Are you planning a trip to Switzerland and flying to Zurich? Switzerland is already expensive enough so let me help you not to waste money on high roaming charges or expensive prepaid sim cards in Switzerland.
This is a complete guide for buying a sim card for Switzerland at Zurich International Airport. Find out where to buy a sim card, up to date price as per May 2023, my recommendation, a vlog about my experiences on arrival and even info about international and e-sim cards for Switzerland.
Wherever I go one of the first things I do is finding ways to get connected. It just makes life so much easier: ordering a taxi, getting directions, looking up nearby places, finding friends, staying in touch, etc. In most cases I buy a local prepaid sim card or I order an e-sim card online.
As I am also aiming to travel to every country in the world you can already find more than 200 sim card guides on Traveltomtom from all over the world: Europe, Geneva, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, USA, New York, Newark, Miami, Greece, Athens, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore and many more.
On Traveltomtom you can also find a complete guide for buying a sim card for Switzerland in 2023.
So next time you start planning your trip abroad come check out Traveltomtom for the latest prepaid and e-sim card advice for your destination. Bookmark me!
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends buying a Swisscom prepaid sim card at Zurich International Airport for 20 CHF ($22 USD) which gets you about 10 days of unlimited data.
However, the easiest and the cheapest way to stay connected when traveling to Switzerland is an e-sim card. And e-sim cards for Switzerland already start from $4.5 USD. See below for more info.
Switzerland prepaid sim cards are pretty expensive and therefore even more reasons to buy a sim card online for your trip to Switzerland. Another reason is that sim cards you buy in Switzerland do NOT include EU roaming. More about it later or check out my comparison of the best international travel sim cards with data in 2023 and find the one that suits your trip to Switzerland. Worth it, trust me!
Best e-sim cards for Switzerland
The best way to stay connected when traveling to Switzerland in 2023 are e-sim cards. You can buy them only on the internet but it takes just 2 minutes. When ordering an e-sim card you receive a QR code. Scan the code, follow the instructions and you are all set within just a couple minutes.
Check out the following e-sim card plans for Switzerland:
- 1 GB data for 7 days = $4.5 USD
- 2 GB data for 15 days = $8 USD
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $10 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $14.5 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $24 USD
- 20 GB data for 30 days = $38 USD
Click here to order an e-sim card for Switzerland directly online.
The data allowance on the above e-sim cards for Switzerland is only valid in Switzerland and NOT in the rest of the EU. It is an e-sim card from Pilatus Mobile and they operate on the 4G/LTE Sunrise network. These e-sim cards are data-only and calling and texting is not supported.
More about the best 4G/5G network in Switzerland in my guide for buying a sim card for Switzerland in 2023.
In case you want an e-sim card that includes calling time as well as EU roaming then check out the following international e-sim cards valid in more than 70 countries, all of Europe and of course in Switzerland:
- 8 GB data + unlimited calls/text valid for 14 days = $29.90 USD
- 20 GB data + unlimited calls/text valid for 14 days = $49.90 USD
- 30 GB data-only valid in Switzerland only = $69.90 USD
Click here to order an international e-sim card for Switzerland.
Make sure your phone is first of all unlocked and second, make sure your phone is e-sim card compatible. E-sim cards only work in unlocked phones. All newer smartphones are e-sim card compatible. If you are not sure, just type in your mobile phone model in Google and ask if it is e-sim compatible.
Arrival at Zurich International Airport
As we all know Switzerland is one of the most organized countries in the world, so expect a smooth arrival. Arriving passengers on intercontinental flights need to take a train from the arrival terminal to baggage claim. During your ride you will see a little video of the stunning Swiss landscapes projected on the walls of the tunnel. Pretty epic welcome to Switzerland.
When the train arrives you get to customs first. There are plenty e-gates and lines for passport control go fast. Then you reach the luggage belts where you collect your bags and when you then pass through the customs bag check you are officially in Switzerland. Intercontinental flights arrive at Arrival 2.
Where to buy a sim card at Zurich Airport
There are three places to buy a prepaid sim card for Switzerland on arrival at Zurich Airport. The first opportunity to buy a sim card is opposite luggage belt 26 in the Zurich Duty Free area. It has limited opening times unfortunately.
The mobile corner is open from 9.00 am till 6.00 pm only, so when your flight arrives after 6.00 pm you can't buy a sim card from the Mobile Corner. All major credit cards are accepted.
And that is pretty much it for the baggage claim area, and there is also no shop in the arrival hall apart from a coffee place, kiosk and an information desk.
All the shops, parking, public transport, etc are across the road from Arrivals 2 in the Airport Shopping, basically a shopping mall with a food court, electronic shops, clothing stores, book shops, flower shops and two mobile phone stores.
In the Zurich Airport Shopping Mall when entering on your left hand side there is a store from Swisscom and on your right hand side a store from Salt. These are 2 of the 3 main mobile internet providers in Switzerland. The stores are open from 08.00 am till 09.00 pm and they accept international credit cards.
See the vlog below for more about my experiences on arrival at Zurich International Airport trying to find the best sim card for Switzerland for tourists in 2023.
Prices prepaid sim cards Zurich Airport
As per May 2023: 1 USD = 0.90 CHF and 1 CHF = $1.11 USD.
Mobile Corner Duty Free
At Mobile Corner they sell 2 different prepaid sim cards for tourists: Lebara and Yallo.
Lebara
First off, Lebara is a master in false advertising. Although the prepaid data plans say 'World Max' and 'Europe Max', the data is ONLY valid in Switzerland. Europe and World is referering to calling minutes.
This is one of the reasons why Traveltomtom is NOT a fan of Lebara sim cards in general. Also the prepaid sim card offers from Lebara at the Mobile Corner are not worth it:
- 10 GB data for 4 weeks = 29 CHF
- 40 GB data for 4 weeks = 39 CHF
I asked for the 1.5 CHF unlimited high speed data per day but that was only possible if I paid 20 CHF minimum top up plus 10 CHF for the sim card registration.
Yallo
See the picture above for all the Yallo prepaid sim card plans. But I can keep it very short. Do NOT pay 40 CHF ($44 USD) for 10 GB data. Be aware that, although it says unlimited data, after 10 GB the speed reduces to 256 Kbps. That is completely useless! Therefore Traveltomtom does NOT recommend buying a Yallo sim card.
In general buying a sim card from the Mobile Corner at the Duty Free at Zurich Airport is not recommended. There is a much better sim card for Switzerland waiting for you in the Swisscom store opposite the Arrival Hall.
Salt
At Salt they offer free prepaid sim cards for tourists, which means if you buy a data plan you get a sim card with a Swiss number and the registration for free. The Salt store at Zurich Airport offers the following data plans:
- Unlimited data for 10 days = 40 CHF
- Unlimited data for 20 days = 50 CHF
- Unlimited data for 30 days = 60 CHF
Calling minutes and texting is NOT included.
- Unlimited data, minutes and sms for 30 days = 120 CHF
Data is ONLY VALID in Switzerland and NOT in the rest of the European Union! You can add a 3 GB data EU-data roaming plan for 40 CHF extra.
Swisscom
At the Swisscom store at Zurich Airport they sell a prepaid sim card for tourists that costs 20 CHF ($22 USD) and it give you 20 CHF credit. This credit you can use to get data on your phone and they keep it very simple at Swisscom: 1 day of unlimited data = 2 CHF.
Which means you basically get 10 days of unlimited data at high speed internet for $22 USD.
Be aware that the credit is only available in Switzerland, meaning a Swisscom prepaid sim card is useless in other countries in Europe.
Best sim card at Zurich Airport
It is pretty lame to say that the best sim card is also the worst as well as the cheapest and the most expensive. Currently you can only buy a Salt sim card for Switzerland at Zurich Airport, but needless to say that this is NOT recommended for the simple reasons that this Swiss sim card is way overpriced. The cheapest sim card start from $44 USD and can only be used in Switzerland for data, no calls included.
Especially since you can order an e-sim card for Switzerland directly online within just a couple clicks. No more visiting a store or swapping a physical sim card. Prices for Switzerland e-sim card plans already start from $4.5 USD.
If you want an e-sim card for all of Europe then click here or if you are looking for an e-sim card for Switzerland that also supports calling and texting then click on the link and order one through SimOptions.
Order a sim card for Zurich online
If your phone is not e-sim card compatible then you probably want to order an international prepaid sim card for Switzerland on the internet. These pre-activated sim cards will be shipped to your home address. You put them in your phone during your flight and you are online as soon as the plane touches the ground.
Arrive prepared in Switzerland and order an international prepaid sim card:
Three Data Pack 10GB - $24.90
- 10 GB data in all of Europe and UK
- Unlimited calls/sms in Europe and UK
- Valid 30 days
Orange Holiday ZEN - $29.90
- 8 GB data in all of Europe and UK
- Unlimited calls/sms in Europe and UK
- Valid 14 days
Orange Holiday Europe - $49.90
- 20 GB data in all of Europe and UK
- Unlimited calls/sms in Europe and UK
- 120 minutes worldwide
- 1,000 sms worldwide
- Valid 14 days
Three PAYG MBB 12GB - $59.90
- 12 GB data in all of Europe and UK
- Valid for 1 year
Three PAYG MBB 24GB - $79.90
- 12 GB data in all of Europe and UK
- Valid for 2 years
Click here to order an international prepaid sim card for Switzerland directly online.
I am sure the above tips for staying connected when traveling to Zurich where helpful. May you have any additional questions then please leave me a comment below or reach out to me personally on social media.
Curious what the road to 197 / visiting every country in the world looks like then head to my Instagram @traveltomtom and follow along. As of May 2023 I have visited more than 155 countries, so still more than 40 to go.
Enjoy your trip to Zurich!
Some links in this article about the buying a sim card at Zurich Airport are affiliate links. If you buy any of the products after using an affiliate link I earn a small commission. This is at absolutely no extra cost to you!
