So You Think You Have it Bad?

[SmokeZilla]

I am on a 16 day tour that includes several cities (San Francisco, Paris-Angers-Arville-Nantes, France and Geneva-Fribourg Switzerland then Archamps (FR) then Etoy-Geneva-Zurich-Geneva, Switzerland, then Newark-West Coast (California 2 places). For grins and giggles, I thought I would post a pic or two about the prices in Switzerland. If you thought prices were bad in the US, perhaps this will give you another perspective. I have not been grilling/smoking on this trip. However, my average meal cost for the typical steak, fries, beer and a salad is averaging $120.00 and tipping is optional. If you have any pics or comments, let them fly (pun intended) so we can better appreciate the blessings we have at home.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

$50 /lb ?

 

[SmokeZilla]

$50 /lb ?

Pretty close to it. And that’s between our choice and prime grades.

 

[SmokeZilla]

Here is a price list…

 

[RattleR]

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. Just sayin’

 

[Jim6820]

I would say that the meat looks high quality. That said, $120 for a steak, fries, salad and a beer is a bit pricey. Hope the steak was great.

 

[SmokeZilla]

I would say that the meat looks high quality. That said, $120 for a steak, fries, salad and a beer is a bit pricey. Hope the steak was great.

Jim6820,

It was good but to be honest, not THAT good. As I have been in and out of many regions in the two countries, you get similar quality for one-third of the price in France. The locals here typically go to France to shop for their basic groceries as it is much cheaper but there are limits on how much you can bring back before it is considered smuggling. I was here pre-covid and it wasn’t this bad. It seems inflation is running rampant all over the world. Even the housing prices are ridiculous, they have gone up ~20% since my last trip over. The hotels are also quite high. The brand I choose is around $450 (after taxes) a night, and they wonder why their tourism is having problems.

 

[Threadcutter]

Jim6820,

It was good but to be honest, not THAT good. As I have been in and out of many regions in the two countries, you get similar quality for one-third of the price in France. The locals here typically go to France to shop for their basic groceries as it is much cheaper but there are limits on how much you can bring back before it is considered smuggling. I was here pre-covid and it wasn’t this bad. It seems inflation is running rampant all over the world. Even the housing prices are ridiculous, they have gone up ~20% since my last trip over. The hotels are also quite high. The brand I choose is around $450 (after taxes) a night, and they wonder why their tourism is having problems.

Austria has been taking tourist dollars from Switzerland for about the last ten years. Austria isn't a lot cheaper, but it is less. We have spent a lot of time in Switzerland, beginning in 2008. We go to ski areas/mountain villages that are lesser known/off the beaten path. We use Google maps and booking.com to find good deals on hotels. We manage to pay about the same equivalent price as comparable goods/services/meals would be here in the states. Our trip last August was actually a little less than if we had been in the states.

But yes, the major Swiss cities are expensive.

If you want to see some amazing food prices (in the downward direction), go to Budapest Hungary and go to the Central Market Hall. The Meat and produce is beautiful and it's about twenty five or thirty cents on the dollar. It's an amazing place.