Switzerland by campervan: costs and prices

Practical costs in Switzerland: currency, cards, cash, fuel, groceries and budgeting for a campervan trip. What to know before you go.

Published 18 September 2026Last checked 18 September 2026

Currency
Swiss franc
CHF, not the euro. 0.9462 francs to €1 on 18 September 2026
Languages
German, French, Italian
Romansh is the fourth national language
Driving
Right
Motorway 120 km/h, expressway 100, other roads 80
Power
230V, type J
A Schuko plug usually will not fit. Bring an adapter
Motorway
CHF 40 vignette
One sticker, the whole network, up to 3.5 t
Emergency
112
Police 117, ambulance 144, air rescue 1414

Money

The currency is the Swiss franc, not the euro, and Switzerland is the dearest country covered by these guides. Cards work almost everywhere, including at unstaffed car parks and campsite barriers, and the local phone payment app is Twint. Carrying a hundred francs covers the mountain huts, the honesty boxes and the parking meters that still want coins.

A ten euro note in close up, lying on a second note on a dark surface — Francs, not euros. Some tourist tills take euros and none of them do you a favour

Practical prices for camper travel

Diesel, 1 litre: CHF 2.33
Campsite or camper area, 1 night: €61.33
Inexpensive restaurant meal: CHF 25
White bread, 500 g: CHF 3.02
Bottled water, 1.5 litres: CHF 1.15

Cross the border full

150 francs per person is the total value of goods you can bring in before Swiss VAT applies. It counts everything, food included.
Per person per day: 1 kg of meat and meat preparations, 1 kg or litre of butter and cream, 5 kg or litres of edible oil, 5 litres of drink up to 18 percent alcohol and 1 litre above it, and 250 cigarettes.

Paying for things

Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including campsite barriers, car park machines and mountain restaurants.
Twint is the Swiss phone payment app and is on every till. It needs a Swiss bank account, so as a visitor you will be using a card.

If your vehicle is over 3,500 kg, budget separately. It does not pay the vignette at all. It pays the flat rate heavy vehicle charge, which is owed for every day the vehicle is in Switzerland even if it never moves, and the federal leaflet's own example of that is a motorhome sitting on a campsite.