Recent trip to Switzerland (photos)

[NukeMeSlowly]

I got to tag along with the missus to Switzerland at the beginning of this month - my first ever visit to the country. I was able to travel considerably and saw Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Lausanne and parts of the Bernese Oberland. What a beautiful country!

I had no spending money for anything beyond cappuccinos so I did a lot of window shopping. Here are some excerpts:


Luzern

My first day travelling and just getting my Swiss sea legs under me. I don't know enough about Herren Globus for a detailed critique but it had some decent and some not so decent stuff.



Lausanne

Got to break out my rusty, mangled French and embarrass myself in this beautiful town.

I passed these shoe displays on the Rue de Bourg and then walked back wondering why they look so familiar. Lookout, this place sells Alden, AE, AND Crockett and Jones!? They had a pretty decent selection of models. They even had the Cambridge model that we in the States can only get via the AE website. Super expensive prices. An indication - if I remember correctly they were selling the Cambridge for 689 swiss francs. They had a really cool pair of suede Alden blucher captoe boots. I asked about taking photos inside the store but the language barrier proved impossible. Either they thought I was asking for discount or to advertize their shop on SF and no to the photos.

I thought this place had an interesting display of Americana style. It was snowing so that is where the glowing lights come from.




Bern

We were running late on this day and many things were closed by the time we found them. Like... this really cool looking cobbler shop that appeared to do custom work.

I would love to live in Switzerland but clothing wise I think I would have make regular shopping sojourns to the States or another locale with some discount shopping options.

It is a truly beautiful place.

 

[Cary Grant]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[nate10184]

Originally Posted by NukeMeSlowly

I would love to live in Switzerland but clothing wise I think I would have make regular shopping sojourns to the States or another locale with some discount shopping options. It is a truly beautiful place.
Cool. I'll be there in 2 months. Doing Zurich, Bern, Bernese Oberland, Fribourg, Lausanne, and Geneva. I may check out that shoemaker when I'm in Bern. Is it Huwyler?

 

[SoCal2NYC]

No Dying Lion?

 

[acidboy]

No watch pron?

 

[tchoy]

I would love to live in Switzerland but clothing wise I think I would have make regular shopping sojourns to the States or another locale with some discount shopping options.

It is a truly beautiful place.[/quote]

Just about everything cost more here than U.S and Australia. When you live here you got to stop comparing prices from back home and enjoy the country for what it is. The advantages are you are in the centre of Europe. You can take a cheap flight from Geneva and be in Naples in less than two hours. My neighbors hardly ever shops in Geneva. They would drive to Milan twice a year during sales time to do their shopping.

 

[Reckoner]

thanks for posting.

 

[Szeph el raton]

Originally Posted by tchoy

Just about everything cost more here than U.S and Australia. When you live here you got to stop comparing prices from back home and enjoy the country for what it is. The advantages are you are in the centre of Europe. You can take a cheap flight from Geneva and be in Naples in less than two hours. My neighbors hardly ever shops in Geneva. They would drive to Milan twice a year during sales time to do their shopping.

+1
Shopping in Switzerland (+ south Germany) is unbelievable expensive. I'm always jealous for the US pricing. Just bought a new leather briefcase. Price in Germany was 340 EUR, price for the US would have been 290 US$. Makes me cry inside.

Unfortunately I've not been able to do a shopping trip to Milano, last time i was there for business I never got the shops while they've been opened. But it's on the plan for May.

 

[DrPat]

Due to a favorable tax system, many of the world's super-rich live in Switzerland. This includes athletes, royalty, entertainers, oligarchs from corrupt countries, etc. Since the population of the country is relatively small (about 6 million), these rich foreigners have a large influence. Coupled with the high income of average workers (flipping burgers at McDonalds will earn you almost $40k a year), this makes shopping very expensive and good deals hard to find. Come in the summer and you can see the teenage daughters of Middle Eastern oil sheiks walking down the street overloaded with bags from Gucci, Prada, etc. In winter, look for the Russian women in their fur coats.

I rarely buy things in Geneva. However, the high concentration of quality shops in such a small city (250,000 people) gives me the opportunity to see firsthand many products usually not found outside of the fashion capitals of Milan, New York, London, etc.

I would recommend going to Globus, which is an upscale department store. Some of the products from the house brand are very good quality for the price. You can find 6 fold ties there for 99 CHF, which is cheaper than I've seen anywhere else. Also raw Nudie jeans are about $100 cheaper than the US. The grocery store in the basement is also very nice and they seem to always have lots of free samples of meet, cheese, and desserts available. The Boggi shop in Geneva is also nice. I would have purchases a suit at 30% off during the sales but they didn't have my size in the color I wanted.

 

[anon]

really cool pics, thanks for sharing

 

[Master-Classter]

I lived right there in Lausanne for a few months this time exactly a month ago. Seeing those shoe boxes outside the store brings back some memories! I went looking at a few and got some serious sticker shock, even by Swiss standards. I miss it already.

PS - If anyone's going to Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Zurich, or wants to travel around Switzerland (I've also been to Interlachen, Laderbrunen, and Gruyers), let me know if you want any info or ideas...