Are you planning a trip to Switzerland and flying to Zurich and wondering if you can buy a tourist sim card at Zurich Airport? Switzerland is already expensive enough so let me help you to not get stuck with high roaming charges or slow overseas data roaming plans.
This is a complete guide for buying a prepaid sim card at Zurich Airport in 2025.
Find out where to buy a prepaid sim card, up to date price as per January 2025, info about eSIMs for Switzerland, my recommendation, a vlog about my experiences and everything else you need to know before buying a sim card at Zurich Airport.
In the past I always used to buy a local prepaid sim card on arrival but nowadays I mostly use eSIMs to stay connected.
On Traveltomtom you can also find a complete guide on how to buy a prepaid sim card in Switzerland or a specific guide for finding the best eSIM for Switzerland in 2025.
Table of Contents
- My recommendation
- Why buying a sim card for Switzerland
- Arrival at Zurich International Airport
- Where to buy a sim card at Zurich Airport
- Prices prepaid sim cards Zurich Airport
- Best sim card at Zurich Airport
- Best eSIMs for Switzerland
- Order a prepaid sim card for Zurich online
- Vlog about buying a sim card at Zurich Airport
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!
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends buying a Swisscom prepaid sim card at Zurich International Airport. For around $22 USD you get about 10 days of unlimited high speed data.
Be aware that this sim card is only valid in Switzerland, not in the rest of Europe. Switzerland is NOT part of the EU, so as soon as you set foot outside of Switzerland, your Swisscom prepaid sim card stops working!
If you are traveling onwards in Europe then Traveltomtom recommends buying a sim card for Europe that also works in Switzerland.
The easiest way to stay connected when traveling to Switzerland is actually an eSIM and they already start from just $4.5 USD. Traveltomtom recommends a Jetpac eSIM for Switzerland with 15 GB for just $17 USD.
For a detailed guide check out my comparison of the best eSIMs for Switzerland in 2025.
Buying a prepaid sim card at Zurich Airport is pretty expensive and therefore even more reasons to recommend order a sim card for traveling in Switzerland on the internet.
If your phone is not eSIM compatible then check out my comparison of the best international travel sim cards with data in 2025 and find the one that suits your trip to Switzerland and or Europe. Worth it, trust me!
Why buying a sim card for Switzerland
If you want to stay connected when traveling to Switzerland then avoid high roaming charges at all time or end up with excessive high phone bills.
Most hotels, bars and restaurants have free WiFi, yet Traveltomtom still recommends to get a sim card for Switzerland to stay connected and have a working data connection on your phone.
Life is simply so much easier these days when you have internet on your phone. Think about ordering an Uber, get directions on Google Maps, finding a hotel, supermarket, restaurant and so on. Many reasons for you to get a sim card for Switzerland. And what about emergency situations or checking your banking apps?
Buying a local prepaid sim card on arrival in Switzerland is easy or simply order an eSIM for Switzerland on the internet, even easier. It will make your trip to Switzerland much more fun.
Also simply don't rely on WiFi, some hotel WiFi's are slow, have little reach in your room and above all public WiFi is an UNSECURED network. Your data is not protected. The use of a VPN is recommended.
Traveltomtom loves to document all travel tips and 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, Canada, Mexico, Greece, Athens, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore and many more.
So next time you start planning your trip abroad come check out Traveltomtom for the latest prepaid and eSIM advice for your destination. Bookmark me and let me help you save money.
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 after disembarking the plane to the arrival terminal for passport control and 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 passport control first. There are plenty e-gates and the waiting time for passport control is not too bad at all. After passport control 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 prepaid sim card for tourists 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.
That is pretty much it for the baggage claim area. There is no sim card 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.
Prices prepaid sim cards Zurich Airport
All info and prices are up to date as per January 2025 and prices are in Swiss Franc: $1 USD = 0.92 CHF and 1 CHF = $1.09 USD.
As of January 2025 the Mobile Corner and the the Swisscom and Salt phone store at Zurich Airport do not sell eSIMs for tourists, they only provide physical prepaid sim cards.
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 only referring 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 - $32 USD
- 40 GB data for 4 weeks = 39 CHF - $43 USD
I asked for the 1.5 CHF unlimited high speed data per day but that was only possible if I paid 20 CHF ($23 USD) minimum top up plus 10 CHF ($12 USD) 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 directly 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 - $44 USD
- Unlimited data for 20 days = 50 CHF - $55 USD
- Unlimited data for 30 days = 60 CHF - $66 USD
Calling minutes and texting is NOT included.
- Unlimited data, minutes and sms for 30 days = 120 CHF - $132 USD
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 ($44 USD) 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 unless you pay heavy data roaming fees extra.
Best sim card at Zurich Airport
It is a very easy conclusion to call the Swisscom prepaid sim card the best sim card for tourists at Zurich Airport. The Yallo and Lebara sim cards from the Mobile Corner in the Duty Free area are not even coming close to the Swisscom prepaid sim card deal.
However, $23 USD is also the cheapest sim card and only available as a physical prepaid sim card.
Reminder that a Jetpac eSIM for Switzerland with 15 GB is only $17 USD. So if your phone is eSIM compatible I would go for it.
eSIMs in general are very much recommended as you arrange everything online and you don't need to go to a phone store in Switzerland to buy a prepaid sim card.
Check out Traveltomtom's comparison of the best eSIMs for traveling to Switzerland in 2025.
Keep in mind that the prepaid sim cards you buy in Switzerland do NOT come with free EU data roaming. That means they are not working in Germany, France, Italy or elsewhere in Europe.
If you want an eSIM for all of Europe then click on the link to check out Traveltomtom's list of the best ones for 2025.
Best eSIMs for Switzerland
The easiest way to get data on your phone when traveling to Zurich in 2025 is an eSIM. No more visiting a phone store anymore and swapping physical sim cards. Within a couple clicks you can set up everything.
You order an eSIM for Zurich on the internet, you receive a QR code, scan it, follow the simple steps and within less than 2 minutes you have a Switzerland eSIM installed on your phone.
Upon arrival in Zurich it automatically connects you to an available network and you enjoy data on your phone pretty much when the plane lands.
Make sure your phone is eSIM compatible before ordering an eSIM for Switzerland. Check out Traveltomtom's ultimate guide for ordering an eSIM for traveling to Switzerland in 2025 including detailed specifications and an answer to all FAQ about using eSIMs.
Here are some recommendations.
Jetpac
Very much recommended are the Jetpac eSIMs for Switzerland. Very low rates at around $1 USD per Gigabyte and these eSIMs are valid in all of Europe.
Jetpac also offers extra services like free VPN and airport lounge passes. For more info read our complete Jetpac review with all pros and cons.
Here are the eSIM plans Jetpac for Switzerland in 2025:
- 1 GB data for 4 days = $1 USD
- 3 GB data for 7 days = $5 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $7 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $13 USD
- 15 GB data for 30 days = $17 USD
- 20 GB data for 30 days = $20 USD
- 30 GB data for 30 days = $28 USD
- 40 GB data for 30 days = $39 USD
Click here to order a Jetpac eSIM for Switzerland.
The Jetpac Switzerland eSIMs are data-only and incoming and outgoing calls are not supported. Data is valid in all of Europe and the Jetpac eSIMs operate on the Sunrise and Salt Mobile 4G/5G network. Yes, the Jetpac eSIMs support 5G.
SimOptions
SimOptions is another reliable eSIM provider that sells eSIMs from pretty much every country in the world. SimOptions has excellent international eSIMs valid in multiple countries, including Switzerland.
Here is also the complete SimOptions review from the Traveltomtom Team for more info about this eSIM provider.
These international eSIMs also include calling and texting in all of Europe and they come with a phone number.
- 12 GB data + unlimited calls/text + 30 minutes international for 14 days = $28.90 USD
- 30 GB data + unlimited calls/text + 120 minutes international for 14 days = $49.90 USD
- 70 GB data + unlimited calls/text + 120 minutes international for 28 days = $55.90 USD
Click here for more info or to order an international eSIM for Switzerland including calls via SimOptions.
Make sure your phone is unlocked and your phone is eSIM compatible before ordering an eSIM for Switzerland. Much more info in Traveltomtom's ultimate Switzerland eSIM guide.
Order a prepaid sim card for Zurich online
If your phone is not eSIM compatible but you would like to order a sim card for traveling to Zurich online before your trip then check out the following.
Arrive prepared in Zurich with an international prepaid sim card. You order them online and a physical prepaid sim card will be delivered to your home address. You put this sim card in your phone and it automatically connects to an available network upon arrival in Switzerland, basically when the plane lands you are instantly online.
SimOptions is the only sim card provider that sells physical prepaid sim cards for Switzerland:
- 10 GB data in 56 countries + unlimited calls and sms for 30 days = $24.90 USD
- 12 GB data + unlimited calls/text in all of Europe + 30 minutes international for 14 days = $29.90 USD
- 30 GB data + unlimited calls/text in all of Europe + 120 minutes international for 14 days = $49.90 USD
- 10 GB data in 124 countries for 14 days = $49.90 USD
Click here for more info or to order an international prepaid sim card for Switzerland via SimOptions.
Personally Traveltomtom recommends the Orange prepaid as I have used these sim cards a lot in the past and never had an issue.
But nowadays when traveling to Europe or Switzerland I always use an eSIM. It is just so easy and done fast and as soon as the plane lands you are online.
For an answer on all FAQ about using eSIMs and all eSIM specifications check out my guide with everything you need to know before ordering an eSIM for Switzerland.
Vlog about buying a sim card at Zurich Airport
See my Youtube video above for more about my experiences on arrival at Zurich International Airport trying to find the best sim card for Switzerland for tourists in 2025.
I am sure some of the above tips for staying connected when traveling to Zurich where helpful. If you have any additional questions then please leave me a comment below.
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 January 2025 I have visited more than 155 countries, so still more than 40 to go.
Enjoy your trip to Zurich!