Hi gang,

apologies if this is a stupid question but just wondering, when your relatives are coming to stay, do they generally exchange money in Switzerland or do they get their Swiss Francs at home and bring them with?

We are visiting Zürich next week (am very excited ) and I'm not sure whether we should get some francs before we go or just use Irish bank cards and withdraw at machines when we get there...

So what do you experienced folk do?

Many thanks, mica

Don't use banks

We exchange money with people coming over at current spot rate per Yahoo Currency converter.

It's generally a win-win. We buy their GBP/USD/COP at a better rate than at our bank here and they get CHF at a better rate than at their bank. They like that a lot.

We like it if we're going to England in the forthcoming weeks, we have some commission free cash.

In general it's better not to use banks

Isn't it virtually impossible to avoid banks in Zürich

But where do we find these money-wise people who are willing to barter money on the streets of Zürich! Do I stand on a street corner and try to make eye contact? And I'm coming from Ireland which I'm sure you remember has a different currency from England so I won't be any use to you. And I think the chances of my finding a few Irish head-the-balls to swap money with are a bit slim . Though I suppose I don't have to discriminate against the other Euro-countries. But of course, you're talking about your family and friends coming over, so that makes perfect sense. That's a pretty good system then.

But avoid banks in Zürich, got it. Maybe I'll check out our floundering Banks here in Ireland. I'm a student, so no commission for me. Probably cost a few cents to take money out of a swiss bank machine anyho...

Am actually really looking forward to dealing with a new currency on my holiers...something the Euro did away with. Mostly the Euro is good but can be fun to play with a new currency sometimes

I have transferred GBP to CHF in UK and in Swiss Banks. I haven't noticed a great deal of difference in the rates. A fair number of places will also accept Euros, if you don't want to change too much money in advance. Don't rely on people accepting Euros. It is by no means universal. Also, the exchange rates don't always work out too good. Change is given in CHF.

Check several places for exchange rates if you are changing a considereable amount. I have recently seen better rates in a Bureau de Change than in some banks. This is not usually the case.

Cheers Rod. I think I will get some Swiss Francs here before I leave so we'll be able to use public transport etc without any problems. I'll start keeping an eye on the rate now and we can check out a Bureau de Change and other rates when we get there. I don't want to get too much as we're only going for a few days. But well, it's all part of the traveling experience to use another currency. So when in Rome...

I won't rely on places accepting Euros as you say. Some might, some might not. Restaurants and cafes in particular may no. Last time I relied on a national park in Northern Ireland accepting Euros and they didn't. So the poor man at the gate let us in for free rather than take our Euros because we had driven so long to get there, which was very decent of him. I don't think we'd get such a reaction in Switzerland

Unless you are changing mega-bucks , it hardly makes any difference, a few francs here or their....use credit cards but beware issuers add on 1-2% for "charges" although exchange rate is far better than cash.