Switzerland for vacation in the summer

Mimisinger

Tue, Feb 03 2015, 9:19 pm

Hi,
We're thinking of taking a trip to Switzerland in the summer with our extended family.

We're going to need kosher food or bring it from Israel?

What do you know about places that will have kosher food or minyanim, etc.?

Thank you!

wife613

Wed, Feb 04 2015, 4:46 am

You wont need to bring much with from Israel. There are a couple of kosher supermarkets in Zurich itself and then depending where you end up some of the local supermarkets will stock kosher milk, meat, yoghurts etc. in high season. Bread and jam etc. can often be bought in the supermarket there is a kashrus list that tells you exactly what you can and cant buy. There are a couple of kosher hotels in the summer Arosa, Davos. But there are lots of little villages that have minyanim usually, but they only usually advertise much closer to vacation time. Good luck with all the preps.

amother

Wed, Feb 04 2015, 5:48 am

If you'll be bringing food from Israel, please bear in mind that animal products (meat, poultry, fish and dairy) from non-EU countries may not be brought into Switzerland.

Mrs Bissli

Wed, Feb 04 2015, 11:21 am

OP,

The first part is to decide whether you're doing self-catering option or staying at kosher hotels.
Both are perfectly doable, the latter would be more expensive and you have limited choices
while the former would need logistic planning.

We normally self-cater in French Alps (as opposed to Switzerland) mainly because of costs
but also for linguistic reasons (my French is better than my German). Especially with
recent appreciation of Swiss Francs, Swiss holiday would likely come out more expensive.

In French Alps, you're most likely to have regular miniyanim in summer (late July to Aug
depending on when Rosh Chodesh Elul falls) in places like Les Arcs, Val d''Isere,
les Deux Alpes usually turns one hotel kosher (definitely in winter, most probable in summer).

For food, the best option is load up what you need in Lyon or Geneve (but actually on
the French frontier side). I believe there's a bakery that delivers challot on Fridays
(though we usually bring one before or use pitot or local bread).

amother

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 8:00 am

Davos also turns into a shtetl brimming with Yidden. You can get all kosher products at 2 supermarkets Eurospar. There is also takeaway by the Shil. Levin has hotels in Arosa and Davos.

I had no problem bringing in frozen suppers from the USA.
You can go online to rent apartments or ask Europeans how and where to rent.

Mrs Bissli

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 5:36 pm

amother wrote:

Does renting an apartment come out cheaper than hotels?

The last holiday we took was back in 2012 but I recall we paid something like Eur1200-1400 for a 2 bedroom flat (living room had a sofa bed) for 2 weeks. If it's just 2 adults, hotels may be good value but with larger groups, I'd go for a self-catering option. We contacted local tourist office for a list of real estate agents who handle summer holiday rentals, but I think there're also websites where owners rent directly.

life is fun

Mon, Feb 23 2015, 6:16 pm

Kosher food products and things generally are more expensive in Switzerland. We brought as much as we could along. From paperware to cereals, thuna and nosh. The kosher list is very helpful otherwise to use when buying bread and other dry things.