Solo European jaunt - Switzerland - Seven days

[zoltan]

it is fucking expensive , 'cept for petrol.

Diverted to Switzerland last year to see somebody and had a little play around. Stayed here https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29901235?source_impression_id=p3_1747983484_P3_NiJ0QQgpsMM-w
£45 a night, didn't find it more expensive than England.
Host was brilliant and a biker.

Can you point out a country in Europe including East Europe which is cheap, I mean like 15 years ago, £0.50 a beer and full lunch for £5, rent a small house for £20 a day in the Carpathian? Those days are long gone.
This year I will do Romania, away for 3 weeks and do around 3400miles:
Le shuttle: £112
Fuel: £425
Accommodation: £700 (Airbnb works out £33av a night)
Food: £630 (£30av a day, sampling the local cuisine is part of the journey)
Travel Insurance for one year. £170.
Yes I could camp, eat sardine and drink water for 3 weeks. Fck that, you only live once...

 

[stever1]

Just had a look through the group of hotels
Really good

Yes there all good, but personally I try not to use the enzian hotel due to it being in a city, the others I’ve used are out of town.

 

[stever1]

Diverted to Switzerland last year to see somebody and had a little play around. Stayed here https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29901235?source_impression_id=p3_1747983484_P3_NiJ0QQgpsMM-w
£45 a night, didn't find it more expensive than England.
Host was brilliant and a biker.

Can you point out a country in Europe including East Europe which is cheap, I mean like 15 years ago, £0.50 a beer and full lunch for £5, rent a small house for £20 a day in the Carpathian? Those days are long gone.
This year I will do Romania, away for 3 weeks and do around 3400miles:
Le shuttle: £112
Fuel: £425
Accommodation: £700 (Airbnb works out £33av a night)
Food: £630 (£30av a day, sampling the local cuisine is part of the journey)
Travel Insurance for one year. £170.
Yes I could camp, eat sardine and drink water for 3 weeks. Fck that, you only live once...

Whilst I agree with you about costs, there are exceptions. We used a restaurant in Sibiu which was good but cheap. In 2022 it cost about £30 for 2 x 3 course meals.

 

[kennyc]

Whilst I agree with you about costs, there are exceptions. We used a restaurant in Sibiu which was good but cheap. In 2022 it cost about £30 for 2 x 3 course meals.

I go to Switzerland 3-4 weeks a year, yes it can be expensive if you dont pay attention, but most of that is the exchange rate and the general cost of living in what isnt a 3rd world shithole in Interlaken where I mostly stay beer is CHF6 a pint(ish) a (large) burger with fries CHF12 Hotel with breakfast CHF100 a night all in all not particularly different to home (South of England), fuel is around CHF1.7 a litre, considering the fantastic scenery and quality of the roads etc I dont consider it "too expensive" camping can be had for considerably less, but I am too soft for that sort of roughing it
I have just come back from a trip starting at Santander-Picos-Jaca-Andorra-orange France-Switzerland-Germany-Luxembourg, and whilst the Spanish and Andorra legs were cheaper, the Swiss and French and Lux legs were only 20-30% more and very similar in cost to each other! can you do it cheaper? of course, but you can also do it a lot more expensively !

 

[Coppertop]

I rode through Switzerland for a full day the other day. Couldn't wait to get back to Germany. No free roaming and very low speed limits with harsh punishment for even small breaches. A very pretty country but I was noticeable relieved on exit.

 

[glenn2926]

We rode through from Chamonix last year. No roaming charges, petrol very similar price to the U.K. Food at services was actually adult, tasty, real food. Unlike the U.K. Maccy Ds, kfc, greggs, Costa type offerings. Speed limits were ok and we never saw one police vehicle. The vignette was CHF40 each which did feel a little steep for just a passage through. Later looking back it wasn’t too bad as there are no tolls. We paid the vignette on line so no sticker to fit. I would definitely do the same again.

 

[Rasher]

Easy to think the Vignette is an absolute rip-off, yes, you are paying for a year and maybe only using it for a day or three, but if it saves you half a day going to and from the better roads it becomes worth it.

Some folk used to put them in a bag on the bike (not legal so they can be fined if stopped by plod) and then flog them on ebay after their trip, worth buying a second hand one like this and then actually sticking it on your bike.

I am really glad I have spent a fai bit of time in Swiss Alps, but these days I would rather ride in the French Alps, or just whizz through Switzerland onto the Dolomites, although between the Swiss speeding fines and dolomites closing roads to motorcycles I feel pushed more towards either French Alps or the Pyrenees, where the Spanish side offers a hefty discount compared to France when it comes to Hotels and you can criss-cross to ride passes on both sides, but plan the Hotels on the Spanish side and get the best of all worlds....

....And the speeding fines are great value, unless your going apeshit they are noting more than a small tourist tax and I'd rather ride to the conditions and have a nice flowing pace than a shit trip constantly watching the Speedo and never getting into top gear - even if it means the occasional small fine.

I think I must of easily topped 20,000 miles on French roads considering every Euro trip involves at least a few hundred miles in France even if going to Luxembourg or Germany, over about 20 trips since 2008 and all those Miles I have picked up one French speeding ticket (well, two if you consider my other KTM was ridden by my Mrs so I got her ticket too) for 67 in a 56, cost me about £100 for both tickets with the early payment discount (this was on fairly busy main road, and if I had the sat-nag sound going I would of not been had)

Unlike Swiss fines you can be doing 20mph over the French limit (on national speed limit roads) and get a small fine, 20-30 is a bit more, then IIRC it starts getting expensive, so you can cruise at a genuine 70-80 on deserted dead straight N-Roads and not worry about being caught, and its fast enough to get a nice flow going on twisty roads - at least on an ADV bike, an S1000RR probably feels very held back if you keep below 80, but pick your bike and roads and speed is not a problem....

...Whereas in Switzerland 5 mph over the limit can hurt, 20mph over and you're flogging your bike, 30mph over and you floging your house, not sure of the odds of being caught as I have only ever seen one Swiss speed trap - and was well notificed by bikes coming the other way, but it certainly plays on my mind.

 

[Wapping]

Some folk used to put them in a bag on the bike (not legal so they can be fined if stopped by plod) and then flog them on ebay after their trip, worth buying a second hand one like this and then actually sticking it on your bike.

There is one for sale on UKGSer at the moment.