I think the UK has one of the cheapest prices. According to the net it's just over $4 for a grande latte in America (what I usually order - forget the coffee flavour it's a lovely warming cup of hot milk with caffeine).

I think it's over 6 CHF here.

It was 31y in China last week I think (4.4 CHF). I was drinking green tea soya lattes there for 33y.

In London it's around £2.40 (although I use a prepay card which gives free extra shot, flavours (never tried), soya milk instead of milk).

As I never order a "Caffe Latte" I cannot judge this. I order a normal espresso or a double-espresso or a simply coffee and it is between CHF 2.90 and CHF 7.00, depending on what exactly I order and the location and name and nature of the place .

In Zürich, the distance from Bellevue/Paradeplatz in kilometers means MINUS CHF -.15 per km by average. Suppose that the situation in Basel etc is similar. Most remarkable in Geneva where the distance between South of Cornavin and North of the station means a difference of up to 30%

Everything in Starbucks tastes great apart from the coffee. In other words, an espresso is the worst thing to order there!

But this is what I DID order there ! Good indeed,

its what odile said. its not the fact that some chains from other countries go abroad doing business. BUT all these franchise enterprises destroy the uniqueness of a city. start at any HB and you dont know where you are until you might read a sign: hamburg? stuttgart? zurich? paris? and this continues throughout the whole city center. i mean....why do people go and visit a starbucks in vienna or even better istanbul? the coffee house epicentres of europe and then go n waste it all (money, taste) with stuff i wouldnt even fill my flush with.

One recent thing is the appearance of chains which were excellent as originals - like Café Rouge and Carluccios. Much better quality than many of the early chains, but still - even though I love Carluccios, I don't want to find an identical one in every city- totally lost their appeal for me, with their totally identical menus. Much rather hunt for a small Italian risto and take a risk- that it might turn out to be amazing, or disappointing, but at least not a clone.

I think that's very interesting, because from my American standpoint, we value chains for the consistency factor, in that you know what to expect from a chain venue, no matter where you are. Now, that doesn't mean that each and every chain location delivers on this promise, but...

Yeah, I know- this is the same for many of my friends with Hotels - but again, I'd rather take pot luck and be either surprised, amazed or even disappointed- spice of life and all that.