Snowy Alps, lakeside Airbnbs and road trips: an 8-day Swiss holiday for ₹1.5 lakh per person

Switzerland may not be the first destination that comes to mind when planning a budget international holiday, but it is among the most sought-after destinations for a snowy winter getaway. Travelling as a group, finding reasonably priced flights and making smart choices about accommodation, transport and food can help keep expenses in check, as a family of five from Noida discovered.

Anu Arora, an education counsellor, and her family travelled to Switzerland in late December 2025 and spent ₹7.84 lakh, or about ₹1.57 lakh per person, on flights, accommodation, transport, food, sightseeing and other essentials. Although Christmas and New Year are peak tourist periods in Switzerland, the family found airfares from India relatively affordable.

“When we compared destinations for our year-end holiday, flights to Switzerland were cheaper than to many other countries, at around ₹50,000-60,000 per person. These fares were broadly in line with our budget and about 35%-45% cheaper than summer rates,” she said.

Beyond savings on flights, the family kept expenses in check by renting a car instead of relying on public transport, staying in countryside Airbnbs rather than hotels, and cooking most of their meals. These choices allowed them to enjoy a Swiss winter holiday without spending excessively on transport, restaurants and sightseeing.

As part of Mint’s travel series, Arora shares how her family planned its winter holiday in Switzerland, breaking down the costs and the choices that helped them save.

Flights and visas

We had visited Switzerland before, but never in winter. This time, we wanted to experience the snow-covered Alps and Christmas markets. Since both my children and daughter-in-law could take time off during the year-end break, we decided to travel together.

While comparing destinations, we noticed that airfares to several countries were particularly high during the holiday period, whereas Switzerland was an exception. Direct Air India flights from Delhi to Zurich were available for about ₹50,000-60,000 per person, compared with around ₹80,000 per person in the summer months.

We spent ₹2.68 lakh on return flights for five people, averaging ₹53,690 per person. Flights were our biggest single expense, accounting for about 34% of the total trip cost.

Switzerland is expensive throughout the year, so we felt the additional cost of travelling during New Year was not substantial enough to change our plans. We applied for Schengen visas through VFS Global in New Delhi. Getting appointments was easy, and we received our visas within four days of applying. This was much quicker than what we would typically expect during the busy summer travel season. Only four of us needed visas, which cost us about ₹48,000, as one of us already had a Schengen visa.

Prices across the major expense heads, including accommodation, transport and eating out, are similar in winter and summer, as both are peak tourist seasons. The additional expense we had to budget for this time was winter clothing. We spent ₹35,000 on winter jackets, snow boots and other winter gear purchased from Decathlon in India.

Airbnbs and road trips

We chose Airbnbs in smaller towns over hotels in popular tourist destinations, as booking multiple hotel rooms for five adults would have been expensive. We spent ₹1.89 lakh on two apartments in Steinen and Sigriswil, averaging ₹27,000 per night for five people. Both had kitchens, which helped us save on food. Eating out was expensive: a meal for five cost around 90 Swiss francs ( ₹10,500), and finding vegetarian options was another challenge.

Renting a car allowed us to stay outside the main tourist centres without worrying about access to public transport. We hired an automatic Nissan X-Trail SUV from Zurich airport for ₹1.25 lakh, including insurance. Fuel and parking cost another ₹19,600, taking our total transport expense to about ₹1.44 lakh, or ₹28,820 per person.

In comparison, the Swiss Travel Pass, which offers unlimited travel on much of Switzerland's public transport network, would have cost us about ₹50,000 per person, or ₹2.5 lakh for the family. Renting a car saved us over ₹1 lakh compared with that option and gave us the flexibility to change our plans depending on the weather. Travellers comfortable driving a smaller or manual car can save further.

After landing in Zurich, we drove straight to Steinen in central Switzerland, where we stayed for three days in a spacious three-bedroom apartment. From there, we explored Lucerne, Brunnen and Engelberg. We then moved to Sigriswil, a village overlooking Lake Thun, which served as our base for visiting Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and Interlaken.

Our second stop was Sigriswil, where we had booked an apartment through the local website e-domizil. This website sometimes has very good value-for-money listings, though using it is not very convenient.

Our Sigriswil apartment had large windows overlooking the lake and a fireplace. We even watched the New Year's Eve fireworks from the apartment, enjoying the alcohol-free Champagne our host had gifted us, instead of spending on a celebration outside.

Driving in Switzerland during winter requires caution, particularly on narrow mountain roads. Our car brushed against the roadside on one such road, damaging a rear-view mirror. Fortunately, we had comprehensive insurance with zero deductible, one expense I strongly advise not cutting. Our insurance fully covered the damage, and the rental company provided a replacement vehicle.

Parking near popular tourist attractions can also be difficult and expensive. Despite these challenges, renting a car was a more economical and convenient choice for us.

Sightseeing, food and payments

Switzerland offers plenty of ways to enjoy the snow without spending heavily on skiing, which can be expensive once you factor in lessons, equipment rentals and lift tickets. None of us are trained skiers, so we chose other activities instead.

We enjoyed snow-covered landscapes and mountain villages in Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Mürren. The return mountain railway journey between Lauterbrunnen and Mürren cost ₹13,430 for five people. We also went sledding in Mürren, which was great fun and cost just ₹1,300 for the family.

In Zurich, all three children did ice skating for ₹4,200. The biggest splurge was paragliding in Interlaken, which cost ₹21,600 for one person. In all, we spent about ₹40,000 on paid activities. We deliberately picked a few experiences rather than spending on every tourist attraction.

Food was another area where we saved considerably. As vegetarians, we found cooking more convenient than searching for suitable restaurants. I carried some basic ready-to-cook meals and spices from India, and we bought vegetables, dairy products and other groceries locally. We did not avoid eating out altogether. We enjoyed Swiss cheese fondue at Hotel Eiger and visited cafes and Christmas markets. But cooking most of our meals helped us balance these experiences with our budget.

Our grocery bill was ₹19,634, while eating out, coffee, snacks and other food expenses came to ₹24,225.

As for payments, cards are widely accepted in Switzerland, but I would recommend carrying some cash for smaller payments, particularly tourist taxes collected by apartment owners, who may not have card machines.

My husband usually loads a forex card before travelling and withdraws local currency from an ATM at the airport. This is a zero forex markup card, and ATM withdrawals cost around $2-3. This works out cheaper than buying foreign currency in India, where the cost can be about 2-3% higher.