Where to park when visiting Swiss cities?

Do you know the Park4Night app? It's an app for finding parking spots for vans and motorhomes. Anywhere a motorhome can park, a car can too. 😉

For Lausanne, there’s a parking lot to the south, on Avenue de Rhodanie for CHF 8 for 24 hours. You can also see it on the app. Otherwise, I can give you the GPS coordinates for a free parking lot outside Lausanne. But you’d have to pay for the train, so not sure if it’s worth it.

For cities, Lucerne is also a really pretty town, and the area around Lake Lucerne is gorgeous.

Another city I love is Thun (Thoune in French). It’s also a beautiful region.

Thanks!

Yeah, Lucerne looks pretty! I’d love to go to Thun, but we won’t be nearby...

I saw that Biel/Bienne is cute too!

We’ve got accommodation in Rovray and another in Zofingen.

The train to Bern is 33 francs one way—that’s pricey 🤑 I noticed it’s more cost-effective to park near a closer train station...

For Zurich, apparently no park-and-ride options? I’ll check the app for prices.

Switzerland’s expensive 💸

Parking prices are often expensive in cities because they want to encourage people to take public transport. In Switzerland, the public transport network is very good and usually reliable.

If you're staying in Rovray, I recommend visiting the small town of Estavayer-le-Lac, which is nearby. The ramparts and old town are worth a detour. It's small, so the visit won't take much of your time. You can also go down to the lakeside for a swim.

Murten is another town worth visiting. It's on your way when you're heading to Bern. Murten is small but pretty, with its ramparts, arcades, and city gates.

In Bern, I recommend visiting the Federal Palace. You need to book in advance and bring an ID. Bern is a very beautiful city!

From Zofingen, you can easily get to Solothurn (Solothurn in German). It's also a lovely town—I much prefer it to Biel.

I've always gone to Zurich by train, so I can't help you there. Why not contact the tourist office and ask them?

Thanks! Switzerland stings 😅

Everything is expensive in Switzerland: Accommodation, restaurants, parking, gas, activities… But it’s still a gorgeous country to visit—just need a solid budget 💰

I don’t have any specific tips on cheap parking, but if you're on a tight budget, I’d recommend saving on food costs by bringing as much as you can from France.

I live in Haute-Savoie, just 10 km from the Swiss border, and our Intermarché does massive business with Swiss shoppers who come over on weekends. EVERYTHING is more expensive in Switzerland—often two or three times the price. There’s no free water in cafés; it can cost as much as a beer. There’s no competition between restaurants in resorts, so prices are pretty much the same everywhere for most dishes... and they might even refuse you a table if you’re a couple and only a table for four is left. Switzerland is stunning, clean, and has an amazing train network... but it’s painfully expensive for French visitors—and not always the friendliest.

As a rule, we always bring a picnic for the first meal. You can also pack things like sausage, canned pâté, and other non-perishables. As for bread, I’ve seen cross-border workers leaving France in the morning with 10 baguettes and pastries to sell in Switzerland. Here, bakeries open at 5:30 AM to boost their sales.

If you want to visit Lausanne, consider doing it on a future trip from the French side of Lake Geneva—it’s still pricey, but less so than in Switzerland. That said, Bern is a much prettier city than Lausanne, and Fribourg is like a smaller version of Bern, built around a river.

Have a great trip!

EVERYTHING is more expensive in Switzerland, often 2 or 3 times more expensive.

A lot of things are more expensive, but not everything. And two to three times more expensive—you’re really exaggerating there.

When it comes to bread, my husband, who’s French, thinks Swiss bread is much better and there’s more variety. That said, it *is* a lot more expensive.

and not always friendly

Personally, I always say: when you’re friendly to people, people are friendly to you. ;) Something to think about…

Should I say the French aren’t friendly just because I’ve had a few bad experiences in France? Anyway, there are jerks everywhere.

Hi there,

The ideal way to visit Switzerland is by swapping your apartment or house. When it’s in a tourist spot in France, it’s easy to find a swap—Nice, for example. I think you have a place there, right? One of my friends lives in Bandol by the sea. Every year, he swaps his house, and this year, he’s doing it with a Swiss couple who live near Lake Neuchâtel. Since there are several bedrooms, we’ve been invited. For Switzerland, we always bring as many groceries as possible. We prefer a mountain chalet—there, parking isn’t an issue at all.

Hi, I often travel to Switzerland, about one weekend out of every three on average. If walking a bit doesn’t bother you.

For Zurich, I always go to the same place: LetziPark, where the first 3 hours are free. On concert/match days at the stadium, there’s a flat rate. You exit, walk past the stadium, and head up the main street to the lake! It’s nice.

For Lausanne, the Velodrome parking lot at the top of the city is great, mainly because it’s FREE on Saturdays and Sundays—and it’s huge! Lausanne is hilly, so you’d better like walking a bit. There are buses, though... even if I’ve never taken them.

For Montreux, I like the Marché/Forum parking lot because it stays "affordable" for an afternoon in the city center. I don’t know the price for a full day since I never stay longer than an afternoon.

I know you didn’t mention Basel, but for example, in that city, there’s a trick to avoid paying for parking even for a weekend... You have to park at St-Jakob parking (it’s across from FC Basel’s stadium), and on match days, at the end of the game, the barriers stay open for nearly an hour—no need to pay, it’s free on match days.

Edit: I see you’re talking about Bern—don’t hesitate to go a bit farther, about 30 minutes by car to Thun! Gorgeous...

Zurich and Lugano are my top 3 favorite cities, along with Zurich. Even though every Swiss town and village is stunning! !

Hi there,

The ideal way to visit Switzerland is by swapping your apartment or house. When it’s in a tourist spot in France, it’s easy to find a swap—Nice, for example. I think you have a place there, right? One of my friends lives in Bandol by the sea. Every year, he swaps his house, and this year, he’s doing it with a Swiss couple who live near Lake Neuchâtel. Since there are several bedrooms, we’re invited. For Switzerland, we always bring as many groceries as possible. We prefer a mountain chalet—no parking issues there..

Hey, yeah, that’s exactly what I do! Otherwise, I wouldn’t go given the prices... 😅

We’ll limit eating out, of course. Plus, France isn’t exactly nearby for regular grocery runs.

I found these two places—originally, I wanted to be in the mountains, but I couldn’t find anything, so oh well!

Just wanted to thank everyone for the replies, and I’m noting all this down!

I hadn’t seen your accommodation spots. You’re not far from Lausanne or Fribourg. There’s also the fortified village of Gruyère, which is very popular (and has paid parking). From Zofingen, which I don’t know, Lake Lucerne and Lucerne itself seem like must-sees... though I haven’t been there in ages, but I still plan to go back. From Evian, I always take visitors who aren’t familiar with the mountains to Lauterbrunnen near Interlaken. From there, you can take little trains and cable cars up to high altitudes—it’s the Switzerland of postcards: cows in the alpine meadows, flower-covered chalets, glaciers, and supposedly eternal snow. But you’ve got to budget for the trains and cable cars.

Oh, Gruyère is a must for some cheese-loving mice 🐭🐀🐭! It's definitely on the list!

Lausanne makes sense since we're not too far away.

Is Lake Lucerne (Lac des 4 Cantons) not close to Zofingen?

I checked—it's about an hour to Thun, which is fine, but then where do you park?

Honestly, I find it a bit annoying to have to take the car *and* another mode of transport just to visit a small town. It reminds me of my struggles in the Paris area 😅.

For big cities, okay, but when I see the hassle for Fribourg, which isn’t even that big… or Montreux!

This time, I’d love to alternate between cities and landscapes! It’s really the scenery that’s making me dream about Switzerland

I might have exaggerated the prices a bit, but the differences are really striking... As for the more or less friendly welcome... I don’t lump everyone together, but I’ve been the victim of several scams in restaurants. For example: you order the cheapest water, pronouncing it correctly (I studied German for 7 years and really liked the language) and pointing to the name on the menu... I don’t check what they put on the table... when the bill arrives, I realize they served me some overpriced water that’s nowhere near the one I wanted on the menu! I know you find the same scams in France... but don’t assume all Swiss people are honest. Now I’m much more cautious!

Not knowing Zofingen, I checked on ViaMichelin—by car, it's a good half-hour from Lucerne (or Luzern) and thus from Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee). And you'll have all the beautiful lake and high-mountain scenery you could want.

Parking downtown costs a lot, but if there are two of you, for example, it often costs more to take the train round-trip... Stop stressing over it...

Someone suggested the Lauterbrunnen Valley—avoid it! It’s super touristy, and in summer and early autumn, the waterfalls there have very little water. Plus, you’ll find yourself surrounded by masses of Asian tourists in Interlaken. If you want to visit the Interlaken area, I can recommend better spots than Lauterbrunnen Valley. That said, it’s still quite a trek from where you’re staying.

In the mountains, if you enjoy hiking, you can easily spend amazing days without spending a cent.

For big cities, okay, but when I see the hassle for Fribourg, which isn’t even that big... Or Montreux!

I don’t get it—what’s the hassle? You just pull into the first underground parking lot you see? There’s no shortage of spots in Montreux (or Switzerland in general, really).

After that, yeah, if you’re looking for free parking, it’s trickier. But it’s not the end of the world—15 CHF for the day...

Some folks unfortunately struggle to understand that the "everything should be free" mindset isn't really a thing around here... 😛

Some of you might also be on a tighter budget and want to take advantage of great tips without dealing with others’ condescension…

If the budget’s too tight, you’d be better off going somewhere else...