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Switzerlandchecked Aug 2026Switzerland's visitor tax, and what it buys you.
Switzerland charges a small per-person, per-night visitor tax, and there is no national rate: the canton and the commune set it between them. Usually it is 2 to 5 francs. In many resorts it arrives bundled with a guest card that more than pays for itself. And in Zurich, the thing on your bill that looks like the tax is not one.
At a glance
What
Per person, per night, set locally
Most places
About CHF 2 to 5 a night
Often includes
A guest card worth real money
Zurich
A voluntary hotel charge, not a tax
Switzerland's tourist tax is the visitor's tax, called the Kurtaxe, the taxe de sejour or the tassa di soggiorno depending on the language, charged per person, per night and collected by your accommodation. There is no national rate: Geneva, Neuchatel and Ticino set it at cantonal level and everywhere else the commune does, which makes it a genuine patchwork running from zero to about CHF 7 and most commonly CHF 2 to 5. The part worth knowing is that in many communes the tax comes with a guest card, giving free or discounted local transport, cable cars, museums or thermal baths, so it frequently buys more than it costs. Not everywhere: some places charge and hand back little. Zurich and canton Aargau have no statutory tourist tax at all, and the CHF 3.50 City Tax you see on a Zurich hotel bill is a voluntary scheme run by member hotels, not a government levy. Children are often exempt under 12 or 16, and long stays and business stays often are too, but every rule here is local. The currency is the Swiss franc.
How it works, and the guest card
The visitor's tax is charged per person, per night, collected by your hotel, apartment or campsite and passed to the local authority. There is no Swiss national rate. Geneva, Neuchatel and Ticino regulate it at cantonal level, and in the rest of the country the commune sets its own figure, which is why the amount can change between one valley and the next. Most places land between CHF 2 and 5, and the full national spread runs from nothing at all up to about CHF 7.
What makes this tax unusual in Europe is that it often buys you something concrete. In many communes paying it gets you a guest card from your first night, and depending on the region that can mean free local buses and trains, free cable cars and mountain railways, or discounted museums and thermal baths. In the resorts where the card is generous, a few francs a night is comfortably the best value on your bill. Whether your particular property participates is a question for the property, so ask at booking rather than at checkout. For the wider picture see the Switzerland money guide.
Zurich: what looks like a tax is not one
Zurich and canton Aargau have no statutory tourist tax. The City Tax of about CHF 3.50 per person, per night that appears on a Zurich hotel bill is a voluntary scheme, collected by hotels that belong to the regional hospitality association and passed to Zurich Tourism. Because it sits outside the law there is no legal duty to charge it, which is why it can show up on one hotel's bill and not on the one next door. Airbnb also collects about CHF 3.50 in canton Zurich, but under a separate agreement with the canton rather than under any tax statute, so the same apartment booked through another channel may carry nothing.
The practical upshot is undramatic: expect to pay about CHF 3.50 a night in Zurich anyway, and know that it is a hotel scheme rather than a tax. Two reasons that matters. It explains the inconsistency you will otherwise find baffling when you compare two Zurich bookings. And it means the older CHF 2.50 figure still quoted in plenty of places is not simply out of date but describes a charge nobody was ever legally obliged to set, so the honest answer is a rough CHF 3.50, confirmed with your property. This is the same family of charge as the business-district levies in Manchester and Liverpool: real money, not a government tax.
What it costs, town by town
A few reference points, all per person, per night. Geneva is about CHF 3.75 in a hotel and Neuchatel about CHF 4.20, both set cantonally. Ticino comes to roughly CHF 6.20, because a promotion tax of about CHF 1.70 sits on top of the stay tax itself. Zermatt is around CHF 4, and it is one of the places where the money does not come back as a card. Leukerbad is about CHF 6, with no free transport but cheaper access to the baths. Scuol charges about CHF 5 from age 12, and the busiest resorts reach about CHF 7.
Two useful outliers. Arosa charges nothing and still gives overnight guests a card covering cable cars, mountain railways and local transport, which is the most generous arrangement in the country. And canton Lucerne doubled its rate from 2026, from 50 rappen to CHF 1.10 a night, which even after the increase leaves it among the cheapest in Switzerland. Treat every figure on this page as a 2026 reference point rather than a published national table, because a commune can change its own rate and many did during 2025 and 2026.
Who is exempt, and the francs point
Children are often exempt, usually under 12 or under 16, and the age is set by the commune rather than nationally, so it genuinely varies from town to town. Long stays, commonly beyond 30 days, and business stays are often exempt too, generally on production of proof. None of this is a national entitlement you can insist on, which is the recurring theme of this tax: the rule that applies is the one written by the place you are sleeping in.
One money note. The tax is set and charged in Swiss francs, not euros. Switzerland is outside the EU and the eurozone, and while some places near a border or in a big station will take euros, the rate is poor and your change comes back in francs. If a booking quotes the visitor's tax to you in euros it is doing a conversion for your convenience, not telling you the statutory amount, so the franc figure is the one to hold onto.
Common questions
Quick answers.
Does Zurich have a tourist tax?
Not a statutory one. Zurich and canton Aargau have no tourist tax in law. The City Tax of about CHF 3.50 per person per night on a Zurich hotel bill is a voluntary scheme run by hotels in the regional hospitality association, which is why it appears on some bills and not others. Expect to pay it, but it is not a government levy.
How much is the visitor's tax in Switzerland?
Most commonly CHF 2 to 5 per person per night, with the full national spread running from nothing to about CHF 7. There is no national rate: Geneva, Neuchatel and Ticino set it cantonally and everywhere else the commune does, so it changes from town to town.
What does a Swiss guest card include?
It depends on the region, but commonly free local buses and trains, free or discounted cable cars and mountain railways, and reduced entry to museums and thermal baths, from your first night. In generous resorts it is worth far more than the tax that paid for it. Some places, Zermatt among them, charge the tax without giving a card.
Do children pay the visitor's tax in Switzerland?
Often not. Children are commonly exempt under 12 or under 16, but the age is set by each commune rather than nationally, so it varies. Long stays beyond about 30 days and business stays are also frequently exempt with proof. Confirm with your accommodation.
More on Switzerland
The little money things nobody warns you about.
- Taxis in Switzerland, and why to take the trainSwiss taxis are honest and metered, but among the most expensive anywhere, and the public transport is so good that you will rarely want one. Here is how it works.
- Tipping in SwitzerlandSwitzerland is a light-tipping country. Service was folded into prices long ago and staff earn strong wages, so nobody expects a US-style percentage. Rounding up for good service is the norm. Here is what you actually owe.
- Do I need cash in Switzerland, or can I use cards?Short answer: a card for almost everything, a little cash in francs. Switzerland is very card-friendly, but the thing to get right is the currency: it uses Swiss francs, not euros, despite being surrounded by the eurozone.
- Bringing your dog or cat to Switzerland.Switzerland runs on the single EU pet-entry process for a US-origin dog or cat: microchip, rabies in the right order, and an EU health certificate on a 10-day clock. No quarantine, no rabies titer. Here is what that means for Switzerland, and the local parts worth knowing.
- Is the Swiss Travel Pass worth it?Everywhere else on this site the answer is usually to skip the pass. Switzerland is the exception, because Swiss trains are genuinely expensive and the pass covers an unusual amount. The catch is that its real competitor is not a stack of tickets.
- Staying connected in Switzerland.Swiss coverage is the best in Europe, mountains and tunnels included, so this is a pure cost question with one trap in it. Switzerland is not in the EU roaming zone, and a lot of Europe data plans quietly leave it out.
- What does getting sick in Switzerland cost a visitor?Switzerland runs one of the best health systems in the world and one of the least free. There is no NHS-style public service to fall outside of, because there is no free public service for anyone.
Sources, and how this was checked
Last checkedAug 2026
- Comparisan analysis of the 80 Swiss communes with the most overnight guests, confirming no national rate, cantonal regulation in Geneva, Neuchatel and Ticino, and no statutory tax in Zurich or Aargau
- A Zurich-specific reference confirming the City Tax is a voluntary scheme by member hotels, and that Airbnb's CHF 3.50 rests on a cantonal agreement rather than tax law
- Switzerland Tourismwhat the regional guest cards include, from free transport to free cable cars, and which destinations issue one with an overnight stay
- Canton Lucerne doubling its visitor's tax from 50 rappen to CHF 1.10 per person per night from the start of 2026
Our own readSwitzerland has no national tourist tax. The canton or the commune sets it, so the honest shape is a range: roughly CHF 0 to 7 per person per night and commonly CHF 2 to 5, often bundled with a guest card that returns real value in transport and cable cars. The per-commune figures here come from a recent analysis of the 80 busiest communes rather than 80 statutes we read, so they are reference points to confirm locally, not a published table. The Zurich point is the load-bearing one: Zurich and Aargau have no statutory tax, and the CHF 3.50 City Tax there is voluntary, collected by hotels in the regional hospitality association, with Airbnb's collection resting on a separate cantonal agreement rather than a tax law. We have deliberately not called it a government tax, and older pages quoting CHF 2.50 describe the same voluntary charge at an earlier figure. Children and business stays are often exempt but the rules are communal, so treat every exemption as a local question. Checked August 2026.
How we checkHow every guide is researched, checked and dated