Crans-Montana, and Switzerland more broadly, was easy to fall for. The practical side of staying there took quite a bit longer. We had to work out how the transport and payment systems worked, where we shopped, what we cooked, how the bin system worked, and what made our apartment feel comfortable enough for a full month rather than just a few nights.
So this page is not a perfect Crans-Montana and Switzerland checklist. It is the practical side of our Crans-Montana basecamp: the setup that helped and the choices we would make again. Some of it is obvious once you are there. Some of it only starts to matter after a couple of weeks.
Accommodation
For a one-month base in Switzerland, we had a very clear objective: find a reasonably priced, comfortable monthly Airbnb.
Of course, "reasonably priced" means different things to different people. For us, the rough target was around £1,500 for the month. Cheaper would have been lovely, but this was Switzerland, so we were trying to stay realistic rather than delusional.
The good thing, in a slightly funny way, was that we did not have too many options. Across the parts of Switzerland we were considering, there were only a handful of monthly Airbnb stays that seemed workable for our budget, maybe five or so in total. So it was not that we had Crans-Montana in mind all along.
Crans-Montana chose us.
We found a small flat within budget, with an amazing mountain view and what looked like a comfortable enough setup for a month. At that point, the main practical thing we knew was that Crans-Montana had regular public transport down to Sierre/Siders, and from there we could connect to the wider Swiss train network.
Would we recommend Crans-Montana for a month-long stay?
Yes, if you want a quieter mountain base with clean air, amazing views, local walks, summer hikes, bike trails, lakes and a slower pace of life, then Crans-Montana is a great candidate. Especially if you can find comfortable, well-equipped accommodation within your budget.
But probably no, if your main goal is to do lots of long day trips across Switzerland.
Without a car, Crans-Montana adds time to both ends of the day. Getting down to Sierre/Siders is easy enough, but it is still an extra step before the real train journey begins. The funicular is quick, around 13 to 15 minutes, while the bus takes roughly 40 minutes.
That extra mountain leg is fine once or twice. Over a month, it all adds up.
If we were doing this trip again with more focus on frequent day trips, we would probably look harder at staying somewhere close to the main train line, perhaps around Bern, Thun, Spiez, Visp, Sion or Sierre, depending on budget. Bern would be especially strong for national rail connections, but likely more expensive.
Flights and getting around
Flights
We booked our flights to and from Switzerland through Trip.com. It was useful for comparing flight times and prices side by side, and we have generally found it competitive. The app was also handy for practical details like boarding gate information, which makes travel days feel a little less stressful. Before booking, I would check three things together and make a decision based on the most optimal combination:
- the flight price
- the arrival airport
- the onward train journey to your actual base
For Crans-Montana, Geneva Airport worked well for us because we could take the train from Geneva Airport to Sierre/Siders, then connect up to Crans-Montana.
Zurich Airport can also work, but for this particular base, Geneva Airport is connected well with our route into Valais.
So yes, we would use Trip.com again for comparing flights, but for Switzerland I would always cross-check the onward journey on SBB before booking. A cheap flight can be a bit pointless if it lands you into an awkward and more expensive train connection late in the day.
Airport transfer
Our route was: Geneva Airport → Sierre/Siders by train → Crans-Montana by bus
The transfer was straightforward, but not short. Once we reached Sierre/Siders, Crans-Montana was still above us on the mountain. From Sierre/Siders, the resort can be reached by funicular in around 13 to 15 minutes or by bus in about 40 minutes.
The funicular is faster, but depending on where you are staying in Crans-Montana, the bus might involve less walking at the top if it stops near your accommodation. We used the bus.
We activated our Swiss Travel Pass Flex 15 Days (where we can use most of Swiss Travel system on 15 days within 30 days). So the airport transfer counted towards 2 days usage of our pass.
Getting around locally
Inside Crans-Montana, we mostly walked or used the local shuttle buses.
The local shuttle network was great and comfortable. Official Crans-Montana information says the free SMC shuttle buses allow visitors to travel around the resort all year, the free shuttles cover up to a certain area within Crans-Montana
We used buses for supermarket trips, getting between Montana and Crans and reaching lift stations.
But it is worth understanding the geography before you book. Crans-Montana is not one tiny compact village. It is more like a spread-out mountain resort area with different centres, slopes, lakes, bus stops and accommodation pockets.
Before booking accommodation, I would check:
- how far it is from the nearest bus stop
- whether the bus runs often enough for how you travel
- how easy it is to reach supermarkets
- how far it is from Montana Gare or the funicular
- whether you can walk to Crans, Montana or Ycoor comfortably
- whether the route back involves uphill walking
- whether you would still like the location on a rainy day or after a long day trip
For us, the local transport was good enough that we did not need a car. But the location of the accommodation still mattered a lot.
The short version: Crans-Montana works well without a car if you are patient, organised and staying near a useful bus route.
Switzerland transport pass
After a lot of research and comparison, we bought the Swiss Travel Pass Flex 15 days.
The other option we considered was the monthly GA Travelcard, but for our style of trip, the Swiss Travel Pass Flex made more sense. The GA Travelcard is more of a transport pass, while the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is designed more clearly around visitors and also includes museum entry.
The Swiss Travel Pass Flex lets you choose 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 travel days within one month, rather than using the days consecutively. On active travel days, it covers public transport across Switzerland and includes admission to more than 500 museums.
That museum part mattered more than we expected.
We did not just use the pass for trains. We also used it as a gentle push to visit museums we might otherwise have skipped: castles, city museums, the Olympic Museum, the Museum of Communication, the Matterhorn Museum and more. Or to put it more honestly, once we had paid for the pass, we made a real effort to get value from it.
There are two main types of Swiss Travel Pass:
- Swiss Travel Pass: valid for a continuous block of days.
- Swiss Travel Pass Flex: valid for selected travel days within a one-month period.
For the Flex version, we activated a travel day only when we wanted to use it. That suited us because we were staying for a month but did not travel heavily every single day.
Small side story: when we bought our Swiss Travel Pass Flex, one of us accidentally picked the day before we were meant to arrive in Switzerland as the start date.
Not ideal.
Luckily, at Geneva Airport, we found the SBB office and the staff helped us change the start date for 10 CHF. So please check the start date carefully before buying. But if you do make a mistake, apparently it is not the end of the world.
We tested that bit for you.
Money and payments
Most everyday places such as supermarkets, cafés, and shops were happy with cards, and we used our Revolut cards throughout the month.
We have used Revolut for years, and it worked well for us in Switzerland. The app was easy to manage, the card worked reliably, and the exchange rate felt fair enough that we did not have to think about it constantly.
We did withdraw some cash just in case using Revolut at an ATM that did not add a fee, but it is worth checking the machine carefully before accepting anything.
It is also worth keeping some coins on you for places like public toilets.
Switzerland is very card-friendly, but small bits of cash still make life easier.
Phone and privacy
Phone and data: For this trip, we used UK SIMs with EU roaming. That worked well enough that we never felt a strong need to switch to a local setup for a one-month stay. The main value was arriving with data already sorted.
Both 1pMobile and Lebara worked well for us in Switzerland using our existing UK plans. 1pMobile is usually a bit more expensive, but we have found its coverage slightly better in some parts of the UK. Lebara is generally cheaper and also straightforward to use. In Crans-Montana itself, there was no meaningful difference between them for us.
Keeping things secure while travelling: For privacy and connectivity protection, we use Proton VPN while travelling, especially on networks we did not set up ourselves. We also use more of the wider Proton ecosystem, including Proton Drive for storing and organising files and photos during travel, so it fits naturally into the way we already manage things. It is not something we think about much once it is set up.
Travel insurance
For this trip, we had cover through Revolut Metal as well as TrueTraveller. We did not need to make a claim on either, so we would not pretend to know how good either is when something actually goes wrong. What we can say is that both gave us the level of cover we wanted on paper.
One reason Revolut Metal worked well for us is that we already use the wider Revolut ecosystem, so the bundled insurance felt like a useful extra rather than the whole reason for choosing it. TrueTraveller, meanwhile, is one of the standalone providers I would still compare for longer trips.
Whatever you use, it is worth checking the limits properly and making sure the policy actually fits the kind of trip you are taking. Standard cover can look fine until you realise certain activities, like higher-altitude hiking, sit outside the normal range.
Groceries and cooking
We mostly used three supermarkets: Aldi, Migros and Coop.
All three were reachable by local shuttle bus, and sometimes we visited all three in one outing, which sounds excessive until you are trying to cook regularly in Switzerland without quietly bankrupting yourself.
Aldi became our main supermarket for everyday cooking ingredients, fruit, vegetables, wine and cheese. It was the most practical option for keeping costs under control.
Migros and Coop became more of a “cheat shop” for us. The chocolate selection was dangerous. The kind of dangerous where you only go in for one thing and come out with three bars, a drink, and a mysterious Swiss snack you suddenly need for research purposes.
Cooking helped us keep the month affordable. We made a lot of simple meals: pasta, meatballs, pork, potatoes, vegetables, sandwiches for day trips, yoghurt, fruit and plenty of chocolate as part of our cultural immersion programme.
Food and drink
We grabbed quick snacks or sandwiches in Switzerland a few times, especially on travel days, but we did not really eat out during the month.
That was mostly a budget decision.
Airbnb waste management and recycling
We learn something new every day.
In Switzerland, that included the waste management system, which deserves its own section because we were puzzled, slightly shocked and very intrigued by it.
During the first few days, we noticed something odd. When we walked downstairs in our residential building, we saw two identical bin bags outside two different apartments. They were grey with red French writing on them.
Naturally, we started thinking: does everyone use the same bin bags here?
We checked the Airbnb instruction booklet again but could not find anything about waste management. We asked the host, but she just said we could get bin bags from the supermarket, which we obviously knew. Or thought we knew.
When the time came and we actually needed new bin bags, we walked around Aldi and saw the normal black ones on the shelf. But something felt wrong. My gut said we were missing a very Swiss detail.
Then, at the till, we noticed a few rolls of bags inside a secured box, with a price tag that made us pause. They looked exactly like the ones we had seen outside the apartments.
So yes, we immediately Googled special bin bags in Switzerland.
We found out that in many parts of Switzerland, general household waste has to go into official paid rubbish bags, while recyclable waste such as paper, PET bottles, glass and metal is separated and taken to designated recycling points. In Valais, non-recyclable waste is disposed of in chargeable rubbish bags, available at supermarket and village-shop tills.
Ten CHF for ten 17L bin bags.
Yes. Ten CHF.
We tried asking for them at the till in French: “17L bin bags, please?”
She understood.
Never in my life have I felt so amused and relieved about buying bin bags.
Comfort and health
It is easier to enjoy Crans-Montana when you do not underestimate the heat, insects, hills or sore feet.
A few things we were glad to have:
- Water bottles: Swiss mountain water is excellent, and public fountains made refilling easy.
- Sun cream, hat, and sunglasses: Must-haves in summer.
- Mosquito repellent: We were bitten at times, and it saved us some real irritation.
- Good shoes: Crans-Montana is walkable, but it is still a mountain resort. Gradients, steps and long days add up.
There are sports shops in Crans-Montana, so you can pick things up locally if needed. But Switzerland is not usually where you want to discover you forgot something obvious and then pay mountain-resort prices for it.
Bring the basics.
Save your money for chocolate.