How much does it cost to spend a month in Thun, Switzerland?

Planning a trip to Switzerland and wondering how much it costs for digital nomads to spend a month or two?

I’ve got you covered.

My partner and I just spent our winter in Thun – a cute town on the edge of a stunning lake, complete with Medieval castle, pretty pedestrian canal walkways, and forested hiking trails reaching up into the hills beside the city.

We were here during covid, so please note that our spending would have likely been lower on accommodation (we would have stayed in budget by choosing a smaller place if we weren’t worried about being stuck in quarantine) and higher on transportation and eating out. Still, if you’re looking for baseline cost figures, these should help.

Without further ado, then, our spending in Thun, Switzerland, in February 2021:

(Psst, this post may contain affiliate links, which means if you purchase something through one of my links, I get a commission at no extra cost to you.)

Category	CHF	Dollars
Accommodations	1052.11	$1129.60
Transportation (national/international)	0	0
Transportation (local)	0	0
Groceries	571.40	$613.77
Supplies	35.87	$38.51
Eating/drinking out	0	$0
Entertainment & activities	0	$0
Luna (vet bills, supplies)	69.30	$74.44
Health & wellness	249.62	$268
Totals	1978.30	$2124.32

Notes on my spending

Reminder: this budget is for our lives during covid. Because of that, we spend more money on accommodation and groceries than normal and less money on transportation and eating out. I think the spending below can still be helpful when planning your trip, but consider it a baseline.

For accommodations, we found a vacation rental up on the hill just outside town. It was a little above our budget (our normal budget is maxed out at $2,000 for the two of us, but this was 2,000 CHF, which came in between $2100 and $2300 depending on how the US dollar was doing on any given month; also worth noting that we had to pay transfer fees and deal with currency conversion, which is why the above number is more than 2000).

The other rental options in the area were either A. long-term contracts (which we couldn’t sign until we knew what was happening with our long-stay visas) or B. small studios. One studio option would have saved us about $500 per month, but since we weren’t sure how much self-isolation or even quarantine we’d be dealing with due to covid, we opted for the larger, nicer space even though it meant spending above budget for the months we were here.

Transportation came in at 0 because…covid! This budget is from early 2021 and the covid risk here was pretty high (the UK variant had made its way to Switzerland), so the only places we went were all walking/cycling distance. Luna and I did a lot of hiking on the trail system behind the house and I took out my bike and my dog backpack when I needed to get to things like vet appointments across town.

My grocery bill was on the high end, but because I didn’t eat out at all this month, my overall food expenses are probably a bit lower than usual (for the most part, restaurants were closed and takeout in this area isn’t great and/or wasn’t available either).

Supplies includes things like soap and toilet paper.

Luna’s vet bill was for her rabies booster and the healthcare line item is my health insurance, which covers me everywhere in the world except the US. We did not do any covid tests this month (though we will be before we leave Switzerland), but it may be worth noting that rapid covid PCR tests at the Zurich Airport are currently 195 CHF and tests that take 24 – 48 hours here in Thun are about 150 CHF. 

The above spending does not include business expenses, charitable donations, or book and movie purchases, as those things aren’t specifically relevant to my stay in Switzerland. 

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Have you stayed in Thun? How much did your trip cost?

Looking for more European budgets? Here they all are.