What's going on everybody? This is Island Hopper TV coming to you from Switzerland
Let's talk about the things to know. Let's talk about transportation and getting around Switzerland
So Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world where you absolutely do not need a car to travel or get around
You can easily get around on trains all through the Swiss Alps
If there's not a train, there's a bus. So public transportation in Switzerland is some of the best in the world
Also, in the cities, they have trams. They have Uber. They have taxis
I could have taken an Uber or a tram from the train station where I arrived from Munich this afternoon to my hotel
Or I could have taken an Uber, but I took a taxi. Now, the taxis are expensive
Everything is expensive in Switzerland, which we'll talk about in the next segment about how expensive is Switzerland
Let's talk about something. Is Switzerland expensive? The answer is yes, it is expensive
hotel rooms if you're lucky you can get them for about 150 dollars per night but by the way
a euro and a swiss franc are about one to one on the conversion rate so far i've paid 400 for a
hotel room basic hotel room i've paid 200 for a hotel room i should say 200 francs for the hotel
room and tonight I'm paying about 156. I would say that the cities like Zurich and Bern more expensive
than the towns so that's the good news as you go into the towns you find better prices but in the
cities very expensive. Now one of the other unique things about Switzerland is even though they're
in the EU the European Union they use the Swiss franc so they don't actually use the euro okay
the euro currency that uses the Swiss franc and the Swiss franc is probably the most valuable
currency I've ever seen I mean you thought Japan was expensive but the Swiss franc very valuable
more so than the dollar so when you see something for uh 345 that's 345 dollars Swiss franc that's
how much my hotel room at the Marriott costs tonight that hotel in New York City uh in peak season probably the same price in New York as it is here but this is Zurich So do keep that in mind about the currency
All right, let's talk about the premier destination in Switzerland. So as you go up into the Swiss Alps, you get into those glacier villages, L'Hatterbrunnen
You get Grindelwald, and then even St. Moritz, and where the Matterhorn is
That is in Zermet. So many Alp villages, but also there's premier places like the cities
There's Lucerne, which is on the lake, just at the base of the Alps
very beautiful place I'm here in Zurich right now walking around showing you
Switzerland here but there's also Geneva so those are just some of the main
places to add to your list to check out but Interlaken, St. Moritz, Zermatt
Grindelwald, Lattebrunnen those are some of the premier towns and villages so
people want to know can you visit Switzerland easily do you need a visa
All you need to do is get into the Schengen zone. That's the European Union
And from there, you're good. You're in. So, yes, if you're from the United States or wherever you're from, Canada
if you get into the EU, you can easily get into Switzerland
You just got to get here. But it's part of the European Union, Schengen zone
So just some quick facts to know about Switzerland. It's actually made up of 26 different cantons
A canton essentially is like a province or a state. So when you hear Bern of Canton or Davos of Canton, that's what they're talking about is the province
Now, there are also some other things you want to know, like the language they speak here, mostly German and French
You hear a little bit of Romanish and some English, but most things are really going to be in German
Now, another thing that you'll want to know when visiting is the currency is the Swiss franc, and it is about 1 to 1 with the euro
It's about .91 to the U.S. dollar, but you'll always want to check the conversion rate at the time of your arrival
And did you know that only 15% of the Alps mountain range actually exists in Switzerland
But 200 of the tallest peaks in all of Europe are right here in Switzerland
The majority of the Alps are actually in Italy and Austria. And you can add France into that list But also did you know that the population of Switzerland is around 8 million people It a very small country in terms of size of land mass and in terms of population
Switzerland, not very diverse, but if you want diversity in Switzerland, go to Geneva
Well, I was halfway tempted to walk the two miles to Murren, but..
it is raining so much. Alright, let's talk about weather
As you can see right now, it is raining. I am here in April, in spring
But as you know, Switzerland is known as a skiing destination, as well as an outdoor paradise
It depends on what you're being drawn to Switzerland for. Obviously, in the winter and spring and fall, you can ski
Probably even in the summertime. The Alps, look at them. They get lots of snow
April 7th. So the weather, the best time of year to visit just depends on the activities that you want
Here in spring, you get a mixed bag. You get cold weather, and then you get beautiful weather
Sunny with flowers. You can see even the flowers are blooming. But yes, in between there, you will get rain
I would say all time is a good time to visit Switzerland, even in the winter
It's just going to be a different type of experience than in the summer, of course
This here is Spies. Right next to Interlaken. From here you can easily get to Grindelwald
And Latterbrunnen. What a beautiful place. Even though it looks cold, not too bad
It's tolerable, very tolerable. How about some more things to know about Switzerland's national identity
Fondue. Chocolate. We all know Swiss chocolate. Very popular. The Alps, like where I'm at now
Right here in Lauterbrunnen. Also, beer Just like the Germans Bratwurst
They love their meat here They really do, Swiss meat Some of the best
25% of Switzerland Is actually Foreign nationals 75% of the country's population
Is Swiss But 25% Foreign nationals Also So Switzerland is known to have some of the highest standards of lifestyle anywhere in the world Geneva and Zurich being in the top five for best places to live for lifestyle
Lots to know about the national identity of Switzerland. Also, home of the Red Cross
You know the flag, the Swiss flag? And you know the non-profit organization, the Red Cross
Might as well just call it the Swiss Cross. look at that Swiss Alps for you lots of hiking glaciers and all that jazz let's
talk about things to know about language can you get by with English in
Switzerland yes but it's not the easiest place to get by with language of
English because in the west part of Switzerland they speak French like here
in Geneva they speak French and in the east and the north part they speak
German and kind of in the south they speak a Romanish language all right let's talk about
some important things to know about Switzerland's pricing because this is something that people
always want to know is it expensive yes it is just to give you an idea of how much things cost
I'll tell you right now we walk through this neighborhood so the average dinner is around
$40 per person or 40 francs also maybe a little bit more in dollars. Breakfast is around 20 francs
okay the average hotels on the low end can range between $80 to $374 but go as high as a thousand
dollars per night okay obviously some towns are going to be more expensive than others
Geneva and Zurich are the most expensive cities in Switzerland. But here in a place like Zermatt, where I'm at right now, hotels cost starting at $700
Here's some tricks for saving money. I would say go to the villages that are not as popular and stay there
But make sure there's a train station nearby. I've discovered that some of the villages tend to be more affordable and more cheap than the
cities but not a place like Zermatt. Zermatt is more expensive but also take into consideration
peak season. All right guys that's going to conclude this episode from Switzerland. Hope
you guys enjoyed it. Hit the like button if you did and subscribe. See you on the next video