Practical

Switzerland is easy to travel in and expensive to travel in, and most of what goes wrong for visitors comes from a handful of specific things rather than from general unfamiliarity.

The short list, before the detail:

• You almost certainly do not need a car. The railway reaches everywhere worth going, runs to the minute, and includes buses and boats on the same ticket.
• Work out the pass arithmetic before you arrive. The right pass saves a great deal; the wrong one costs more than paying as you go.
• Ticket inspection is real. Nobody checks as you board, which misleads people constantly, and the fine is heavy.
• Cards work everywhere except parking meters. Carry a little cash for those and for tips.
• The duty-free allowance at the border is low — 300 francs a head — and it is enforced, particularly on the road crossings.
• Tap water is drinkable everywhere, including from the street fountains. Carry a bottle and refill it — that, and not free water in restaurants, is where the saving is.

Everything below goes into these in turn. Prices move every year, so where a figure matters this site points at the official source rather than repeating a number that will be wrong by next season.