the world. ·Natalie Marchant
Embrace three-star hotel living
While Switzerland has some of the world's luxury hotels, you don't need a budget of thousands of Swiss francs a night for a good night's sleep.
The country has a good range of three-star hotels that offer affordable, clean and comfortable rooms for a reasonable price. The Hotel Kipling is a three-star superior hotel in Geneva and offers rooms from about CHF140 (£127) a night in a great location near the main station and a short walk away from the lake.
Other accommodation options include youth hostels, bike hotels and country inns. A top tip is look for a deal that includes breakfast. Also check whether the hotel includes extras such as a travel or city card, or other services like bike rental.
Switzerland has many different types of accommodation available, some with the most stunning views. ·Mystockimages via Getty Images
Tips for affordable yet tasty food
Swiss cuisine is best known for its cheese dishes so seeking out a fondue or raclette should be high on any food lover's list. But there are plenty of ways you can save on eating out during the day in order to feel free to indulge in the evening.
Like elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland is embracing street food culture in old market halls and the like. Zurich's Markthalle Im Viadukt in the arches of a railway viaduct has various food stands and shops, while Basel's KLARA has nine kitchens and a bar if the food options at the market at Marktplatz don't take your fancy from Monday to Saturday. Meanwhile, Lausanne has various food trucks on Place de la Riponne on four days of the week all year round.
The Swiss love of the outdoors also extends to al fresco eating, with lakesides, parks and other open air spaces fast filling up when the sun comes out. Join the locals at the waterfront with some sandwiches or cold meat platters from local supermarkets such as Migros and Coop.
Drinking water fountains are widely available across the country, so take a refillable bottle or thermos.
Cheese fondue can be a fantastic sharing dish. ·margouillatphotos via Getty Images
It is also worth checking out the Too Good To Go app, the world's largest surplus food marketplace through which shops, restaurants and bakeries can sell off their food at the end of the day at a lower price, so long as you can collect at a set time.
So what about the cheese? Fondue and raclette are fantastic sharing options and every town, city and region will have their top locations to try this indulgent dish. Auberge de Saviese offers excellent fondue and other Swiss classics in a chalet-like setting in the heart of Geneva, but also has a daily special throughout the week for CHF18.50.
And then of course there's chocolate — something that Switzerland is also renowned for and it does feel like there are chocolate shops on every street corner. Geneva's Choco Pass costs CHF30 per adult and CHF6 for a child and enables the holder to get a tasting plate or small bag of chocolate from 10 stores across the city over a 24-hour period, alongside discounts for purchases – perfect for souvenirs (if they last that long).
Enjoy the best of the Swiss outdoors
Even Switzerland's biggest cities have plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy — perhaps unsurprisingly given so many of their river, lake or mountainside locations.
Switzerland's relatively compact size and excellent public transport network, particularly if you're armed with a Swiss Travel Pass, makes it pretty easy to get out into the countryside or mountains. The most determined rail travellers can navigate the impeccably-timed five trains from Zurich all the way up to the "top of Europe" at the Jungfraujoch using the pass.
But there's usually lots to do in and around the city boundaries too. Zurich has its very own mountain, the Uetliberg, which is easily accessible by train to the summit where you can admire a panorama of the city and the lake (or an even higher one from the viewing tower for CHF2). You can then do a pretty easy two-hour hike to the cable car at the other end before descending into town.
The cable car up the Cardada mountain from Locarno. ·Rudolf Vlcek via Getty Images
Meanwhile, visitors to Locarno can reach the dizzy heights of their local mountain the Cardada by a cable car for a return fare of about CHF32, a price which is halved with a Swiss Travel Pass. A hiking trail leads to Cimetta (1,671 m), which offers a view of both the lowest and highest points in Switzerland.
And any visitor to Geneva literally cannot miss the delightful Bains des Paquis, the "city beach" and bathing area that juts out into the water just metres from the 140m-high Jet d’Eau. This is an ideal place to live like the locals and go for a swim in the lake, for a fee of CHF2, or enter the hammam and sauna area (starting at CHF10), depending on time of year and whether you have have towels. The pool bar offers daily dishes, fondue and drinks for very reasonable prices.
Of course, most Swiss lakes are so vast that many have plenty of spots where you can jump in for free — but be wary of cold temperatures as alpine lakes can prove chilly.
If you want to keep your feet on terra firma, enjoy being by the water at one of the many bars and cafes that tend to spring up alongside Swiss waterways, with one of the country's quirkiest being the Sandoase by Basel's Dreilaendereck ('Three Countries Corner') — the very point where Switzerland meets France and Germany.
Geneva's Bains de Paquis is extremely popular with the locals. ·Natalie Marchant
For a warmer alternative, visitors can take the waters at one of the country's many thermal baths — which often come with stunning views as an added bonus. Ticket prices can vary greatly throughout the day and according to services accessed and time spent there, so check the rates on the relevant website before you go to find the best deal for what you want to do.
The Bains de Levey Thermal Spa has one of Switzerland's hottest thermal springs in an alpine setting that's cheaper in the evenings, while Zurich's Hurlimannbad and Spa is an urban spa and thermal bath in century-old vaults of an old brewery, with discounted price for access to the rooftop infinity pool only.
Switzerland is also a very bike-safe country and what better way to enjoy a lakeside setting than taking to two wheels for a cycle. PubliBike is just one Switzerland-wide service that offers daily rentals at a decent price, but there are plenty of other rental options at major stations and hotels. You may want a mountain bike or e-Bike for more strenuous or uphill routes — it's worth shopping around.
While the Land of Milk and Honey may not be the most budget-friendly location, there are plenty of ways to keep costs down while having the richest of travel experiences.
For more inspiration on what to do and where to stay, visit the MySwitzerland website.
