Cost of a "meal deal" in Geneva?

[Captainladder]

My child is off to Geneva with his school shortly - they will be provided with breakfast and dinner but will be buying a "meal deal" type lunch from supermarkets..... can any of you lovely lot advise as to how much that might be?! I've never been to Geneva but I understand it's a bit pricey?

I think meal deals are a British thing. I've never seen them anywhere else.

Like the UK there are different types of supermarkets in Switzerland. Migros and Coop are the most frequently seen but there are also budget ones like Aldi and Lidl. They all have websites so you can check the locations and prices before you go. I don’t remember meal deals as such but the cheapest way to buy lunch would be to get a pack of bread rolls and cheese/cold meat to fill them. Ready made ones can easily be 7-10 sfr each.

I’ve not seen meal deals in Geneva. At the cheap end, I would probably budget 10 Swiss francs for a sandwich, drink & maybe snack if you pick a cheap sandwich. That’s from a supermarket like Migros. Probably at least double that for a cheap sit down fast food place.

Very pricey! You are looking at minimum 10chf for a sandwich - just short of £9. That won’t include a drink - just the sandwich.

I live in Geneva, its very expensive. I would give them at least 20chf and that should be enough for lunch. I don't know where your child will be in Geneva but there are lots of coop and migros supermarkets where you can pick up lunch (the cheapest option)- i don't really see meal deals or sandwiches. You can find rolls, sushi, pizza slices, salads. Cheapest roll is 4chf for a mini one. There are a couple of pret a mangers - yoghurt pot 7chf, sandwich maybe budget 10chf, bottle of water 2/3chf, salad 12-15chf.

He can buy a baguette or rolls from the fresh bakery section, which is not as expensive as buying a ready made sandwich. Buy some cheese/meat from the fridge section. Job done. Places like co-op also do hot bits like nuggets and potato wedges, which could come in at around 10chf. He can take a water bottle and fill it up in the many safe water drinking foundations he's likely to come across.

The desserts and sweets are the best though, so give him so extra for that!

Funnily enough I saw them in a baguette shop in Paris. It could well have been the French equivalent of Greggs, but it was very nice all the same.

I agree about them buying bakery items, cheese/meat and things from a hot counter. Usually much nicer food at a fraction of the cost of a ready made sad sandwich.

Amazing! Thank you all so much for your help. I really appreciate it! Slightly jealous that he gets to go.... shame they didn't need parent helpers 🤣🤣🤣

Spent a lot of time in Geneva.

Unless you know the very rare cheaper places, it's horribly expensive. It would be ok if you were getting quality for that price, but it's the same chain type food you get anywhere and it's just 5 times more expensive. Banking capital of the world, so financial folks (charging everything to the business and not caring because it's not their money) have made it ridiculous.

I would allocate £25 a day for his lunch. He likely won't spend that, but better to have slightly more than not enough. If he picks the "wrong" thing all of a sudden he's spent £12 on one little roll and he'll still be hungry.

I went to Switzerland once the day after I was robbed, do had zero money! My mate bought me a soup and a roll with a beer and it was about thirty quid! This was 25 years ago, lol.
I'm kind of glad I was broke tbh. My boss was paying for the dinners thank god else I would've starved!

Gosh it sounds crazy expensive out there! Thankfully he's only going for 3 days. I think I'll give him the equivalent of £100, and tell him to be careful! (and to eat a lot for breakfast and dinner 🤣)

I'd also send him with some snacks, cereal bars, crisps, individual packets of biscuits, choc bars and maybe pepperonis that I don't think need to be refrigerated plus a mini bottle of concentrated squash.
It's the snacking that costs.

Lots of people have commented here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5101047-dh-not-claiming-work-expenses?page=5&reply=136201568

Probs around 20 euros for a take away lunch ?

shop in a Denner for lunch items if there is one nearby !
cheaper than the others !

My daughter is also going on an identical trip to Geneva very soon too 🤔. Same hostel breakfast and diner set-up . I was thinking of of £80 equivalent on pre-pay travel card and another 20 Swiss Francs in cash (for an ice cream if it's hot or back-up).

🤣@Guineawiggy wonder if it's the same trip.......

your plan sounds like a good one.... easy to forget that some places might only take cash.

I think it might be... :) Details over suggested travel money were rather vague.

@Captainladder just to give an idea. (using London as the UK comparison)

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Switzerland&city1=London&city2=Geneva

They also have Lidl 😊

https://www.lidl.ch/c/de-CH/wochenaktion/a10048870?channel=store&tabCode=Current_Sales_Week

eta; https://sortiment.lidl.ch/de/catalogsearch/result/?q=sandwiches

Is it just me that thinks it's a ridiculous place to go for a school trip with todays cost of living crisis? There's plenty of other European countries to visit, why pick the most expensive one.

@CeeJay81 Schools visit CERN and Geneva is the nearest big city. My son was offered a trip there as a 6th former doing physics.

@SarahMused I didn't know that. That makes sense then. I hope the kids going have an enjoyable trip

Just give him the money to buy a bloody sandwich and a drink and a bag of crisps from a supermarket or bakery. Its Switzerland so will be more expensive.

Don't do what people have suggested and tell him to buy a baguette and then separate sandwich fillings and then make his own sandwiches in a bid to save a few quid. It's too much of a faff, his friends will laugh at him and he won't have the facilities to make up sandwiches e.g to knife to slice the bread, no butter etc.

I so agree with this. He will be embarrassed in front of his friends and lack the implements to do it. It could spoil his trip.